The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has received QinetiQ’s Partial Air Cushion Supported Catamaran (PACSCAT) Innovative Solution Demonstrator Craft (ISDC).

The 30m-long, 7.7m-wide all-aluminium high-speed vessel has a design vehicle payload of 55t and an approximate loaded weight of 175t.

The ISDC, powered by twin MJP water jets, is designed to off-load front-line vehicles from Royal Navy amphibious ships to the beach.

The craft has completed the initial manoeuvring and propulsion trials and will undergo extensive trials by the MoD to further understand its capabilities with vehicles embarked.

The MoD will conduct a cost and performance-based appraisal of this solution along with other options determined in the MoD Fast Landing Craft Design Solutions Study by the end of 2010.

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