IMAA's HOVCAT Concept
IMAA has recently developed a novel type of amphibious craft known as the HOVCAT.
Primarily designed to meet the requirements of the Royal Marines who have an interest in an
fast amphibious landing craft, which would fit within the confines of the 8m wide well dock on
their LSD(A) ships, as well as have the ability to land equipment and men, dry onto a beach.
The HOVCAT has to be robustly constructed to withstand the forces likely to be incurred
during docking. Such structural loadings preclude the use of conventional type hovercraft
which are lightly constructed and have a peripheral bag type skirt which is usually wider than
the available dock width.
IMAA's solution is catamaran type hull with skirt segments attached underneath, as shown below by
an artist's impression:
A range of military vehicles can be carried which are discharged down a 4.5m wide bow ramp.
Twin ducted air propeller propulsion is adopted with centrifugal fans providing the lift air.
Bow thruster units are fitted to provide side force to facilitate docking.
Substantial side fendering is fitted resulting in an overall beam of 7.5m.
The novel design of the HOVCAT is covered by UK patent no. GB2458003 dated 22 January 2009.
The arrangement permits adequate roll stiffness when operating in rough beam sea conditions, since
immersion of the buoyant side hulls (shown hashed) generates a restoring moment as the craft heels.
The method of attaching the skirt segments directly to the side-hulls permits the craft to operate at
higher cushion pressures than typical of conventional hovercraft, permittingheavier loads to be carried.
IMAA has constructed a 1/3rd scale manned model of the HOVCAT which was tested in the Solent during 2012
- see MANNED MODELS.
To return to the main page, double click:
