Approach to Joining Multiple Displacement Hulls Together To Increase Speed Navy SBIR FY2005.1 Sol No.: Navy SBIR FY2005.1 Topic No.: N05-048 Topic Title: Approach to Joining Multiple Displacement Hulls Together To Increase Speed Proposal No.: N051-048-0817 Firm: Art Anderson Associates 202 Pacific Avenue Bremerton, Washington 98337-1932 Contact: Andy Bennett Phone: (360) 479-5600 Web Site: www.artanderson.com Abstract: It has been well documented that the Navy's Seabasing vision for staging bases near the theater of operations calls for an extension of the distance offshore from the current two to five miles to one hundred to two hundred miles. Although the distances will be greater, response times and throughputs must remain the same or improved. This will consequently require heavy lift and high speed landing craft to transport equipment from the seabase to the beach. In response to this need, the Navy is looking at various ways to increase the speed of its workhorse landing craft, the LCU 1600 class vessel. This topic seeks to develop an enabling capability for connecting multiple LCU's, in line, with the expectation that the speed should be increased by at least 30%. The key enabling capability sought is the connecting device between the vessels. This project will investigate the adaptation of a flexible connecting device developed for the Improved Navy Lighterage System (INLS) to the LCU "In-Line" train concept. This "end connector", called the Flexor, has been utilized for two generations of Navy lighterage systems. Benefits: The Navy's Seabasing vision requires higher speed connectors between the seabase platforms and the shore. This is the fundamental role of landing craft, like the LCU 1600. The LCU End Connector System will permit the in-line connection of two LCU 1600' thereby increasing speed and payload capacity. Return