New ferry service
I thought this was a new high-speed ferry service from Portsmouth to the Isle of Wight.
Blighty's elite Royal Marine Commandos have just taken delivery of a prototype semi-aircushion hover assault craft, intended to speed up the amphibious landings of the future. The Royal Marines already operate normal boats and air-cushion hovercraft, but the new vessel is a Partial Air Cushion Supported CATamaran or …
The hulls are almost identical. The only 'major' difference is the hinged bow section, which looks as if a blind person slapped it on, while drunk...
(I won't mention the rear ramp... Ugh... )
And if you read up on the KNM Skjold you'll see that the functional description is exactly the same; a catamaran wih a partial air-cushion trapped between the hulls.
As for transporting A1s or Chieftains...
Rip off the superstructure, the 76mm Oto Breda Super Rapid cannon, the Surface-to-surface missiles, the state-of-the-art radar and comms, build the hull out of thick steel plates instead of modern radar-absorbent materials, and you'd probably end up with that PACwhatever...
What I'm trying to say is that NOTHING on that lander is 'new' or innovative.
Not my fault that the British Navy is so far after the times...
Also, the 'standoff' these can give the mothership is imaginary.
As soon as anything like this gets close to the shore, they will be spotted and reported back to a HQ. When THAT happens, the REAL killers of the sea is let loose. Subs, MTBs.
A Landing craft has NO use on a modern battlefield before the beach-head is secure and you have air-superiority, and also have taken out command and communications. (A single man-portable missile can take it out during the unloading phase. And you have no way of stopping him unless you 'own' the area for at least a few Km around.) Want men on the beach?
Use RIBs. They're faster, have almost no radar signature, can be launched from large subs and so on. Sure, you can't bring Tanks( read: targets) on them, but a modern 'beach-head' scenario requiring tanks to keep it is doomed anyway. An A1 uses so much fuel that it could just as well be tied to a tanker truck... There's a lot of coastland that 'doesn't lend itself' to landing tanks or heavy machinery. The rest you must expect to be mined.
On the beaches that you CAN land on, the hovercraft models are much better than this hybrid as they can travel up onto the beach, so that soldiers can exit onto dry land instead of slowly wading through deep waters. (A slow soldier is a dead soldier)
Also, the Hovercraft will usually pass over buried mines on the beach without setting them off.
When the area IS secure, landing craft can be used to unload relief troops, equipment and supplies, but then you can also move the 'motherships' much closer to land without danger, so the unloading goes faster anyway.
I bow to your obviously superior knowledge of Naval Architecture and combat operations in the Littoral Battlespace.
Nobody is claiming PACSCAT FLC is new or innovative, she's a task-specific-configuration demonstrator, as a potential replacement for the LCU Mk10.
The double ramps are for thru-vessel serial-loading/unloading, without having to reverse the craft into the mothership or beach.
However, NOTHING on Skjold is 'new' or innovative.
For the development of SES and sidewall hovercraft, try googling Hovercraft Development Ltd and HD-1 (1959), Hovermarine and HM-2, (~1965), BMT (formerly BSRA/NMI), ANVCE (from 70's & 80's), etc.
Denny's only constructed the HD-1 on behalf of HDL, the cited Denny's D2 was a development from the HD-1.
Nobody but yourself, is claiming/infering that PACSCAT FLC is a first-ashore craft, nor one operable without first establishing airspace exclusivity.
Remind me, just how many recent invasion exercises has Norway managed to repulse/win ? ;-)
Skjold can carry how many -
- Challenger main battle tanks ? (1 MBT)
- ATVs/LAVs ? (5 off)
- Persons ? (lots)
- Tonnes of payload ? (72 tonnes)
PACSCAT is F/A like Skjold other than they both float.
PACSCAT FLC is a concept demonstration craft only, (FLC == Fast Landing Craft). Its an improvement on the RN LCU Mk10 allowing the parent vessel to stand further offshore.
PACSCAT FLC is a military offshoot from an EU road-transport reduction initiative, redirecting heavy-lorry cargo onto fast-barge transports.
PACSCAT FLC - http://www.qinetiq.com/home/defence/defence_solutions/sea/downloads/cl_and_ds.Par.24409.File.PDF/PACSCAT_Datasheet_Logo_V20_01_06.pdf