Fast landing craft to start trials

News

A fast landing vessel that can transport troops and armoured fighting vehicles from Royal Navy amphibious ships to the beach will soon begin sea trials.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has contracted Qinetiq to design and build the vessel, known as PACSCAT (Partial Air Cushion Supported CATamaran). The craft will be designed to meet the MoD’s requirement for rapid amphibious operations from over the horizon.

The all-aluminium PACSCAT ISDC measures 30m in length and 7.7m in the beam; it carries a design vehicle payload of 55 tonnes and an approximate loaded weight of 175 tonnes.

The vessel is propelled by twin waterjets and is driven by MTU Diesel engines that are reportedly capable of delivering significantly faster speeds than traditional landing craft.

Qinetiq was contracted by the MoD’s Research Acquisition Organisation (now the Defence Technology Innovation Centre) to manage the procurement of the demonstrator vessel, to act as the design authority and to run the safety process and trials programme.

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