High speed transport designed for use by Army, Marines, Navy may see service in 2008

Based on commercial high-speed ships, two of the prototype theater support vessels (TSVs) have already been used to support operations during Operation Iraqi Freedom. They also have been deployed to the Horn of Africa, Persian Gulf and Southeast Asia.

The Army could be transporting soldiers and equipment across the ocean in the first of eight high-speed ships as early as next year.

Representatives of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps and shipbuilding industry met last week to map out plans for the Joint High Speed Vessel program, a new type of fast logistic-support ship that will ultimately be acquired by all three services, according to an Army press release...

So far the design calls for a 450-foot, oceangoing vessel capable of carrying 600 tons of cargo up to 1,200 nautical miles at a speed of 35 knots, the release said. It must also have seats for at least 312 passengers and provide long-term berthing and galley facilities for at least 104 of those passengers, in addition to the vessel’s 41 crewmembers.

Read the rest at Army Times

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