Partial Air Cushion Supported Catamaran concept design

• Published in: 2015 12th International Bhurban Conference on Applied Sciences and Technology (IBCAST) pp. 519 - 526
• Main Authors: Rizwan Amir, H. M., Han Duan Feng, Khan, Jawad, Mehmood, Nasir
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: IEEE 01.01.2015
• Subjects: Sea surface
• ISSN: 2151-1403; 2151-1411
• DOI: 10.1109/IBCAST.2015.7058550

Landing Craft Unit (LCU) is a specialized craft used to transport battle tanks, military vehicles and troops from a principal platform at sea to shore. There has been an increasing emphasis on shallow water operations in last decade. The capabilities of available LCUs limit the tactics of an amphibious operation. This study is focused on a newly proposed concept of High Speed Landing Craft Unit based on Royal Navy's Innovative Solution Demonstrator Craft (ISDC), named Partial Air Cushion Supported Catamaran (PACSCAT). The study explores the capabilities of this new concept based craft .PACSCAT is an amalgam of two concepts i.e. Surface Effect Ship (SES) and Air Cushion Vehicle (ACV), and offers improved capabilities compared to available landing crafts. PACSCAT is a catamaran with two lightweight demi-hulls connected by a cross deck, the deck also acts as cargo deck. The purpose of this paper is to present the initial design of the newly proposed concept of Partial Air Cushion Supported Catamaran (PACSCAT). The proposed PACSCAT design is based on a hovercraft with twin hulls. The proposed PACSCAT measures 28 m overall and designed to carry one battle tank weighing 50 tons. The craft can maintain 30 knots while fully loaded in sea state 3 and up to 40 knots unloaded.