JEFF A had four rotating ducted propellers JEFF B had two ducted rear propellers similar to the proposed SK-10 which was derived from the previous Bell SK-5 / SR.N5 hovercraft tested in Vietnam. JEFF B was selected for the LCAC.[3] JEFF A was later modified for Arctic use and deployed in Prudhoe Bay to support offshore oil drilling.[4]
The first 33 were included in the FY82-86 defense budgets, 15 in FY89, 12 each in FY90, FY91 and FY92, while seven were included in FY93. The first LCAC was delivered to the Navy in 1984 and Initial Operational Capability (IOC) was achieved in 1986. Approval for full production was granted in 1987.[5]
After an initial 15-craft competitive production contract was awarded to each of two companies, Textron Marine & Land Systems (TMLS) of New Orleans, La, and Avondale Gulfport Marine, TMLS was selected to build the remaining craft. The final craft was delivered in 2001.[5]
On June 29, 1987, approval was granted for full LCAC production. Forty-eight air-cushion landing craft were authorized and appropriated through FY 89. Lockheed Shipbuilding Company was competitively selected as a second source. The FY 1990 budget request included $219.3 million for nine craft. The FY 1991 request included full funding for 12 LCACs and advance procurement in support of the FY 1992 program (which was intended to be nine craft). The remaining 24 were funded in FY92.[5]
All of the planned 91 craft were delivered. Seventeen have since been disassembled or terminated for cost reasons, two are held for R&D, and 36 are in use on each coast at Little Creek, Virginia and Camp Pendleton, California. Eight minesweeping kits were acquired in 1994–1995. A service-life extension program (SLEP) to extend service life from 20 to 30 years for the remaining 72 active LCACs was begun in 2000 and was scheduled to be completed by 2018.[6]
The craft operates with a crew of five enlisted Sailors. Crew positions and responsibilities are as follows: Craft Master, Navigator, Craft Engineer, Deck Engineer, and Load Master. The Craft Master is over all in charge of piloting the craft, crew coordination, crew safety, craft safety, and has the ability to terminate a mission if weather or craft conditions have degraded past the point of mission accomplishment. The Craft Engineer is responsible for power plant monitoring, is cross trained as a secondary Craft Master in the case that the actual Craft Master becomes incapacitated, is the overall subject matter expert on craft mechanical and electrical systems, and leads/advises all in flight and in mission repairs. The Navigator is over all in charge of plotting safe lanes of travel, making in flight path of travel changes as needed, ensuring on time beach landings, logging weight of equipment moved, and communications with other craft and ground forces. The Deck Engineer is over all in charge of completing in flight and in mission repairs to the craft as needed, cross trains as a Craft Engineer in the care the Craft Engineer becomes incapacitated, leads on deck firefighting evolutions, and aids the Load Master in on-load and off-load of cargo and troops. The Load Master is overall in charge of all deck evolutions, movement of equipment, cargo, and troops during on loading and off-loading evolutions, proper loading of cargo on deck to ensure proper weight and balance of the craft is maintained and craft is level while on cushion, anchoring, mooring, and rigging for tow operations, ensuring proper restraints are used to secure cargo or calculate restrain requitements for unique or mission specific non-standard equipment, maintenance of craft armament, craft armorer, distribution of weapons and ammunition on command of the Craft Master, and acts as the port look out while in flight.
In addition to beach landings, LCAC provides personnel transport, evacuation support, lane breaching, mine countermeasure operations, casualty transport, and Marine and Special Warfare equipment delivery.[3] The four main engines are all used for lift and all used for main propulsion while two smaller auxiliary generator engines, Auxiliary Power Units (APU), provide craft electrical power.. The craft can continue to operate, at reduced capability, with two engines inoperable, one lift fan inoperable, and one APU inoperable. Main engines are interchangeable for redundancy and ease of maintenance. A Personnel Transport Model (PTM) can be assembled on the cargo deck of the craft. They can seat 180 troops, 120 combat loaded troops, and can additionally be converted to transport 54 casualties for medical treatment.[7]
The LCAC's cargo capacity is 1,809sqft (168.1m2), slightly less if cold weather kit is installed for winter and artic operations. The LCAC is capable of carrying a 60 short-ton payload (up to 75 tons in an overload condition), including one M-1 Abrams tank, at speeds over 40 knots. Fuel capacity is 5000 gallons. The LCAC uses an average of 1000 gallons per hour.[5]
Maneuvering considerations include requiring 500 yards or more to stop and 2000 yards or more turning radius. The bow ramp is 28.8ft (8.8m) wide while the stern ramp is 15ft (4.6m) wide. Noise and dust levels are high with this craft. If disabled the craft is difficult to tow. In recent years spray suppression has been added to the craft's skirt to reduce interference with driver's vision.[5]
An LCAC is delivering supplies to the citizens of Meulaboh, Indonesia after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.US Navy sailors pilot an LCAC transporting U.S. Marines ashore.
In Fiscal Year 2000 the Navy started an LCAC Service Life Extension Program (SLEP) to add 10 years of design life to each craft. The SLEP will be applied to 72 LCACs, extending their service life from 20 to 30 years.[3][8]
Phase I. Replacing electronics components with readily available commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) components. The new electronics suite will be more reliable and less costly to operate and maintain.
Phase II. Buoyancy box replacement at the Textron Marine and Land Systems facility in New Orleans, LA, to increase the LCACs resistance to corrosion. Phase II will also include the electronics upgrade of Phase I, until the entire active fleet is outfitted with the new configuration. The new buoyancy box will incorporate improvements to damage stability and trim control of the LCACs.
NAVSEA transitioned from the research and development effort to the SLEP in 1999. Concurrently NAVSEA also considered additional SLEP options, including an enhanced engine to provide improved operation in excessively hot environments and an advanced skirt that is more reliable and cost effective.
The Navy continued the LCAC Service Life Extension Program in Fiscal Year 2001. This program combines major structural improvements with Command, Control, Communications, Computer and Navigation upgrades and adds 10 years to the service life, extending it to 30 years. In FY 2001, it was funded at $19.9 million and extended the service life of 1 craft. The SLEP is planned for a total of 72 craft.
The near-term focus will be on the "C4N" [Command, Control, Communications, Computers, and Navigation] program, to replace the crafts' obsolete equipment. This will focus on replacement of LN-66 radars with modern, high-power P-80 radar systems. Additionally, the SLEP will include an open-architecture concept, relying on modern commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) equipment, which will allow much easier incorporation of later technology changes, such as the precision navigation system and communications systems ¾ fully interoperable with in-service and near-term future Joint systems ¾ now planned. The C4N program is to complete by 2010.
Through 2016, the Navy will look to incorporate other important service-life enhancements: Engine upgrades (ETF-40B configuration) that will provide additional power and lift particularly in hot (43°C (109°F), and higher) environments, reduced fuel consumption, reduced maintenance needs, and reduced lift footprint; Replacement of the buoyancy box to solve corrosion problems, incorporate hull improvements, and "reset" the fatigue-limit "clock"; Incorporation of a new (deep) skirt that will reduce drag, increase performance envelope over water and land, and reduce maintenance requirements.[5]
As of September 2012, there were 80 LCACs in the U.S. Navy inventory; 39 LCACs had undergone the SLEP conversion and 7 were in progress and 4 are awaiting induction. The FY 2013 budget authorized 4 SLEP conversions per year through FY 2018. The last of the 72 SLEP conversions will be delivered to the Navy in FY 2020. After the first SLEP LCAC reached its 30 years design service age in 2015, it was to gradually be retired. In 2019, at which point the inventory of LCACs had fallen to 50, the USN began receiving the new Ship-to-Shore Connector (SSC), the LCAC-100.[8]
The USN inventory of LCACs was projected to fall until 2023 after which SSC replacements would increase it.[8]
Japanese operations
A JMSDF LCAC at Naval Review
Six LCAC are in use by the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force. Approval for the sale was given by the United States Government on 8 April 1994. The craft were built by Textron Marine & Land Systems in New Orleans, Louisiana. Purchase of the first craft was included in the FY93 budget, second in FY95, third and fourth in FY99 and fifth and sixth in FY00.
The Wasp class is a class of landing helicopter dock (LHD) amphibious assault ships operated by the United States Navy. Based on the Tarawa class, with modifications to operate more advanced aircraft and landing craft, the Wasp class is capable of transporting almost the full strength of a United States Marine Corps Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), and landing them in hostile territory via landing craft or helicopters as well as providing air support via AV-8B Harrier II attack aircraft or F-35B Lightning II stealth strike-fighters. All Wasp-class ships were built by Ingalls Shipbuilding, at Pascagoula, Mississippi, with the lead ship, USS Wasp, commissioned on 29 July 1989. Eight Wasp-class ships were built, and as of April 2021, seven are in active service, as USS Bonhomme Richard was seriously damaged by fire on 12 July 2020, and subsequently decommissioned in April 2021.
Landing helicopter assault (LHA) is the United States Navy's hull classification symbol for the general-purpose helicopter-carrying amphibious assault ships of the Tarawa and America classes.
Textron Marine & Land Systems, formerly Cadillac Gage, is an American military contractor that manufactures armored vehicles, turrets, advanced marine craft, surface effects ships, and other weapon systems. It is owned by Textron, and was formed in the merger between Cadillac Gage and Textron Marine in 1994.
A Landing Craft Utility (LCU) is a type of boat used by amphibious forces to transport equipment and troops to the shore. They are capable of transporting tracked or wheeled vehicles and troops from amphibious assault ships to beachheads or piers.
A surface effect ship (SES) or sidewall hovercraft is a watercraft that has both an air cushion, like a hovercraft, and twin hulls, like a catamaran. When the air cushion is in use, a small portion of the twin hulls remains in the water. When the air cushion is turned off ("off-cushion" or "hull borne"), the full weight of the vessel is supported by the buoyancy of the twin hulls.
Newport-class tank landing ships were an improved class of tank landing ship (LST) designed for and employed by the United States Navy from 1969 to 2002. The ships were intended to provide substantial advantages over their World War II-era predecessors. Larger and faster than any previous LST design, they carried a ramp over the bow that allowed them to surpass 20 knots, a goal of the United States amphibious forces. 27 were planned of which twenty were completed, the high number due to the demands of US force projection estimates. However, the arrival of the air-cushioned landing craft which allowed for over-the-horizon attacks made the class obsolete in the eyes of the United States Navy. Placed in reserve, twelve were eventually sold to foreign navies, while the remaining eight have since been decommissioned.
The America class is a ship class of landing helicopter assault (LHA) type amphibious assault ships of the United States Navy (USN). The class is designed to put ashore a Marine Expeditionary Unit using helicopters and MV-22B Osprey V/STOL transport aircraft, supported by AV-8B Harrier II or F-35 Lightning II V/STOL aircraft and various attack helicopters. The first of these warships was commissioned by the U.S. Navy in 2014 to replace USS Peleliu of the Tarawa class; as many as eleven will be built. The design of the America class is based on that of USS Makin Island, the last ship of the Wasp class, but the "Flight 0" ships of the America class will not have well decks, and have smaller on-board hospitals to provide more space for aviation uses.
The Zubr class, Soviet designation Project 1232.2, is a class of Soviet-designed air-cushioned landing craft (LCAC). The name "Zubr" is Russian for the European bison. This class of military hovercraft is, as of 2023 the world's largest hovercraft, with a standard full load displacement of 555 tons. The hovercraft was designed to sealift amphibious assault units from equipped/non-equipped vessels to non-equipped shores, as well as to transport and plant naval mines.
The Type 071 is a class of Chinese amphibious transport dock ships in service with the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN). The Type 071 provides the PLAN with capabilities and flexibility not found in its previous landing ships.
An amphibious warfare ship is an amphibious vehicle warship employed to land and support ground forces, such as marines, on enemy territory during an amphibious assault.
The Type 722 II class LCAC with NATO reporting name Jinsha II class LCAC is a medium size air-cushioned landing craft (hovercraft) operated by the People's Liberation Army Navy of China. It is frequently but erroneously referred by many as Dagu class, its predecessor, due to misspelling and lack of information in the 1970s, when these projects first appeared. There are also other names for this class, mostly resulting from different transliterations.
The Engin de débarquement amphibie rapide (EDA-R) is a class of French roll-on/roll-off catamaran landing craft (L-CAT) operated by the French and Egyptian navies. They transport vehicles, cargo and personnel from Mistral-class amphibious assault ships to shore.
The Type 724 Landing Craft Air-Cushion (LCAC) is the first indigenous air cushion landing craft in operational use with People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), and it origin dates all the way back in the early 1960s, when 7th Academy was assigned to lead the developmental work on air cushioned vehicles for a 10-year plan lasting from 1963 to 1972. Two projects developed from this research work, and Type 724 LCAC is the direct descendant of these two research projects.
The Ship-to-Shore Connector (SSC), also known as the LCAC 100 class, is a system proposed by the United States Navy as a replacement for the Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC). It will offer an increased capacity to cope with the growing weight of equipment used by the United States Army and Marine Corps. As of 2015, the program is forecast to cost a total of US$4.054B for 73 hovercraft.
An Expeditionary Transfer Dock (ESD), formerly the Mobile Landing Platform (MLP), is designed to be a semi-submersible, flexible, modular platform providing the US Navy with the capability to perform large-scale logistics movements such as the transfer of vehicles and equipment from sea to shore. These ships significantly reduce the dependency on foreign ports and provide support in the absence of port availability. The class also houses a sub-class variant called the Expeditionary Mobile Base (ESB), formerly the Afloat Forward Staging Base (AFSB).
USNS Montford Point (T-ESD-1),, the lead ship of her class of Expeditionary Transfer Docks (ESD), is a ship named in honor of African American Marine Corps recruits who trained at Montford Point Camp, North Carolina, from 1942 to 1949. After $115 million was allocated for long-lead time material and advanced design efforts, in late 2010 General Dynamics's National Steel and Shipbuilding Company was awarded the contract, worth approximately $500 million, to build the first of three planned vessels.
Assault Craft Unit 5 is the United States Navy's Pacific operating unit for the Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC). Headquartered at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California, their mission is transporting, ship-to-shore and across the beach, personnel, weapons, equipment, and cargo of the assault elements of the Marine Air-Ground Task Force. ACU-5 has over 400 sailors, organized in five departments. A part of the United States Pacific Fleet, ACU-5 administratively reports to Commander, Naval Beach Group 1, a part of Expeditionary Strike Group 3.
The Landing Craft Air Cushion (Light), or LCAC(L), is a small amphibious hovercraft able to transverse both land and water. Like all amphibious landing craft in the Royal Navy, they were operated by the Royal Marines to transport troops or equipment from ship to shore during an amphibious landing.
Yimeng Shan (988) is a Type 071 amphibious transport dock of the People's Liberation Army Navy.
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