Shipbucket

I remember images and press releases when the SeaJet Advanced Electric Ship Demonstrator was launched and running tests in an Idaho lake.

It was supposed to be a proof-of-concept testbed for technologies destined for the Zumwalt class, and apart from that bupkis.

And the Zumwalts are at sea with conventional props and rudders.

Were the hoped for efficiencies not realized or was it just not ready for primetime?

Not sure about the tech and the like but the demonstrator until recently is still in Bayview Idaho, might still be there

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These are only guesses on my part, but I would propose a combination of the following:

• Long-term fallout from the late-2000s recession has western navies more interested in lower-cost systems
• Experience with waterjets on LCS and some flavors of the MEKO has not been super positive
• Experience with whiz-bang technology in general (e.g., the Zumwalts) has not been positive
• General loss of interest in high speed (with the notable exception of LCS), where AWJ-21 offered the most substantial advantages
• Some fundamental shortfall in the AWJ-21 system itself

I do not propose which of these might be the real crux of the matter, but this list seems likely to include it somewhere. I'd be curious to know more, if anybody has something more concrete.