Speed to the front line

With a draught of under 4m and ramping facilities for discharging armoured wheeled and tracked vehicles at virtually any cove or inlet, high speed catamarans can claim a logistical advantage that is not available to conventional amphibious craft. Military personnel are projected closer to the combat theatre and much-needed supplies delivered to front-line troops all the faster. These qualities of speed, versatility and the inherent logistical gains are shared with the Australian built theatre logistics vessels on proof of concept charters to the US Third Marine Expeditionary Force 111 (MEF) in Japan and TACOM, the Tank Automotive and Armament Command of the US Army. The ships, Austal?s Westpac Express and Incat?s Joint Venture HSV X1, have their own unique features designed to suit their customers? needs. However, they share much in common in that they have earned a place under the spotlight of the big spending United States defence forces; Australia?s high speed ferry kings expect future military orders to fuel major growth for their companies. And, given the obvious emphasis right now on moving troops and equipment about quickly, the time seems riper than ever to showcase high speed technology. The main advantage of these type of ships is the refinements they bring to logistics which often make up some 80% of any war effort. Richard Lowrie, Incat?s military marketing consultant based at Bollinger shipyards in Louisiana suggests high speed sea lift vessels may have alleviated the logistical shortfalls highlighted by the wars in Kosovo and Iraq. He is quick to refer to Incat?s role in showcasing these logistical refinements to the world?s military in 1999 with the two year charter to the Royal Australian Navy of the 86m wave piercing catamaran, Jervis Bay, for the East Timor crisis. Strongest interest came from the United States military thereby providing encouragement for Incat and Austal to position themselves to manufacture in the US with joint venture companies, Austal USA in Mobile, Alabama and Incat-Bollinger in Lockport, Louisiana. Austal?s managing director Bob McKinnon is optimistic about long-term prospects for military orders, but is highly circumspect when asked to comment on potential opportunities created by the current conflict. Incat managing director Craig Clifford suggests it?s too early to project the size of the potential market for his product, but offers that the military market for high speed technology will eventually take off in a “spectacular fashion”. The charter with TACOM, the army?s purchasing unit, will revolutionise the way military forces evaluate and deploy innovative high speed vessels, says Clifford. “The level of awareness about this technology will be enhanced by current charters and many other military forces outside the United States will be observing their performance,” says Clifford. “The British military has also shown interest and we have received a February visit from Baroness Symons of Verham Dean, Britain?s Minister of State for Trade and Investment.” Austal?s Westpac Express, under charter since July and Incat?s recently delivered Joint Venture HSV X1 will be showcased and examined in different manners. While the Marines are using the Westpac Express in a specific operational environment the terms of the charter for Joint Venture HSV X1 provide for a joint and wider experimentation effort by various arms of the US military such as the Navy, the US Special Operations Command and the Coastguard. A lull in commercial ferry orders saw Austal undertaking the risky venture of spec building the purpose built Theatre Logistics Vessel, Westpac Express. It then found itself in a strong position to respond to a tender called by the Third Marine Expeditionary Force (111 MEF) which had observed Jervis Bay in East Timor. Incat embarked on a high speed conversion of hull number 050 after winning a two year $20.5 million proof of concept charter agreement for a high speed sea lift vessel. In a little over two weeks the 1998 launched vessel, formerly known as Top Cat, was equipped with a 472 square metre (5,081 square feet) heli-deck capable of handling large helicopters such as the Seahawk and the CH-46 Sea Knight, strengthened decks to suit troop transportation and a two-part hydraulically operated vehicle ramp to allow rapid discharge of vehicles from the stern or alongside, RHIB deployment gantry, troop facilities and crew accommodation. The beauty of this charter, says Incat?s Clifford, is that some five arms of the US defence forces will be able to evaluate the technology?s uses and capabilities. “Austal?s opportunity is with the Marines, but ours is with the Navy, Army Coast Guard, Marine Corps and US Special Operations Command,” Clifford says. “So we will have a lot more parties assessing where they can best strategically apply our technology.” Clifford is confident that if the United States Defense Department were to go into a large procurement programme for high speed technology Incat will meet its demands. Should that demand come in the immediate future then it?s likely vessels will be built in components in Australia and then assembled in the United States, he says. “We are currently producing around three to four vessels a year in Australia, but we could increase that capability fairly fast by using partnering yards in other parts of the world,” says Gillis. Austal?s manager of military projects Kim Gillis does not expect any significant procurement for high speed technology until 2005 – 2006. “If they said they wanted to build now and change the procurement rules then we would be able to build a vessels at our Australian yard,” says Gillis. “It will take four or five years to build up capacity and training in the United States. But strategically, we are well placed to capture this market.” Both Austal and Incat vessels offer versatility in that the mezzanine decks can be lifted to allow a different configuration of vehicles or cargo and thereby appeal to the Navy, Army or Coast Guard. Aside from being fitted out as a theatre lift vessel, Austal?s 101m Westpac Express is virtually identical to EuroFerry?s Pacifica Auto Express car ferry. The Incat-Bollinger vessel represents an evolution of its wave piercing catamarans which carry passengers and a highway mix of freight. The Incat sales pitch offers that its craft eliminates the need for large conventional ships to be at sea for long periods of time. Two large naval ships covering an entire coastline can be replaced by six smaller fast craft working out of home ports and equally distributed around the sea board performing the same duties better. In an army role the catamaran will work in multiples getting into ports inaccessible to larger heavy lift conventional roro vessels, enabling the rapid deployment of troops. This sounds like the perfect solution, yet as has been argued there are limits on high speed craft for a military environment. The Marines have given Westpac Express high praise for her service to 111 MEF, but their in house publication, Pacific Stars and Stripes points out “high speed ferries cannot replace conventional large US Navy amphibious ships that carry marines on longer deployments because the boat does not have berthing spaces or a chow hall.” The Westpac Express is a “bus on water, it is not an employment platform”, says the report. The Westpac Express has been moving battalions and equipment in training for the 111 MEF of the US Marine Corps since July. This vessel has been described as the perfect logistical solution for III MEF which spends over $20 million annually in conducting off-island training from its base at Okinawa to Yokohama, Pusan, Sasabo, Guam and Australia. In September the initial two month charter was extended by a month and 111 MEF indicated it may extend it for the longer term, possibly for up to three years. Colonel Michael J Godfrey, chief logistician at Okinawa, tells The Motor Ship that until Westpac Express was chartered training for 111 MEF has been characterised by high costs, long delays and wasted training time. Transporting 111 MEF typically requires the use of 15 C-17 transport aircraft over 14-16 days as each aircraft can only carry a limited amount of troops or cargo and results in wasting up to two weeks of training time on travelling, says Colonel Godfrey. By comparison the 750t maximum deadweight Westpac Express carries 950 passengers and 160 military vehicles or 250t of vehicles and cargo equipment at speeds of 35 knots fully loaded. This reduces dependence on the Air Force?s Air Mobility Command and enables 111 MEF to deploy a complete battalion from Okinawa to destination in one lift and takes less than 24 hours. This has the potential to reduce the number of airlifts out of Okinawa by more than 250 each year. “We are calling this vessel the missing link in the transportation profile for the Marines on Okinawa,” says Colonel Godfrey. “We need to have the ability to move the marines around. During the current troubled times when airlift and sea lift for the military is at a premium this vessel is proving especially valuable. “I definitely see this as the way of the future for us.” It is too early to talk about how the various arms of the military are finding the newly-delivered Joint Venture HSV X1. When The Motor Ship spoke with Clifford in mid-October the vessel had just been delivered to her destination on the east coast of the United States. During the delivery journey this vessel lived up to pledges to deploy distances over 4,500 nautical miles without refuelling within nine days at an average speed over 22 knots. According to the charter, the joint experiment will explore the capabilities of high speed vessels, including wave piercing catamaran type vessels, but will not focus on a specific hull form. Joint Venture HSV X1 was not chartered for a specific mission scenario, however the payload can be tailored for optimum mission success. It can carry 325 troops and more than 494t (545 short tons) of military vehicles and equipment over 1,110 nautical miles at speeds greater than 35 knots. Vehicle ramps with heavy track vehicle capacity enable loading and unloading over the stern quarter. The craft can launch and recover helicopters and rigid inflatable boats in Sea State 3. It can support a crew of 40 without replenishment for 15 days and is expected to offer longer periods at sea under less demanding conditions for service speed and the amount of fuel and stores carried. Incat?s military marketing consultant Richard Lowrie says each military department involved in testing the Joint Venture HSV X1 may have different sea lift requirements. He tells The Motor Ship the effectiveness of the technology for rapid military response and covert forces will be tested. It?s also likely that Joint Venture HSV X1 will be examined as a potential platform for combat which offers a smaller, cost effective, less manpower intensive combatant. “Maintaining people within the military and reducing the high turnover and departure rate of the enlisted is a big problem the military is struggling with,” says Lowrie. “The ability to have an equally effective, more mobile force with significantly reduced manpower is an attractive target solution. “Added to this, our vessel technology provides assets which deliver extremely lower acquisition, operating and maintenance costs.” Lowrie says the Coast Guard?s use of the craft may evaluate the performance of the technology for a variety of mission roles relating to the protection of fishing zones, illegal immigration and drug trafficking. Their evaluation may require modularising the vehicle deck to accept different equipment such as detention cells, medical facilities and humanitarian supplies. Austal?s managing director Bob McKinnon is emphatic that the sales push for theatre logistics vessels will not be made any harder as a result of the current crisis. “Our strategy for a long time has been to ensure that the United States military is aware of the capability we have,” says McKinnon. “We really have to just wait and see and make sure everyone knows what the performance of Westpac will be.”