Lockheed and Gibbs to develop HSAs

Lockheed Martin and Gibbs Technologies have agreed to develop a family of high-speed amphibious vehicles designed specifically for military operations.

The militarised High Speed Amphibians (HSAs) will use technology from a fleet of prototype amphibious vehicles developed by Gibbs Technologies for consumer use, including the Gibbs Aquada, a three-person sports car, Gibbs Humdinga, a four-wheel military vehicle, and Gibbs Quadski, an amphibious all terrain vehicle.

Gibbs' technology is said to enable amphibians to travel at speeds over 45mph on water and over 100mph on land -- and to transition from water-to-land or land-to-water in five seconds. These features provide a much-needed capability for military littoral, riverine and special operations.

Gibbs and Lockheed Martin are developing three military concept vehicles: the Amphibious Combat Craft -- Expeditionary; the Amphibious Combat Craft -- Riverine; and the Terraquad.

Gibbs and Lockheed Martin will advance the development by integrating expeditionary command and control capability, armour and weapons systems. The military version will have network ability to share and distribute information from onboard and remote sensors. The craft will be able to accommodate a variety of weapons systems, based on specific mission needs.