Over the last 20 years, sea hovercraft have been operating in the background, performing the “unseen” part of the humanitarian work, which, in their speed, versatility, and maneuverability, they are only able to match by the typical landing craft. One of the main instances of how hovercraft are facilitating the movement of troops, vehicles, and equipment off the ship and onto the shore, and then onto the battlefield is the US Navy Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC), or simply the LCAC.
LCAC was originally conceived in the early 1970s, as the Navy made the brutal discovery that the old landing craft were managing to reach only a minute fraction of the world’s beaches. LCAC, with the aid of air-cushion technology, now travels along over 70 percent of coastlines without skimming the water, mud, sand, or even marsh.
It will transport 75 tons at more than 40 knots, the same weight as an M1 Abrams tank, guns, or truck convoy delivered straight onto beaches that would put old ships out of business. It will greatly increase the Marines’ capability to project ashore both quickly and inexpensively.
LCAC entered full operational status in 1987 and constructed all 91, the last one being finished in 2001. Hovercraft launch from well decks onto specially designed amphibious ships that flood and dump their craft directly into the ocean. There are five manning sailors per LCAC, and it can be used to perform a wide range of missions from the traditional beach assault to transport, evacuation, mine countermeasures, and special operations.
In maintaining the readiness of the fleet, the Navy purchased Service Life Extension Programs and the next-generation Ship-to-Shore Connector design with an eye toward ultimately replacing the LCAC.
LCACs’ military and humanitarian operational forces have been stretched to the breaking point in combat operations and humanitarian relief missions. Marines have utilized the ship for mass operations to bring cutting-edge missile systems with speed, set up expeditionary bases, and even fire precision-guided projectiles hundreds of miles away. To be able to tow heavy loads, do something, and exit before the enemy has time to counterattack is a success in naval warfare.
Apart from their application in heavy combat, hovercraft have also been applied for humanitarian intervention. Their ability to travel to shores that they could never reach before makes them guaranteed of the responsibility of bringing food, water, medication, and equipment to areas in need. They’ve been applied in hurricane relief, evacuations, and other catastrophes, and therefore are both a military and a humanitarian asset.
The LCAC’s influence is international. Allied countries have proceeded to construct a replica air-cushion craft on the US vessel as a model. They equal LCAC’s payload, speed, and state-of-the-art navigating capability, a gauge of hovercraft’s sustained popularity for expeditionary warfare and surge response. Joint development also indicates technological advances because engineers compete for greater payload, efficiency, and operation tolerance.
Hovercrafts are not designed for mass-scale amphibious war. LCACs are employed by special operation forces for seagoing training and boat, troop, and cargo transportation ashore. That is, they can move backwater or denied areas in minutes, and thus, hovercraft are a force multiplier for guerrilla war.
Its prospects are glowing. Tomorrow will witness new materials technology, fewer and quieter drives, and command and control systems to support a new generation of hovercraft to lift more, for longer, and in greater survivability. As coasts are washed ever out to sea and sea levels rise, as demand for amphibious access to balance grows, the hovercraft will play ever more critical roles in military and humanitarian missions.
With the era of speed, unchecked and accurate onshore delivery is win or lose; the army’s hovercraft are the heroes. From beachbreaking and transferring critical equipment to facilitate disaster relief and special operations, air-cushion craft have matured from state-of-the-art gadgetry to a volume strategic asset. Their hour has arrived, and their worth increases day by day.