Page 31: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (May 1998)

Proud Tradition Continues

Experience under the sea. Sub- marine propulsion and ships service turbine generator experience. GE has more of it than anyone. It's why our Company is eminently qualified to design, manufacture and test these critical systems for the SSN 21

Seawolf. In 1957, seatrials of the original Seawolf heralded the first of many GE contributions to the nuclear submarine field. Since then, the

Company has continued to pioneer advanced systems aboard every class of submarine including the latest 688's.

SSN 688—A Technical

Benchmark

The entire Class relies on GE systems for both propulsion and ships service electrical demands.

Their reliability is extraordinary.

In fact, since the commissioning of the Los Angeles in 1976, these systems endured the equivalent of hundreds of years of service without a single ship coming off line for an at-sea failure. Why? For a number of good reasons. First, GE engineers extrapolate the best ideas from existing technology and proven hardware during design and manu- facture, while paying particular attention to key Navy criteria: reliability, noise, size, weight, perfor- mance, maintainability and acces- sibility. Then they exhaustively test each system under shipboard conditions before shipment.

On-Time Delivery And

Service

GE demonstrated construction efficiency, too, by delivering these 688 propulsion and SSTG systems to shipyards ahead of schedule. After installation, GE provides life cycle support through service facilities in every major Navy port in the U.S., and in major ports worldwide. Of course, factory experts are on-call 24 hours a day, too. Through this ser- vice team, continued evolutionary advances are made available to upgrade the existing fleet. Such upgrades aboard 688's permit them to remain at sea years longer between overhauls.

Into The 21st Century

The heritage Edison began with the first shipboard power generation system continues today at GE Naval & Drive Turbine Systems. Here, we apply the resources of our $40 billion

Company to develop the most advanced propulsion and ships service systems. Experience allows us to do this. It's the critical difference

GE engineers build upon to advance the Navy mission with the

SSN 21 Seawolf.

General Electric Company 166 Boulder Drive,

Fitchburg, MA 01420.

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