The US Marines have successfully field tested their next gen amphibious craft. Will its novel tracks be implemented on other vehicles?
The US Marine Corp, in conjunction with the Office of Naval Research, has successfully field-tested a possible successor to the service’s current amphibious lander.
Called the Ultra Heavy-Lift Amphibious Connecter (UHAC), the 42-foot half-scale prototype was designed to ultimately carry a payload in the order of 200 tons. Cruising across the ocean at a respectable 20 knots, the UHAC will also be expected to make appearances on land. Once on shore the UHAC will be capable of trudging across even the most challenging terrain, including being able to ascend 3m (10ft) tall obstacles.
Though the UHAC would certainly be a hulking addition to the military’s arsenal, its most distinguishing feature is its tracks, which consist of tank-like treads that include captured-air buoyancy cells. Once in the water the UHAC’s churning treads snatch air just before they plunge into the surrounding sea. By quickly churning these tracks ‘round and ‘round the transport is capable of staying afloat while swimming towards its land or sea-based destination.
To demonstrate exactly how effective the UHAC could be military officials used the biennial Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) war games as their proving ground. In a mission that was completed in short order the pint-sized UHAC demonstrator left its ground-based station, travelled through the ocean and aboard the awaiting USS Rushmore. Climbing into the well deck of the dock landing ship, the UHAC loaded an assault vehicle into its hold and returned to shore.
In addition to its amphibious versatility the UHAC’s unique tracks provide it with a fairly low ground pressure footprint. Although that might sound like a rather innocuous side-effect of the drive’s design it ensures that even the heavyweight UHAC can traverse the swampiest of marshes and sail through the foulest bogs.
While the military hasn’t made any explicit mention of whether the UHAC will move into production, with its most recent performance one can only imagine that some incarnation of the beast will be patrolling the Pacific Rim sometime in the near future. If not, I’m sure its unique track technology will be exploited, if not for military then surely for civilian or humanitarian ends.
Image and Video Courtesy of US Navy
