A New Wave: U.S. Army Wants Catamarans for Stryker Brigade

Defense News | March 3, 2003 | Frank Tiboni

[Stand Watch Listen]

The U.S. Army wants to acquire a small fleet of high-speed catamarans, enough to ferry one of its new Stryker brigades.

A chartered catamaran performed so well in the U.S. military's 2002 Millennium Challenge exercise that the Pentagon recently sent two of the 300-foot experimental vessels to support forces massing in the Arabian Gulf.

The Army has included 12 such ships, which it has dubbed Theater Support Vessels, in its 2004-2009 Program Objective Memorandum (POM), the annual purchase plan it sends to Pentagon officials, Gen. Jack Keane, the Army's vice chief of staff, said Feb. 26 at the Association of the United States Army's 2003 Winter Conference here.

Millennium Challenge and other experiments convinced Army leaders that theater support vessels will change the way service forces get to combat, particularly the rapid-response brigades built around its eight-wheeled Stryker combat vehicle.

The catamarans would move up to twice as fast as sealift ships, and their shallow draft would allow them to use relatively unimproved shallow-water ports.

"Our current estimate is that we can move one Stryker Brigade with 12 theater support vessels in one lift," a senior Army program and budget official said in a Feb. 27 statement.

The service has been experimenting with such vessels since 2001, when it chartered the HSV-X1 Joint Venture. Built by Incat Australia, Hobart, Tasmania, the aluminum-hulled catamaran can carry 363 people and 850 tons of vehicles or cargo at nearly 40 knots, Army officials said.

Army officials will hold an industry day March 3 to discuss requirements with contractors, and begin acquiring the craft in 2008. The final requirements, cost, and even the exact number of vessels to be purchased or leased is still under discussion, the Army program and budget official said.

[x1stcav]

Strange as it may seem, I remember reading somewhere that the Army in WWII actually possessed more 'ships' that the USN did.

When sailing on San Francisco Bay in the 80's it wasn't uncommon to see US Army landing craft, support vessels, etc.

What exactly is my point here. Only that there is ample precedence for this.

[Catspaw]

The catamarans would move up to twice as fast as sealift ships, and their shallow draft would allow them to use relatively unimproved shallow-water ports.

Yup, that's the benefit of catamarans. Depending on the draft of the cat, they could practically wade to shore, or ferry in just a few hundred feet.

[isthisnickcool]

[Fractal Trader]

You always have the coolest posts on military technology! As a veteran myself, and having grown up reading copies of my father's Aviation Week and Space Technology as a kid, I have always found this subject fascinating and like to keep track of the latest trends.

[Jonah Hex]

Transformation continues....

[Valin]

I can imagine just how thrilled the admirals in the pentagon are over this idea.

[SJSAMPLE]

Through the Military Sealift Command (MSC), the Army actively charters and controls more ships than the Navy has, RIGHT NOW.

[Catspaw]

I did forget to add that catamarans are a more stable platform than a monohull.

[Tallguy]

The Army was very ticked-off when the Marines were selected to seize that airfield up in Afghanistan. Just imagine how upset the Navy/Marine Corps is gonna be if the Army is allowed to create Brigade-size landing teams and ferry them on Army ships. Glad I'm not the SECDEF.

[Ben Hecks]

"Strange as it may seem, I remember reading somewhere that the Army in WWII actually possessed more 'ships' that the USN did."

You are correct. Most of them were smaller landing craft such as the LCM-6, LCM-8 and LCU which were flat-bottomed vessels suitable only for coastal use.

[Future Snake Eater]

The Army has more boats than the Navy and more planes than the Air Force. Not nearly the same quality of craft, but it is true, nonetheless.