Recognizing the benefits of all-electric platforms, navies, shipping companies, and FPSO (floating production, storage, and offloading system) operators around the world are moving toward all-electric vessels. The United States and Royal (U.K.) Navies currently use geared turbine drives for most main propulsion and auxiliary power generation needs.  When compared to a DDS unit, these geared units require more space (reducing operational duration and increasing requirements for bunkerage); are heavier, less reliable, and less efficient; and have higher acquisition and ownership costs. For defense applications, they also create a greater than necessary acoustical signature.

Retrofits of modern radar and advanced weapons systems to existing vessels have significantly increased the demand for shipboard electric power. That trend is also continuing with the advent of directed energy weapons, rail guns, electromagnetic launch and recovery systems, and other new technologies being integrated into naval fleets. Weight, size, and space restrictions for existing navy vessels, in particular for evolutionary hull forms that have already undergone considerable modification, are limiting the ability to retrofit these vessels with increased electric power generation.

A 2004 study by Rolls Royce and DDS showed that coupling a DDS high-speed generator directly to a gas turbine results not only allows an increase in power, but also leads to significant size, weight, and space savings as well as increases in efficiency. More importantly, the Rolls Royce/DDS design fits into the existing footprint of the standard 2.5- 3MW generating system used on many Navy platforms without modification, while also lowering the center of gravity and reducing the displacement of these vessels. Fuel is another significant displacement factor for conventionally powered vessels, and the reduced weight and increased efficiency of the DDS generator significantly increase range and mission duration.