The Russian Ministry of Defense wants to get new amphibious hovercraft. They will be able to take on board about 60-70 tons of load.
The development of a new landing ship, citing sources in the defense department, was reported by Izvestia. According to the plan of the military, it will take on board up to 70 tons of load.
The main feature of the novelty will be the "air cushion" system, thanks to which the boat will be able to move both on water and on land. Now specialists are working on several technical projects of the new ship.
During the amphibious operation, he will be able to take on board one tank or several armored personnel carriers / infantry fighting vehicles, as well as an assault group. Among other things, the ship should be able to transport Iskander, BAL and Bastion missile systems.
The boat can be useful for over-the-horizon landing on an unequipped coast, as well as in places where the enemy has installed engineering barriers.
Scheme of operation of a vessel with an air cushion: 1 - main propellers; 2 - air flow; 3 - fan; 4 - flexible membrane
Image source: wikipedia
A hovercraft is a watercraft, the entire mass of which (or a significant part of it) is supported above water or ground due to excessive air pressure injected under the bottom — into a cavity called an "air cushion".
This principle allows the ship to move at high speed. At the same time, hovercrafts have pronounced disadvantages, one of which is the high price. This is facilitated by a complex design and the need to observe a special weight culture. The vessel requires careful maintenance. In addition, because of the propellers, hovercrafts are quite noisy.
The largest vessels of this type in the world are representatives of project 12322 "BISON". We are talking about a well-armed Soviet landing ship, created in the 80s. It has a displacement (standard) of 555 tons, a length of 57.3 meters and a width of 25.6 meters. For all the time, 15 such ships have been built. In addition to Russia, they are exploited by China and Greece.
Amphibious hovercraft "Mordovia" and "Evgeny Kocheshkov" of project 12322 "ZUBR"
Image source: wikipedia
In turn, the Americans have been using LCAC-type amphibious hovercraft for a long time. They are much smaller than "bison" and have a length of 26.4 meters. Such a boat can transport more than 60 tons of cargo from a landing ship to the shore in one flight.
LCAC
Image Source: USN
Recall that on Wednesday it became known about the progress in the implementation of another important project for the Russian Navy - the hypersonic missile "Zircon". Recently, flight design tests of the product from a surface carrier have been successfully completed .
Soon the Navy will receive such missiles. The first full-time carrier of the complex will be the Admiral Golovko frigate of project 22350.