A High Water Speed Sled for Amphibious Vehicles

To facilitate amphibious assault operations, the Marines need to quickly move amphibious combat vehicles (ACVs) between ships and the shore. However, due to an increased level of sophistication in the anti-ship weapons available to potential adversaries, Navy ships must remain far from shore during assault operations (i.e., many tens of miles). This creates a need for assault vehicles that can achieve high speed in the water over a long range. All existing and emerging ACVs have limited speed and range that do not meet the operational objectives. The need addressed here is the development of a long-range ACV sled that can carry an ACV from ship to shore at high speed. We have created an innovative sled design that mates up with the ACV without increasing the footprint of the vehicle on the ship. Once in the water, the sled deploys its floatation/planing elements without manned interaction. Once near or at the shore, the sled and ACV de-mate. In Phase I, the Creare team will refine the overall design, including the concept of operations, by conducting analyses and consulting with our internal operations experts. We will also develop hydrodynamic scaled models to facilitate tow tank testing in Phase II.