Amphibious Combat Vehicle Ramp Interface Modular Buoyant Kit (MBK) for Joint High Speed Vessel (JHSV) Stern Ramp

The Joint High Speed Vessel (JHSV) is limited in at sea vehicle launch and recovery with the as-built stern ramp to operations in Sea State 1. The United State Marine Corps (USMC) has stated that at-sea launch and recovery of the existing AAV, the ACV 1.1, and potential ACV 1.2 from a high speed shallow draft connector are of significant operational importance. To this end, The USMC has advised the Navy that is necessary to develop a light weight modular buoyant kit (MBK) to allow such operations from the existing JHSV stern ramp. This proposal outlines a concept utilizing several buoyancy providing components, constructed of Barry compliant drop stitch material, strategically placed so that they can handle the required 30 short ton vehicle loads for amphibious vehicle launch and recovery in up to Sea State 3 as well as the static ramp weight. Concurrent with the conceptual design of the MBK, the proposal outlines analysis of this preliminary design using Navateks already developed and validated hydro-mechanical modeling tools. Using validated simulation software, the conceptual design(s) will be developed sufficiently to analyze for cost, size, and storability requirements.