SPOTLIGHT ON INDUSTRY

Textron Marine & Land Systems

By GORDON I. PETERSON

Sea Power: Mr. Bujdoso, Textron Marine and Land Systems [TM&LS] has produced a number of craft for the Navy and Coast Guard through the years. Perhaps you could describe your company’s future direction in this area?

Bujdoso: Over the past 20 years, Textron Marine and Land Systems has designed, developed, and produced the Landing Craft, Air Cushion [LCAC] for the U.S. Navy and Marines. During this time, 90 LCACs have been delivered to the Navy. The first, delivered in 1984, had a service-life design of 20 years. Currently, we have a contract with the Navy for the development of a Service Life Extension Program [SLEP] for LCAC. Under SLEP, the LCAC will enter the 21st century with markedly improved performance and an increased life span.

The SLEP-development LCAC number 91 is scheduled to deliver later this year. Our objective is to support the LCAC as a core product for TM&LS and continue to provide full life-cycle support for the U.S. Navy and our international customers.

TM&LS manufactured the prototype 47-foot Motor Lifeboat [MLB] in 1990 for the U.S. Coast Guard and later produced five preproduction boats. Currently, we are under contract to the Coast Guard for delivery of 117 MLBs. Like the LCAC, the MLB is a core product for us.

Together with the V-22 tiltrotor aircraft and the Advanced Amphibious Assault Vehicle, the Landing Craft, Air Cushion will revolutionize the Navy-Marine Corps team’s amphibious warfare doctrine in the years ahead. What type of follow-on activities do you foresee for the program?

The LCAC SLEP will extend the craft’s service life and enable the Navy and Marine Corps to fulfill their amphibious warfare doctrine well into the future. SLEP also will allow our LCAC program to continue to define “state of the art” by expanding the performance envelope—reducing operating and maintenance costs as well as the crew’s workload.

Another benefit will be an improvement in combat readiness by ensuring LCAC’s systems capability with other U.S. armed forces and equipment during joint operations. SLEP entails significant design, development, installation, and testing of modifications to LCAC and its systems. These efforts include development and incorporation of main engine upgrades; the design, development, and testing of a new skirt system; modifications to the buoyancy box; upgrading electronics systems; and modifications to the fuel system.

Beyond LCAC’s primary mission of amphibious assault, LCAC has evolved into a multimission platform for operations such as minesweeping and minehunting, personnel transport, medical evacuation, and civil-emergency response. It is expected that LCAC’s mission potential will expand even further through developments in autonomous operation and maximum integration of LCAC into the digital battlefield.

Is your Land Systems Division supporting Marine Corps procurement requirements for combat vehicles?

Although we are not currently supplying vehicles to the Marine Corps, we are exploring options that can offer them ideal solutions to their requirements. For example, we currently have a contract with the Army’s Tank Automotive and Armaments Command for the manufacture of the M-1117 Armored Security Vehicle [ASV] for use by military police. We held the rollout ceremony this past April, and we just delivered the first production vehicle. ASV employs a modular, expandable armor system that offers superior crew protection. It is C-130 transportable and offers excellent ride quality and mobility in off-road situations.

This armored vehicle is suitable for use as a mobile command post, armored personnel carrier, or scout and reconnaissance variants. ASV can be outfitted with a variety of turrets and armament stations.

You were recently awarded a fourth-year option for the construction of 24 MLBs. Tests have demonstrated the boat’s ability to right itself in less than 30 seconds—even when rolled 180 degrees bow-first into 20-foot breaking seas. You must be proud of your design team’s performance in achieving this capability.

We are extremely proud of the perform-ance of the motor lifeboats in the fleet. The MLB is an exceptionally rugged craft capable of plowing through 30-foot waves and 20-foot surf, operating in hurricane-force winds, taking impacts from waves at three times the force of gravity, self-righting while running, and able to tow a 150-ton vessel! So yes, I am proud of my team.

The integrity of the welds must be such that the craft remains intact and is always ready in order to perform its lifesaving missions. Every day, the search-and-rescue crews that operate this boat depend on it to complete their missions safely. Almost weekly, we read news articles or receive communication from the Coast Guard describing the good work and lives saved while operating the MLB.

What type of interest do you foresee regarding LCAC or MLB sales in the international marketplace?

In addition to supporting existing U.S. programs, we are currently concentrating our efforts on making these successful core products available to our allies. Following up on past successes, we are marketing the LCAC around the world, with the support of the U.S. Navy. As a reflection of its versatility and a desire to have joint operations and interoperability with the U.S. Navy, many countries are interested in the vessel for military landing craft as well as peacekeeping and humanitarian missions. Currently, we are pursuing opportunities in several countries around the world.

Additionally, drawing on the success of MLB with the U.S. Coast Guard, we are marketing this craft worldwide, and we are also offering a new 52-foot extended-MLB variant with live-aboard accommodations to meet some of our customers’ requirements. We have near-term prospects in over a dozen countries for MLB or MLB variants. New features under consideration include options with alternative propulsion systems, additional range, and higher speed. These improved capabilities will give the MLB the ability to perform a broader range of missions—so it will be ideally suited for military, coast guard, border patrol, and police agencies worldwide.

Our mission is to lead the market in designing, producing, and supporting amphibious air-cushion vehicles, specialty marine craft, and armored vehicles for commercial and government use worldwide. We are marketing our core products and after-market support services to meet this mission. Future sales opportunities will be defined by our customers’ needs. We are creating a company which understands that flexibility and teamwork are required in addition to producing great products to meet those needs and to achieve customer satisfaction.