IET Lancashire and Cumbria Events

This talk will explore aspects of military communications during WW2, starting with the German use of radio to enable Blitzkrieg (lightning warfare) and then move on to review the value of radio interceptions to feed Bletchley Park with messages to decode. We will then then explore the communication required to support D-day and the Allied advance from the beachhead. The talk will also address Operation Market Garden and the challenges which poor radio communications presented and discuss the reasons for this. An underlying theme will be the role of the Royal Signals as the British Army' specialist communications branch

Decarbonisation of the maritime sector is driving a transition from conventional AC power systems to DC electrification, enabled by advances in efficiency, controllability, and integration of low-carbon technologies. We have completed a research project demonstrating the technical viability of hybrid energy storage systems combining batteries, supercapacitors, and superconducting magnetic energy storage to balance energy and power demands in shipboard microgrids. Building on this work, ongoing research focuses on power architectures based on primary and secondary DC grids for large vessels. This has improved understanding of DC fault conditions and short-circuit behaviour in shipboard microgrids, informing the performance and protection requirements of DC solid-state circuit breakers. A dedicated experimental test rig has also been developed to characterise DC SSCB performance.