The Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC) is a class of air-cushioned landing craft used by the United States Navy and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF). They transport weapons systems, equipment, cargo and personnel from ship to shore and across the beach.

At the heart of Amphibious Warfare are the Navy's LCAC's. They are $23-million-dollar Landing craft manned by entirely enlisted crews with a CPO, SCPO, or MCPO in charge.

As of 2015, the program is forecast to cost a total of US$4.054B for 73 hovercraft. [1] Several proposals have been made to replace the LCAC. In 2003, the Navy Transformation Roadmap set out plans to start R&D on a "Heavy Lift LCAC" project in 2005, but this was superseded by the LCAC (X) "LCAC Replacement Tactical Assault Connector". [8] .

Feb 14, 2022 · The costs rose from $53.7 million in Fiscal Year 2011 dollars per craft – a figure that included research and development costs – to $63.7 million in FY ’11, prompting the notification.

It takes $3 million in annual LCAC costs to equal the lift capacity of one $25 thousand LCU. If the capabilities of the LCAC are not as critical for future missions, is the cost of the LCAC justifiable in this era of declining defense budgets?

Jun 16, 2021 · The Ship-To-Shore connector program has seen its total per-ship cost, which includes research, development, and procurement amortized over a 72-vessel program, increase more than 18% to about...

Oct 14, 2021 · The Landing Craft, Air Cushion (LCAC) is a high-speed, over-the-beach, fully amphibious landing craft capable of carrying a 60-75 ton payload.

The initial contract includes a $570 million option for up to eight SSCs to be delivered by 2020. Along with Textron, Alcoa Defense and L-3 Communications are responsible for the execution of the SSC program.

According to the LCAC training community, it costs $160,000 to train a craftmaster or engineer for the initial 17 week training period. Approximately 30 students are trained in any given year. Therefore, we may take the annual training budget to be $4,800,000.

Aug 27, 2020 · The LCAC is a high-speed air cushion platform that floats just above the water. It is capable of carrying heavy payloads and large numbers of Marines from the well deck of an amphibious ship stationed up to 100 miles at sea not just to the water’s edge but over the beach.