US Navy takes delivery of 14th LCAC 100-class landing craft

The US Navy recently took delivery of a new landing craft air cushion (LCAC) built by New Orleans-based Textron Systems Corporation.

LCAC 113 is the 14th vessel in the LCAC 100-class. Like its sisters, it has an LOA of 92 feet (28 metres), a beam of 48 feet (15 metres), a height of 26 feet (7.9 metres), and four crewmembers consisting of a pilot, a co-pilot, a loadmaster and a deck engineer.

The craft's open deck has a total area of 1,608 square feet (149 square metres) and can accommodate a maximum of 67 tons of assorted loads consisting of vehicles and heavy equipment.

Separate from the cargo deck is an enclosed personnel transport module that can house 145 combat-equipped troops or 108 casualty victims.

The LCAC 100-class vessels are built with similar configurations, dimensions, and clearances to the navy's legacy LCACs to ensure their compatibility with existing well deck-equipped amphibious ships as well as the expeditionary transfer docks of the Military Sealift Command.

Like their predecessors, these LCAC 100-class vessels were designed specifically for the transport of the ground combat elements of the US Marine Corps between the navy's larger, deep-draught amphibious ships and unprepared beaches. Secondary missions will include humanitarian assistance and disaster response.

Thirteen other LCAC 100-class vessels are under construction at Textron Systems' facilities.