New Landing Craft for the Royal Marine Commandos

happyslapper · 11-03-2009, 09:31 AM

Royal Marines' semi-hovership prototype launched

Commandos of the future to ride in aircushion catamaran

By Lewis Page
12th October 2009 10:31 GMT

A prototype high-speed landing craft - using a novel British design halfway between a catamaran and a hovercraft - has been launched. The "PACSCAT" (Partial Air Cushion Supported CATamaran) design is intended for service with the Royal Marines.

Per Mare Per Terram - riding on air.

PACSCAT has twin hulls like a catamaran, but also has curtains between them at bow and stern not unlike the skirts of a hovercraft. Air from fans is blown into the space thus contained, lifting the hulls higher in the water than they would otherwise be and so reducing drag. The PACSCAT should be faster than a normal monohull landing craft and able to beach itself and get off again more easily, yet able to carry more than a conventional air-cushion job.

The Royal Marines, who operate both normal and air-cushion landing craft, are interested in the PACSCAT concept as it could allow a task force to get ashore quickly while leaving its amphibious ships - potentially vulnerable and easily spotted - safely over the horizon out at sea. Though they have been fighting mainly in land-locked Afghanistan lately, the Royal Marine Commandos* did execute a major amphibious assault only six years ago (on Iraq's Al Faw peninsula) and they remain the UK's beach-landing specialists.

Tests for the Ministry of Defence (MoD) have already been carried out using models in tanks and a one-third-scale manned demonstrator. Now the project has built and launched a 175-tonne full scale demonstrator, 30m long and 7.7m in the beam. The all-aluminium waterjet-propelled semi-hover ship should be able to carry 55 tonnes of payload, generally made up of Viking light-armoured all terrain vehicles used by the Royal Marines. Over time it should be able to get a lot more cargo ashore than the marines' existing craft.

The PACSCAT demo project is being run for the MoD by QinetiQ, the company formed by selling off much of the MoD R&D apparatus. Other firms involved include Griffon Hoverwork and Aluminium Shipbuilding.
"It will be capable of performing a variety of roles, where high speed and high payload capacity are required and has exceptional beaching qualities because of its low and variable draught,” explains QinetiQ floaty-boaty biz chief Iain Kennedy. “The industry partners are all working well together and the trials later this year will determine the performance of the PACSCAT hullform at full scale and the relevant operational capability.”

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/10...rship_marines/

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http://www.qinetiq.com/home/newsroom...%20Pacscat.jpg

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PDF about the technology, composed by Southampton University:

http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/23190/01/...d%2BIvanov.pdf

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New Hovercraft on Trial at Instow

Landing Craft Air Cushion (Light) (Replacement) (LCAC (L) (R))
The LCAC (L) (R) is a direct replacement for the LCAC (L) currently in service with 539 Assault Squadron Royal Marines. The craft is required to operate in a hostile marine environment in extreme temperatures. It may be deployed for several months with very limited maintenance support facilities. The primary role of the LCAC (L) (R) is as an air-portable, fully amphibious craft capable of the high speed movement of 16 fully equipped troops and a crew of 2 over water, ice, mud, marshland and beach.

LCAC (L) (R) is currently conducting extensive trials with 11 (Amphibious Trials and Training) Squadron at Instow. The craft is proving exceptionally capable, particularly the increase in manoeuvrability and speed. It is able to achieve up 45 kts fully laden, which is a considerable increase over the old LCAC(L). The navigation systems have greatly enhanced the craft's capability to operate at night and in poor visibility. It has a state of the art thermal image camera working in conjunction with twin Raymarine display screens which increase the coxswains’ spatial awareness considerably. Ballistic protection is fitted to the craft to provide protection for the crew and passengers. Interface trials have been conducted successfully with the amphibious shipping from which the craft will be deployed around the world. Currently, Air Portability trials are also being conducted to shoe horn it into a Hercules aircraft; giving us another means of strategic deployment.

Without a doubt the introduction of the four replacement craft will enhance the Corp's amphibious capability considerably.

http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/rn-live/...changeNav/6568

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http://www.griffonhoverwork.com/products/4

B_706K · 11-03-2009, 09:35 AM

Thank god this wasn't the Top Gear/Fiesta bit again. Not that that wasn't good but...

Anyway cheers for posting both look good!

Rakki · 11-03-2009, 10:24 AM

Surprising the MOD didn't gaff these two up like they did on everything else.... looks like two solid pieces of kit (the partial hovercraft thing is pretty clever)

signatory · 11-03-2009, 10:33 AM

Cool news.

"PACSCAT" ? erhm.....

supercontra · 11-03-2009, 10:46 AM

Why front opening instead of side/rear after the experiences at Normadie in WW2.

Thom · 11-03-2009, 10:50 AM

Not that I am an expert, but i'd assume we tend not to do those types of landings anymore.

happyslapper · 11-03-2009, 11:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by supercontra

Why front opening instead of side/rear after the experiences at Normadie in WW2.

Most of the design criterion is based on experience in the Falklands (the last large-scale amphibious landings), and with experience of the landings in Iraq, as well as riverine/littoral ops all over the world. None of the planning is for a Normady style opposed frontal landing... that would be a blood bath. Hence modern amphibious forces rely heavily on helicopters, lighter landing craft, and hovercraft, to circumvent ever having to 'storm the beach' again.

However, i think the PACSCAT does have a rear ramp (it's visible in the video), to make loading/unloading inside the well-dock of an LPD easier.

PS. If a mod would mind removing my gramatical mistake in the title (it should be ''craft'', not crafts''), i'd be grateful.

SineJustitia · 11-03-2009, 11:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thom

Not that I am an expert, but i'd assume we tend not to do those types of landings anymore.

Almost spot on. In fact, Normandy was never intended like that. American troops lacked the armor to hide behind, because their individually "swimming" tanks sank. Compare US losses to the other participating forces, to see the difference.

Nowadays, with LCU's you can land the tank first, with the troops following close behind.

If you really really wanted to, because that would still mean massive losses.

Anyway, thanks for posting, happyslapper. Interesting crafts.

11-03-2009, 09:31 AM	#1
happyslapper Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Windsor, United Kingdom Posts: 647	New Landing Craft for the Royal Marine Commandos Royal Marines' semi-hovership prototype launched Commandos of the future to ride in aircushion catamaran By Lewis Page 12th October 2009 10:31 GMT A prototype high-speed landing craft - using a novel British design halfway between a catamaran and a hovercraft - has been launched. The "PACSCAT" (Partial Air Cushion Supported CATamaran) design is intended for service with the Royal Marines. Per Mare Per Terram - riding on air. PACSCAT has twin hulls like a catamaran, but also has curtains between them at bow and stern not unlike the skirts of a hovercraft. Air from fans is blown into the space thus contained, lifting the hulls higher in the water than they would otherwise be and so reducing drag. The PACSCAT should be faster than a normal monohull landing craft and able to beach itself and get off again more easily, yet able to carry more than a conventional air-cushion job. The Royal Marines, who operate both normal and air-cushion landing craft, are interested in the PACSCAT concept as it could allow a task force to get ashore quickly while leaving its amphibious ships - potentially vulnerable and easily spotted - safely over the horizon out at sea. Though they have been fighting mainly in land-locked Afghanistan lately, the Royal Marine Commandos* did execute a major amphibious assault only six years ago (on Iraq's Al Faw peninsula) and they remain the UK's beach-landing specialists. Tests for the Ministry of Defence (MoD) have already been carried out using models in tanks and a one-third-scale manned demonstrator. Now the project has built and launched a 175-tonne full scale demonstrator, 30m long and 7.7m in the beam. The all-aluminium waterjet-propelled semi-hover ship should be able to carry 55 tonnes of payload, generally made up of Viking light-armoured all terrain vehicles used by the Royal Marines. Over time it should be able to get a lot more cargo ashore than the marines' existing craft. The PACSCAT demo project is being run for the MoD by QinetiQ, the company formed by selling off much of the MoD R&D apparatus. Other firms involved include Griffon Hoverwork and Aluminium Shipbuilding. "It will be capable of performing a variety of roles, where high speed and high payload capacity are required and has exceptional beaching qualities because of its low and variable draught,” explains QinetiQ floaty-boaty biz chief Iain Kennedy. “The industry partners are all working well together and the trials later this year will determine the performance of the PACSCAT hullform at full scale and the relevant operational capability.” http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/10...rship_marines/ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.qinetiq.com/home/newsroom...%20Pacscat.jpg ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- PDF about the technology, composed by Southampton University: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/23190/01/...d%2BIvanov.pdf ----------------------------------------------------------------------- New Hovercraft on Trial at Instow Landing Craft Air Cushion (Light) (Replacement) (LCAC (L) (R)) The LCAC (L) (R) is a direct replacement for the LCAC (L) currently in service with 539 Assault Squadron Royal Marines. The craft is required to operate in a hostile marine environment in extreme temperatures. It may be deployed for several months with very limited maintenance support facilities. The primary role of the LCAC (L) (R) is as an air-portable, fully amphibious craft capable of the high speed movement of 16 fully equipped troops and a crew of 2 over water, ice, mud, marshland and beach. LCAC (L) (R) is currently conducting extensive trials with 11 (Amphibious Trials and Training) Squadron at Instow. The craft is proving exceptionally capable, particularly the increase in manoeuvrability and speed. It is able to achieve up 45 kts fully laden, which is a considerable increase over the old LCAC(L). The navigation systems have greatly enhanced the craft's capability to operate at night and in poor visibility. It has a state of the art thermal image camera working in conjunction with twin Raymarine display screens which increase the coxswains’ spatial awareness considerably. Ballistic protection is fitted to the craft to provide protection for the crew and passengers. Interface trials have been conducted successfully with the amphibious shipping from which the craft will be deployed around the world. Currently, Air Portability trials are also being conducted to shoe horn it into a Hercules aircraft; giving us another means of strategic deployment. Without a doubt the introduction of the four replacement craft will enhance the Corp's amphibious capability considerably. http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/rn-live/...changeNav/6568 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.griffonhoverwork.com/products/4

11-03-2009, 09:35 AM	#2
B_706K Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Steady Rollin' Age: 26 Posts: 1,516	Thank god this wasn't the Top Gear/Fiesta bit again. Not that that wasn't good but... Anyway cheers for posting both look good!

11-03-2009, 10:24 AM	#3
Rakki Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Posts: 1,091	Surprising the MOD didn't gaff these two up like they did on everything else.... looks like two solid pieces of kit (the partial hovercraft thing is pretty clever)

11-03-2009, 10:33 AM	#4
signatory Senior Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: Terra firma Posts: 9,799	Cool news. "PACSCAT" ? erhm.....

11-03-2009, 10:46 AM	#5
supercontra Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Germania a.k.a EU Posts: 596	Why front opening instead of side/rear after the experiences at Normadie in WW2.

11-03-2009, 10:50 AM	#6
Thom Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: UK Posts: 332	Not that I am an expert, but i'd assume we tend not to do those types of landings anymore.