The Navy plans to seek bids in June for a replacement for its aging Landing Craft Air Cushions (LCACs), with a goal of increasing lift capability and efficiency while reducing total ownership cost, the program manager said May 3.
The performance parameters and attributes of new craft, called the Ship-to-Shore Connector (SSC), were determined by the Navy in cooperation with the Joint Staff, which represents a return to a traditional design approach, Capt. Jeff Riedel, program manager for amphibious ships at U.S. Naval Sea System Command (NAVSEA), told reporters during a briefing at the NAVSEA booth at the Sea-Air-Space Exposition at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center.
The LCACs are powered by jet engines, which drive two large propellers and lift fans that allow the craft to move at speeds up to 50 knots by riding above the water on a cushion of air. That air cushion also allows the LCACs to ride up onto a beach to discharge cargo.
The SSC team started by looking at ways to reduce the major “cost drivers” in the LCACs to give the fleet a craft that could be maintained at a lower cost and with fewer man hours, Riedel said.
Improvements aimed at reducing ownership cost included a simpler, more efficient drive system, extensive use of commercially available components, reducing the cockpit crew from three to two and using composite coating on the lift fans to reduce the rapid erosion of the blades, he said. The new blades also will be easier to replace than those on the LCAC.
The SSC will have to be the same size as the LCAC in order to fit in the well decks of the existing amphibious ships. But it will have a lift capability of 74 tons, compared with the LCAC’s 60 tons, and greater fuel efficiency, Riedel said.
The SSC program calls for 72 new craft, to replace the 81 existing LCACs, which were built by Textron Marine Systems.
Copyright 2010. Navy League of the United States. All Rights Reserved.
