High-Speed Amphibious Assault Vehicle Hull

To facilitate assault operations, the Marines need an amphibious vehicle that can quickly move troops and equipment 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. Current displacement hull-based assault vehicles do not provide the desired high-speed capability. The need that is addressed in this proposal is the development of an adaptive hull structure for amphibious assault vehicles that can achieve high speed. We have developed an innovative planing hull concept that also incorporates an adaptive propulsion system that meets the requirements for low-speed operation in shallow water and high-speed operation in deep water when in the planing mode. In Phase I of the project, the Creare team will develop its innovative hull concept by conducting computational fluid analysis and finite element analysis to validate our design concepts. We will also develop hydrodynamic scaled models that will facilitate tow tank testing at the start of Phase II.