HSV/TSV Cutaway
(click to view full)

“UAVs, Blimps, and HSV-2, Oh My!” covered the USA’s leased Incat TSV/HSV wave-piercing catamaran ship designs – and we’ve also covered the Marines’ very successful use of Austal’s Westpac Express high-speed catamaran. These Australian-designed ships’ ability to roll on a company with full gear and equipment (or a full infantry battalion if used as a troop transport), haul it intra-theater distances at 38 knots, then move their shallow draft safely into austere ports to roll them off, has attracted favorable comment and notice from the US Navy, Marines, and Army alike.

So favorable that the experiments have resulted in a program called the Joint High Speed Vessel. While still in its early stages, the final specifications are beginning to gel and the ships appear to be on track for construction funding in FY 2008.

The US Military’s HSV/TSV Experience

Westpac Express

Instead of arising from a drawing board, the JHSV’s requirements are based on 5 years of experience operating similar leased vessels. The Army operated Incat’s HSVX-1 Joint Venture in conjunction with the Navy, and the theater support vessel TSV-1X Spearhead was under sole Army control until its recent return to commercial service. Both ships saw extensive Army use in operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom, as well as supporting operations in the Pacific, Atlantic, Mediterranean, Horn of Africa, Persian Gulf and Southeast Asia.

HSVX-1 Joint Venture was even used by Special Operations Command as a proof-of-concept platform for a special operations force afloat in the western Pacific. Its modifications include a helicopter landing deck and hangar along with a small military command, control and communications suite. As DID has noted, modifications to its complement also include ScanEagle UAVs. The US Navy is experimenting with UAVs, blimps and related vehicles in a persistent surveillance role, and the combination of high speed transport, persistent surveillance, and advanced communications may prove to be very complementary.

“I Serve With HSV-2!”
(click to view full)

If that sounds a lot like the USA’s forthcoming Littoral Combat Ships, the similarity is not entirely accidental; experience with these high-speed catamarans has played an important role in developing the LCS concept of operations.

At present, 2 leased vessels remain in service: Incat’s HSV-2 Swift wave-piercing catamaran with the Navy, and Austal’s HSV 4676 Westpac Express catamaran with the Marine Corps.

HSV-2 Swift has supported relief operations in Indonesia post-tsunami, and in the Gulf Coast region following hurricane Katrina. In both cases, Swift’s high speed and shallow draft combined to make it an ideal platform for the delivery of relief supplies and support of other platforms operating in the area. During operations following Katrina, Swift was able to use ports that were inaccessible to other ships of the logistics force.

Westpac Express, meanwhile, continues to enjoy success and contract renewals as it operates in the area of Guam, Okinawa, and Japan.

The JHSV Program

TSV-1X Spearhead

As NAVSEA notes:

“It will be capable of transporting Army and Marine Corps company-sized units with their vehicles, or reconfigure to become a troop transport for an infantry battalion. Its 35-45 nautical miles per hour speed allows for rapid deployment and maneuver of conventional or special operations forces.

JHSV’s shallow draft will allow it access to small austere ports common in developing countries. This makes the JHSV an extremely flexible asset ideal for three types of missions: support of relief operations in small or damaged ports; as a flexible logistics support vessel for the Joint Commander; or as the key enabler for rapid transport of a Marine Light Armored Reconnaissance Company or an Army Stryker unit.”

The design specifications so far established for the JHSV describe an oceangoing vessel 450 feet in length or less, capable of carrying 600 short tons of cargo up to 1,200 nautical miles at a speed of 35 knots. It must also have seats for at least 312 passengers, and must be able to provide long-term berthing and galley facilities for at least 104 of those passengers in addition to the vessel’s 41 crewmembers.

Its Initial Capability Document received approval from the Department of Defense Joint Requirements Oversight Council on Nov. 1, 2005, with all four military services concurring. The Analysis of Alternatives for this program is set for end of the 2005, and procurement of the lead ship for the US Army is planned for FY 2008. That procurement date remained intact through April 2007, when representatives from the Army, Navy, Marine Corps and the shipbuilding industry met at Quantico Marine Corps Base outside Washington to update prospective contractors on the vessel’s design requirements.

A Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) allows the U.S. Navy to use its surface ship acquisition expertise to buy these vessels on the Army’s behalf, with Army participation. The Program Executive Office for Ships’ Program Office for Sealift, Special Mission, Boats and Craft (PMS-325) manages the JHSV program.

A single firm will ultimately be selected to produce all 8 planned JHSV ships, and the current goal is for the JHSV to achieve Initial Operational Capability in 2011. The Army will own and operate the 5 Army-funded vessels after procurement, including responsibilities for crew training and vessel maintenance. The Navy will have the same responsibilities for the 3 Navy-funded vessels.

Contracts & Key Events:

July 30/08: Austal announces its its final Phase II Joint High Speed Vessel (JHSV) submission to the US Navy, following an extensive detailed design and review process. The firm expects that a single Phase II contract for up to 10 JHSV ships will be awarded in late 2008.

Austal’s release adds the interesting tidbit that the firm was recently awarded a new contract to provide additional features and equipment on Hawaii Superferry’s second commercial 107 meter catamaran, in order to allow its use by the military if required.

Jan 31/08: The US Department of Defense awards a trio of $3 million Phase I preliminary design contracts for the JHSV. Winners include:

• Team Austal: Austal USA, Austal Ships (Australia), and General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems (GDAIS). This is sort of the same Austal/GD core team building the trimaran LCS 2 Independence design for the USA’s Littoral Combat Ship competition – but note competitor #3…

• Team Incat: Louisiana-based Bollinger Shipyards, Inc., Incat of Australia, and its design arm Revolution Design, Nichols Brothers Boat Builders and Kvichak Marine in Washington State, and Gladding-Hearn (Duclos Corp) in Massachusetts. Their design will be based on Incat’s 112 meter wave-piercing catamaran, currently in commercial service. Consortium source.

• General Dynamics’ Bath Iron Works.

US NAVSEA release [PDF] | Incat Australia release | Austal release | UPI re: Bath Iron Works | Springbored’s blog commentary re: Austal-GD dynamics.

April 23-27/07: Representatives of the US Army, Navy, Marine Corps and the shipbuilding industry meet at at Quantico Marine Corps Base in Va., to discuss the JHSV’s current status of the Joint High Speed Vessel and update prospective contractors on the vessel’s design requirements. US Army release.

November 2005: The Joint High Speed Vessel (JHSV) program office’s Initial Capability Document received approval from the Department of Defense Joint Requirements Oversight Council in early November. All four military services concurred with the decision. The Analysis of Alternatives for this program is scheduled to report out before the end of the 2005 calendar year, and procurement of the lead ship is planned for FY 2008. NAVSEA release

Additional Readings & Sources

• US Navy PEO Ships PMS-325 – Joint High-Speed Vessel (JHSV)

• US Navy NWDC – Naval Concept Development – High Speed Vessel

• JHSV Program (Sept 28/06) – Joint High Speed Vessel Program Overview: SNAME SD-5 & IHS

• US Military Sealift Command – WESTPAC EXPRESS, MV

• US Navy Fact File – High-Speed Vessel – HSV

• US Military Sealift Command – HSV SWIFT

• Soldiers Magazine (August 2007) – Launching the JHSV

• US Army (April 30/07) – Services Chart Course for New Vessel

• Inside the Navy via Military.com (July 13/06) – Joint High-Speed Vessel Taking Shape

• Seapower Magazine (May 2006) – In the Shallows: The Joint High-Speed Vessel will bring a new dimension to U.S. forces

• National Defense Magazine (November 2005) – Navy’s High-Speed Vessel Aids Relief Effort

• US Armed Forces Press Service (Oct 21/02) – “Joint Venture” Craft Cruises to the Future