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U.S. Marine Corps test new Ultra Heavy-Lift Amphibious Connector UHAC during RIMPAC 2014 1107142

UHAC Ultra Heavy-lift Amphibious Connector

Friday, July 11, 2014 10:28 AM

U.S. Marine Corps test new Ultra Heavy-Lift Amphibious Connector UHAC during RIMPAC 2014.

Members of the U.S. Marine Corps Warfighting Lab (MCWL) tested a model version of the Ultra Heavy-lift Amphibious Connector (UHAC) at the RIMPAC 2014, the world's largest international military maritime exercise. The UHAC is an amphibious craft that has three times the lift capacity and greater coastal access than the Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC.)

The Ultra Heavy-Lift Amphibious Connector (UHAC) rolls over a sand dune near the beach at Marine Corps Training Area Bellows on Oahu, Hawaii during a Marine Corps Advanced Warfighting Experiment, July 9. (Photo U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Matthew Bragg)

The UHAC began testing on July 9 at the Marine Corps Training Area Bellows on Oahu, Hawaii and it is taking part in the Rim of the Pacific Exercise 2014 which is currently underway until August 1.

The AWE is taking part during the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) Exercise 2014. Lt. Col. Don Gordon, the current technology officer at MCWL, said the UHAC is one of those experimental technologies that displays a possible capability of being able to insert Marines in areas where current technology wouldn’t be able to insert them based on current systems that are fielded.

The AWE (Advanced Warfighting Experiment) is the culmination of a decade of progressive experimentation conducted by the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab (MCWL) where they are testing potential future technologies, solutions and concepts to future Marine Air Ground Task Force challenges.

The UHAC prototype is a ship-to-shore connector and is half the size of the intended machine. Currently, the UHAC travels at four knots using a track system with floatation-like pads that propels itself through different terrain

The Ultra Heavy-Lift Amphibious Connector (UHAC) comes ashore and traverses various terrains, July 9, at Marine Corps Training Area Bellows on Oahu, Hawaii during a Marine Corps Advanced Warfighting Experiment. (Photo U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Matthew Bragg)

Less than half the size of the actual UHAC, the Warfighting Laboratory was here to see their project in action for the first time after years of planning.

If the concept model goes through, the UHAC could work side by side with the LCAC, which currently does all the ship-to-shore transportation of everything from High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV) to tanks.

“The full-scale model should be able to carry at least three tanks and a HMMVW,” said Gunnery Sgt. Joseph Perera, the lab’s Infantry Weapons Project Officer. “It’s going to save a lot of time and fuel for the Marine Corps as well.”

Although the concept model doesn’t appear to be armored well, the final production is planned to have armor plating and .50-caliber machine guns, which Perera says are needed on the UHAC to be able to protect itself.