The QinetiQ Pacscat is one of those designs that has people on both sides of the Atlantic drooling in anticipation.
But when I went to find information on where the boat was in its development I was disappointed. Its caught up in some kind of weird purgatory Its been tested by the Royal Navy and Marines...its been found to be operationally superior...yet it can't find a place in the budget.
What kills me about this is that once again the Brits have hit on a great idea...a partial catamaran, partial air cushion vehicle that promises high speeds with heavy loads and even higher speeds if used for troop transport (or patrol as the Royal Marines are fond of doing with their landing craft)...but because they aren't pulling the trigger on development I can see
This would be a PERFECT replacement for our LCM's and an enlarged version would certainly be ten times better than a SLEP'ed LCU 1600 class (check out the last two fotos). The last foto shows a concept for a Littoral Combat Ship...I notice that "naming convention" has lost favor and people are just calling these type ships Frigates again, but thats not the point. The point is this. The concept has applications to a whole range of ships. I'm repeating myself but I can't for the life of me understand why the Brits aren't all over this.
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| via UK Armed Forces Commentary. |
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| via NTLworld.com /128m High-speed Connector Ship for use by the US Navy & Marines |
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| via NTLWorld.com / 42m MPF(F) Fast Lighter for use by the US Navy & Marines |
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| via NTLWorld.com /PACSCAT Littoral Combat Ship concept design for the German MoD |
UPDATE: THINK DEFENCE Blog gave a pretty good overview of the program (pays to have friends in the land of our little brother) and I thought it was worth being moved to the actual post instead of having people find it in the comments section. I'm curious to know why he isn't sold on the idea. Interesting, but let me add that for all the rave reviews that the L-CAT is receiving I see this concept as being 1000% better.
Sol, some background information and links
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkVJS501Y78http://www.thinkdefence.co.uk/2012/08/innovation-in-the-littoral/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaPvUTuIMAQIMA Website
http://www.imaa.co.uk/http://www.marinetechnology.co.uk/pdf/PACSCAT.pdfhttp://www.qinetiq.com/news/pressreleases/Pages/pascat-launched.aspx
http://www.motorship.com/news101/industry-news/uk-trials-pacscat-demonstratorhttp://source.theengineer.co.uk/software-and-communications/data-acquisition-and-analysis/data-acquisition-software/pacscat-vessel-built-using-hbms-edaq-system/394262.articlehttp://www.marinelog.com/DOCS/NEWSMMIX/2009oct00121.htmlhttp://www.dtic.mil/ndia/2012expwar/Geaney.pdf
The QinetiQ partial air cushion catamaran (PASCAT) demonstrator has recently been launched and although this 30m demonstrator is LCU Mk10 size, the design might be scaled for the smaller requirement. The demonstrator sits slightly below the Mk10’s in terms of payload and weight.
PASCAT is an innovative concept that seeks to provide easier beach handling, greater payload and speed for landing craft. The demonstrator has been created by QinetiQ in conjunction with BMT, Aluminium Shipbuilding and of course, Griffon Hoverwork. The specification for the demonstrator is predicated on transporting 5 Viking armoured vehicles from ship to shore, rather than a Challenger 2 so maximum payload is 55 tonnes. PASCAT is not a solely military technology and was originally developed by the Independent Maritime Associates for a European Commission Study into transport options for European waterways. Additional studies for the USMC, USN and German MoD have also been carried out.
The MoD does have a requirement for a fast landing craft but no funding beyond the initial technology demonstrator has been announced
As usual Sol, interesting design but not enough cash although I am not completely sold on the idea.
Sol, some background information and links
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkVJS501Y78
http://www.thinkdefence.co.uk/2012/08/innovation-in-the-littoral/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaPvUTuIMAQ
IMA Website
http://www.imaa.co.uk/
http://www.marinetechnology.co.uk/pdf/PACSCAT.pdf
http://www.qinetiq.com/news/pressreleases/Pages/pascat-launched.aspx
http://www.motorship.com/news101/industry-news/uk-trials-pacscat-demonstrator
http://source.theengineer.co.uk/software-and-communications/data-acquisition-and-analysis/data-acquisition-software/pacscat-vessel-built-using-hbms-edaq-system/394262.article
http://www.marinelog.com/DOCS/NEWSMMIX/2009oct00121.html
http://www.dtic.mil/ndia/2012expwar/Geaney.pdf
The QinetiQ partial air cushion catamaran (PASCAT) demonstrator has recently been launched and although this 30m demonstrator is LCU Mk10 size, the design might be scaled for the smaller requirement. The demonstrator sits slightly below the Mk10’s in terms of payload and weight.
PASCAT is an innovative concept that seeks to provide easier beach handling, greater payload and speed for landing craft. The demonstrator has been created by QinetiQ in conjunction with BMT, Aluminium Shipbuilding and of course, Griffon Hoverwork. The specification for the demonstrator is predicated on transporting 5 Viking armoured vehicles from ship to shore, rather than a Challenger 2 so maximum payload is 55 tonnes. PASCAT is not a solely military technology and was originally developed by the Independent Maritime Associates for a European Commission Study into transport options for European waterways. Additional studies for the USMC, USN and German MoD have also been carried out.
The MoD does have a requirement for a fast landing craft but no funding beyond the initial technology demonstrator has been announced
As usual Sol, interesting design but not enough cash although I am not completely sold on the idea.
Just a quick correction to my original comment. I have seen pictures of PASCAT with a Challenger 2 onboard so perhaps they pushed the payload up a bit.
ReplyDeleteMy concerns really come from anything that has speed, fuel usage.
I mean speed is never a bad thing in itself but it often forces compromises and always comes with a fuel penalty
Not just a fuel penalty. There's almost always a maintenance penalty for speed as well. How often will PASCAT be down for skirt/seal repair? Maintenance on the additional power plant? How does speed impact its service life?
Deletesimple answer. less than the LCAC and it carries almost as much and is almost as fast.
DeleteAnd finally, I think QinetiQ sold PASCAT, not sure who to
ReplyDeleteThe PACSCAT Fast Landing Craft Technical Demonstrator was ordered by the MoD for evaluation by the Royal Marines. QinetiQ co-ordinated the contract. The craft was built to IMAA's concept design. IMAA own the IPR. The craft is now on the MoD's disposal list but we understand that the main engines have been sold. The MoD still have a requrement for FLC's but the project seems to be in abeyance. As to interest from the US, a PACSCAT LCU(R) has been considered and IMAA have contacts in place.
ReplyDeleteReply from IMAA