The U.S. Navy accepted delivery of the next generation landing craft, Ship to Shore Connector (SSC), Landing Craft, Air Cushion (LCAC) 106 on November 17.
The U.S. Navy accepted delivery of the next generation landing craft, Ship to Shore Connector (SSC), Landing Craft, Air Cushion (LCAC) 106 on November 17
LCAC 106’s delivery follows the completion of Acceptance Trials with the U.S. Navy’s Board of Inspection and Survey (INSURV) to test the readiness and capability of the craft and to validate requirements.
«We are excited to deliver this next generation craft to the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps team», said Captain Jason Grabelle, program manager, Amphibious Assault and Connectors Programs, Program Executive Office (PEO) Ships. «LCACs are providing our Navy and partners with the speed and agility essential to our missions».
LCACs are built with similar configurations, dimensions, and clearances to the legacy LCAC, ensuring the compatibility of this next-generation air cushion vehicle with existing well deck-equipped amphibious ships.
The LCAC program is in serial production, with an additional 11 craft currently being built at Textron Systems.
As one of the Defense Department’s largest acquisition organizations, PEO Ships is responsible for executing the development and procurement of all destroyers, amphibious ships, special mission and support ships, boats and craft.
The U.S. Navy accepted delivery of the next generation landing craft, Ship to Shore Connector (SSC), Landing Craft, Air Cushion (LCAC) 104, June 9.
Navy Accepts Delivery of Ship to Shore Connector, Landing Craft, Air Cushion 104
LCAC 104’s delivery follows the completion of Acceptance Trials with the U.S. Navy’s Board of Inspection and Survey (INSURV) to test the readiness and capability of the craft and to validate requirements.
«These next generation craft provide our Navy and Marine Corps team with essential agility and speed to complete their missions», said Captain Jason Grabelle, program manager, Amphibious Assault and Connectors Programs, Program Executive Office (PEO) Ships. «The reliability and flexibility of the LCAC make them an essential asset to the fleet – protecting the maritime domain now and in the future».
LCACs are built with similar configurations, dimensions, and clearances to the legacy LCAC, ensuring the compatibility of this next-generation air cushion vehicle with existing well deck-equipped amphibious ships.
The LCAC program is currently in serial production on LCACs 105-116 at Textron Systems.
As one of the Defense Department’s largest acquisition organizations, PEO Ships is responsible for executing the development and procurement of all destroyers, amphibious ships, special mission and support ships, boats and craft.
Textron Systems Corporation, a Textron Inc. company, on July 19, 2021 announced that it has been pre-awarded the United States Marine Corps Advanced Reconnaissance Vehicle (ARV) prototype agreement for its purpose-built Cottonmouth vehicle. Through the 22-month period of performance, Textron Systems will produce a Cottonmouth vehicle for the Marine Corps that will go through rigorous testing and evaluation. The data gained from the ARV competitive prototyping efforts will be used to inform a USMC decision point in fiscal year 2023.
Textron Systems selected for U.S. Marine Corps Advanced Reconnaissance Vehicle pre-award
Built from a clean-sheet design, Cottonmouth is a 6×6 wheeled amphibious reconnaissance vehicle designed to operate within the Marine Corps’ Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations (EABO) construct. Designed to swim in the open ocean and navigate through surf zones, this vehicle possesses the advanced maneuverability critical to enhanced reconnaissance operations.
As a next-generation naval sensor node, Cottonmouth has the ability to strengthen communication to operate and employ a mix of reconnaissance, surveillance, target acquisition and command, control, communications networking, and computing (C4) systems. Equipped with cutting-edge technology, such as teammate Elbit Systems of America’s IronVision, a «see-through» technology that provides advance visibility and 3600 situational awareness, this vehicle allows the Marine Corps to see beyond line of sight.
«Built from the ground up in less than nine months, the Cottonmouth is a low-risk, mission-oriented solution backed with over 750 miles of data using scenarios representative to the Marine Corps’ mission profile and requirements», said Senior Vice President David Phillips of Textron Systems. «The Cottonmouth is a testament to Textron Systems’ commitment to the Marine Corps’ vision and needs. We are proud to support the service in this next phase of the competition and look forward to working together».
Textron Systems responded to the requirement released by the Government through the National Advanced Mobility Consortium (NAMC) and the prototype award will be executed under their Ground Vehicle Systems (GVS) Other Transaction Agreement (OTA). Textron Systems expects to begin these activities in fall 2021, with the prototype delivery expected in the first quarter of fiscal year 2023. Per the requirement, a six-month government evaluation period will follow.
The Navy accepted delivery of the next generation landing craft, Ship to Shore Connector (SSC), Landing Craft, Air Cushion (LCAC) 101, August 27. LCAC-101 is the second craft delivered by Textron Systems to the Navy this year.
Navy accepts delivery of second next generation Landing Craft
The LCAC is a high-speed, over-the-beach, fully amphibious landing craft capable of carrying a 60-70 ton payload. The LCAC replaces the existing fleet of legacy LCAC vehicles, and will primarily transport weapon systems, equipment, cargo, and personnel of the assault elements through varied environmental conditions from amphibious ships to and over the beach.
The delivery follows the successful completion of Acceptance Trials with the Navy’s Board of Inspection and Survey. During these at sea trials, the craft underwent testing to demonstrate the capability of the platform and installed systems across all mission areas to effectively meet its requirements.
«Our next generation surface connectors are going to significantly enhance the Navy and Marine Corps team’s capability to execute missions – from humanitarian assistance to amphibious assault», said Captain Cedric McNeal, amphibious warfare program manager, Program Executive Office (PEO) Ships. «We have 12 additional craft in production with another 10 on contract, positioning us to steadily deliver increased capability to our fleet over the coming years».
LCACs are constructed at Textron Systems in Slidell, Louisiana and are built with similar configurations, dimensions, and clearances to legacy LCAC, ensuring the compatibility of this next-generation air cushion vehicle with existing well deck equipped amphibious ships, as well as Expeditionary Transfer Dock and the Expeditionary Sea Base.
As one of the Defense Department’s largest acquisition organizations, PEO Ships is responsible for executing the development and procurement of all destroyers, amphibious ships, special mission and support ships, boats and craft.
SPECIFICATIONS
Payload
68 metric tons/149,914 lbs.
Speed
35 knots/40 mph/65 km/h at Sea State 3
Deck Area
67 × 24 feet (1,608 sq feet)/20.42 × 7.32 m (149.39 sq m)
Operating Crew
Four (pilot, co-pilot, load master and deck engineer)
The Navy’s next generation landing craft, Ship to Shore Connector (SSC), Land Craft, Air Cushion (LCAC) 101, concluded acceptance trials the week of June 8 after successfully completing a series of graded in-port and underway demonstrations for the Navy’s Board of Inspection and Survey (INSURV).
The Navy’s next generation landing craft, Ship to Shore Connector (SSC), Land Craft, Air Cushion (LCAC) 101, concluded acceptance trials the week of June 8 after successfully completing a series of graded in-port and underway demonstrations for the Navy’s Board of Inspection and Survey (INSURV) (Photo by Textron (courtesy of)/RELEASED)
During the trials, the craft underwent integrated testing to demonstrate the capability of the platform and installed systems across all mission areas to effectively meet its requirements. These demonstrations are used to validate the quality of construction and compliance with Navy specifications and requirements prior to delivering the craft to the U.S. Navy. As INSURV is the approving authority for ships and craft undergoing Acceptance Trials, LCAC 101 can now begin preparing for delivery.
«The first operational production unit for the next-generation landing craft, LCAC 101, performed well having incorporated lessons learned from the recent Craft 100 at-sea trials», said Tom Rivers, amphibious warfare program manager for Program Executive Office (PEO) Ships. «LCAC 101 successfully demonstrated the ability to operate both on and off cushion at full load through the full range of speed, payload and maneuvering requirements».
The SSC is the evolutionary replacement for the existing fleet of legacy LCAC vehicles, and will primarily transport weapon systems, equipment, cargo, and personnel of the assault elements through varied environmental conditions from amphibious ships to and over the beach.
SSCs are constructed at Textron Systems, Marine & Land Systems in Slidell, Louisiana, and are built with similar configurations, dimensions, and clearances to legacy LCAC, ensuring the compatibility of this next-generation air cushion vehicle with existing well deck equipped amphibious ships, as well as Expeditionary Transfer Dock and Expeditionary Sea Bases. Textron has delivered Craft 100, has completed testing on LCAC 101, and is currently in production on 12 craft with an additional 10 on contract.
As one of the Defense Department’s largest acquisition organizations, PEO Ships is responsible for executing the development and procurement of all destroyers, amphibious ships, special mission and support ships, boats and craft.
