NEW ORLEANS, Feb. 16 (UPI) -- The Office of Naval Research announced it has contracted Louisiana-based Textron Marine & Land Systems for continued work on the transformable craft.
Textron Marine & Land Systems is an operating unit of defense and homeland security contractor Textron Systems. The company was awarded a follow-on deal from the Office of Naval Research to continue development of the Sea Base Connector T-Craft from phase I to phase II.
Officials say the T-Craft development is part of the U.S. Navy's Sea Base initiative to enable naval units to self-deploy from an intermediate support base to a sea base and then to move military cargo from that sea base to the shoreline. The T-Craft is one of several prototypes being developed by the Office of Naval Research for the program.
The TM&LS lead team during the phase I study developed a catamaran prototype that is designed for capabilities at "low speed, a surface effect ship at high speed, and as a fully amphibious air cushion vehicle for cargo discharge. In addition, the air cushion is used to provide a powerful motion control system to stabilize the T-Craft during cargo transfer operations at the sea base," the release said.
