Sailing on the high seas could get safer for the U.S. Navy with a new high temperature superconductor system from Devens, Mass.-based American Superconductor (Nasdaq: AMSC).

The high temperature superconductor, or HTS, is part of a degaussing system being tested aboard a destroyer to cloak its magnetic signature.

Most naval ships use degaussing systems, essentially big magnets, to make the ships more difficult to be detected by magnetic sensors and magnetically activated mines. Made up of a network of electrical cables installed around the ship's hull, the system counteracts the detectable magnetic field of the steel hull.

Current systems use multiple tons of copper wire to get the job done, while HTS wire is made of superconducting ceramic materials.

"Superconductors have this power density advantage. They're able to carry a lot more electricity in the same cross-section — 150 times as much electricity as copper," Jason Fredette, spokesman for American Superconductor, told the Cleantech Group.

"In this application you're actually going to be able to deploy a smaller coil with superconductors than you would have to with copper."

Fredette said that translates into a number of advantages for the ship, with the reduction in weight meaning less fuel is needed, and there are lower installation and operating costs.

"You need actually less electricity to power that degaussing cable, because it's so efficient."

The company's primary markets are wind energy and power transmission and distribution. Last month, American Superconductor made a deal to license the design for its FC-2000 2 megawatt wind turbine to Taipei, Taiwan's Teco Electric & Machinery for sale in Taiwan and mainland China (see American Superconductor, Teco in wind turbine deal).

And the company entered the Indian market in April, licensing its Windtec 1.65 MW turbine to Ghodawat Industries for sale to certain countries in the Middle East, Southern Asia and Africa (see American Superconductor moves into Indian market).

On the power grid side, earlier this year the Long Island Power Authority in New York flipped the switch on a section of high temperature superconductor cable from American Superconductor (see Superconductor cable gets energized on Long Island).

The degaussing system has already successfully completed initial electrical testing onboard the USS Higgins, an 8,000 ton Arleigh Burke-class destroyer.

"We've actually been demonstrating this technology at our Devens, Mass., facility, right out on the manufacturing floor here for the past couple of years," said Fredette.

The system will now undergo sea trials on the Higgens over the next two years. "We're hopeful this gets designed into the future Navy fleet."

The company has made other deals in the defense industry, including a contract in 2003 with Arlington, Va.-based United Defense Industries, now part of London's BAE Systems (LON: BA), to develop a high voltage charger for the U.S. Army's electro-thermal chemical gun project.

The firing system uses pulsed power to ignite the propellant used by the big gun, which can fire munitions and conventional rounds, and is more accurate than conventional guns.

But it's not all guns and degausssers. In March 2007, American Superconductor completed factory acceptance testing of a 36.5 megawatt ship propulsion motor made with superconductor wire for the U.S. Navy.

"That's 49,000 horsepower," said Fredette. "It's a massive motor that the Navy is considering deploying on its future ships."

The company developed the motor along with Los Angeles-based strategic partner Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC) and delivered it to to the Navy last year. The electric motor could undergo testing by the military within the next six to 12 months.

There's also a non-military marine market for American Superconductor, with the company getting an order earlier this year for its PowerModule-based electrical systems for three mega-yachts and one river cruiser being built in Europe. The power systems will control power flows, regulate voltage and monitor system performance to maximize efficiency on the ships.

"There's surprisingly a good number of mega-yachts out there for those lucky people able to foot that bill," said Fredette.

In case the mega-yacht industry dampens, there are plenty of cargo, cruise line and other large ships in the sea.