This U.S. Military Hovercraft Is So Massive It Can Carry An Abrams Battle Tank

Hovercraft are super cool. No matter how many times you see one in operation, they always create an atmosphere that slightly futuristic. For sailors in the U.S. Navy, hovercraft are very ordinary vehicles used to transport people and stuff from their large ships to an onshore base. The most highly used hovercraft is the Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC). The LCAC is the tank of hovercraft, it’s 28 meters long and can carry 75 tons of equipment. That means this hovercraft can carry an Abrams battle tank.

While the hovercraft is a workhorse, it can still get up to 40 knots fully loaded. The LCACs are used by the Navy mainly as transporters but also put into use for humanitarian missions and other investigative work. The floating design of the vessels gives them access to an incredible 70 percent of coastlines as opposed to a regular landing boat that has only 15 percent.

But these hard-working hovercraft won’t be around for much longer, the Navy is getting ready to replace the long-serving LCACs with new Ship-to-Shore-Connector (SCS) technology. The new fleet will be similar to the old LCACs but with a plethora of new and updated technologies to make them faster and more efficient. In this video, you can see these ultra-tough vehicles drive across both land and sea as they complete transport operations. The replacement SCS fleet will be delivered in 2020 so enjoy this brilliant footage while you can.