The Joint High-Speed Vessel will bring a new dimension to U.S. forces 

By RICHARD R. BURGESS, Managing Editor

The Army and Navy are developing a high-speed transport vessel able to deliver troops and materiel through shallow waters to minor or degraded ports, providing a capability the nation’s combat commanders currently do not have.

The Joint High-Speed Vessel (JHSV) program to build and deploy a shallow-draft, medium-capacity vessel is a successor to the Army’s Theater Support Vessel concept and the Navy’s High-Speed Connector concept, both intended to provide a high-speed ship that would haul troops, equipment and cargo between large ships and small ports with limited access.

“The two programs were combined because it became obvious from our test programs that here was an opportunity to work together and do a single procurement,” said Navy Capt. Patricia Sudol, program manager for support ships, boats and craft for the Navy’s program executive officer for ships.

U.S. forces currently possess the capability to project a large ground force from the sea by amphibious assault — using helicopters, amphibious assault vehicles and hovercraft — or by securing a large ports and laboriously discharging mountains of cargo from deep-draft sealift cargo ships. But the ability to operationally maneuver or reposition combat-ready forces through small or limited-access ports “is a capability that maneuver commanders do not have at present,” said Ray Aube, watercraft branch chief in the Army’s Material Systems Directorate, Combined Arms Support Command at Fort Lee, Va.

The JHSV would be capable of speeds up to 35-40 knots, he said.

“I think of it [the JHSV] as the pickup truck,” Sudol said. “It can be used flexibly because of its capacity, its speed, its shallow draft. It’s not a combatant, but it does have an interesting ability to access the more austere ports. As long as it has the draft, all it needs is a very basic quay wall on which to lower its ramp and deliver its troops and equipment.”

With its range and ability to rapidly shuttle troops or supplies, the JHSV is planned as a connector vessel for the Pentagon’s sea basing concept to use ships at least 25 miles offshore as staging areas for troops and material, thereby reducing reliance on access to foreign ports. The JHSV also will be “interoperable with the Mobile Landing Platform, an ocean-based floating platform, which is going to be our pier in the ocean,” Sudol said. “It will be able to throw its ramp down on that vessel.”

Since 2001, the Navy and Army have been operating up to four Australian-built catamaran high-speed vessels in experiments, exercises and operations. Three of these — Swift, Joint Venture and Spearhead — leased from Incat Australia’s partner, Bollinger/Incat, have operated worldwide in various roles. A fourth — Westpac Express — leased by Military Sealift Command from Austal, another Australian builder of catamaran ferries, has been used in support of the Japan-based III Marine Expeditionary Force in the western Pacific Ocean.

Data from these ships is being used by the RAND Corp. to aid the services in determining an operational concept for the JHSV.

The Swift — the only one of the four equipped with a helicopter platform — has been evaluated in risk-mitigation trials in support of the Littoral Combat Ship and JHSV programs. Sea-keeping, structural and propulsion performance were among the qualities evaluated. The vessel also was used to evaluate mission module interfaces for such equipment such as the Remote Minehunting System.

In 2005, Swift took part in two disaster relief operations, supporting Operation Unified Assistance for Indian Ocean tsunami survivors in January 2005 and the relief effort for U.S. Gulf Coast areas stricken later that year by Hurricane Katrina. Swift’s shallow draft enabled it to carry relief supplies into ports rendered inaccessible to larger ships, according to Sudol.

“Only the Swift was able to get into the port because of its shallow draft and rapidly provide supplies to the vessel,” Sudol said. “In a skin-to-skin condition, they craned materials from one vessel to another in the Gulf. That’s something we hadn’t done routinely before.”

Swift began operation with the Navy in August 2003 and its lease expires in August 2008.

The Westpac Express has demonstrated “a very timely and cost-effective way to deliver troops,” Sudol said. “Instead of having them fly in over a number of days, the ship can deliver them within a day in one lift. When the troops get there, they haven’t been spending as much time at sea, so they’re a little fresher, they’re more ready to go when they hit the ground.”

Aube, who noted that the Army has been using watercraft to support and sustain ground combat operations since Gen. George Washington crossed the Delaware in 1776, said, “the Joint Venture and Spearhead have shown great value as proof-of-concept vessels demonstrating that civilian technology is readily adaptable to a variety of military requirements, whether its movement of combat-configured units, supporting helicopter and small-boat operations, or supporting disaster relief operations.”

The Army’s lease on Spearhead expired in March and was not renewed. Spearhead was employed through an advanced-concept technology demonstration to perform such experiments as transporting combat-ready troops — supported by a battle command center — and self-protection demonstrations with electronic warfare and force protection systems. During 2005, the diesel-powered Spearhead — similar to the Swift but without a helicopter landing pad — participated in joint exercises with joint and coalition forces in the Western Pacific.

The first high-speed vessel operated by the Navy, Joint Venture, eventually was turned over to the Army and is being operated this year by U.S. Special Operations Command for analysis of such vessels as support platforms for special operations. The Army’s lease on Joint Venture expires in August.

The four catamarans do not necessarily set a precedent for the configuration of the JHSV. At least five hull forms could potentially satisfy the requirement, according to Sudol.

Her list included “monohull, semi-SWATH (small waterplane area, twin hull), surface-effect ship, wave-piercing catamaran or semi-planing catamaran.”

• A monohull — characteristic of most ships — is a conventional single-body hull that can either displace and cut through the water or glide on top of the water (called planing).
• A semi-SWATH ship rides on stanchions connected to two submerged, streamlined pods that power the ship and allow for reduced drag and smoother rides.
• A surface-effect ship — also known as a hovercraft — rides on a cushion of air created by large horizontal fans and contained by skirts.
• As twin-hulled ships, catamarans can either be semi-planing — halfway between planing on or displacing water — or wave-piercing, which is slicing though the surface of the water.

The JHSVs for each service will possess many common characteristics, including a flight deck, a draft of 15 feet or less, a speed of 35-45 knots, an intra-theater range of 2,000-2,500 miles and the ability to transport an entire company with its equipment or a battalion without its equipment.

The Army provided $10 million in fiscal year 2005 for the JHSV program. The Navy and Army funded the program in fiscal year 2006 with $7 million and $3 million, respectively, and have requested $14 million and $20 million, respectively, in the proposed fiscal year 2007 budget. The Navy plans to procure one JHSV per year in fiscal years 2009-2011.

Competition contract awards for the JHSV will be granted in 2008.

“Just about all of the second-tier yards here have the capability to build this type of vessel, and my expectation would be that they might consider partnering with some of the foreign companies that have greater experience in their design and construction,” Sudol said.

The Navy JHSVs are included in the 313-ship fleet advocated by Adm. Mike Mullen, chief of naval operations, Sudol said, although it has not yet been determined whether they will be commissioned ships or operated by the Military Sealift Command.