U.S. Army looking for the Replacement for the Landing Craft Mechanized (LCM-8)

[FormerDirtDart]

It’s been several months since the US Army issued an RFI to identify a replacement for their aging LCM-8s.
A little background: The Army’s LCM-8s serve essentially as cargo lighters. Supporting harbor/port operations. Most vessels are long past their anticipated service life.

The existing fleet basic characteristics:

• Length: 74 feet
• Beam: 21 feet
• Displacement: 58 LTONs (unladen); 111 LTONs (laden)
• Deck area: 620 square feet
• Range: 332 NM at 11 knots (unladen) one-way; 271 NM at 9 knots (laden) one-way

IMO the RFI for what they are calling the ‘Maneuver Support Vessel (Light) (MSV(L)’ identifies a significant capability upgrade. This follows what can only be considered a downgrade that the US Navy undertook when the replaced their LCM-8s on prepositioned ships with the Maritime Pre-positioning Force Utility Boat (MPFUB)

Links to the MSV(L) RFI specifications document can be found here:
https://contracting.tacom.army.mil/majorsys/replcm8/replcm8.htm (must download doc to view)
or a readable document on Scribd. here:
https://www.scribd.com/doc/244163691/RFI-Manuver-Support-Vessel-MSV-Light-Revision-02-15-Apr-14

Basic Threshold Requirements:

• Common Remotely Operated Weapon Station II (CROWS II)
• Survivable in SS7. ( “survivable” means that crew, cargo and passengers are unharmed, the vessel maintains sea keeping integrity, and it remains fully capable of resuming full operations when conditions permit)
• Fore and Aft ramps to allow drive-through operations, and one ramp configurable for small boat launch & recovery
• Payload capabilities:
  • Four Joint Light Tactical Vehicles (JLTV) w/trailer, crew and all personnel equipment
  • Two Strykers (any variant) with SLAT armor, crew and all personnel equipment
  • Two Bradleys (M2A2/M3A2) with crew and all personnel equipment (must be enough deck space to lower the vehicle’s rear ramp)
  • One M1A2 Abrams tank with crew and all personnel equipment
  • One Rifle Platoon of the Infantry IBCT with crew and all personnel equipment (This seems like a low number, as a vessel capable of carrying the other equipment noted would likely be able to carry an Infantry IBCT Company)
  • Capable of safely transporting one fully-loaded at maximum weight 40-foot or two fully-loaded at maximum weight 20-foot ISO containers
  • MSV(L) shall be capable of safely transporting material and personnel in SS3 (Objective requirement for SS increases to SS5)
• Maneuver and conduct all operations in a minimum of four feet of water, allow the bow ramp to be deployed in a minimum of two feet of water
  (Objective requirement able to maneuver and conduct all operations in a minimum of two feet of water)
• Speed: capability to move at a sustained speed of 18 knots laden in SS3; 24 knots unladen in SS3 (Objective requirement capability to move at a sustained speed of 22 knots laden in SS3; 30 knots unladen in SS3)
• Range: Conduct operations in SS3 as follows:
  • 400 Nautical Miles (NM) at sustained speed of 24 knots when unladen round trip; and 360 NM at sustained speed of 18 knots laden round trip
  • Continuous operations, for a period of 24 hours without refueling or re-provisioning
    (Objective performance: round trip operations @SS4, 500 NM @ sustained 30 knots unladen, 400 NM @ sustained 20 knots laden)
• Transportability: capable of being loaded and moved on Heavy Lift Ship (HLS) or semi-submersible vessel (Objective: capable of being loaded via lift on/lift off and moved on Large, Medium-Speed RO/RO vessel)
• Anticipated production quantity is 36

As I stated, the MSV(L) threshold requirements (let alone the objective ones) would be a significant upgrade over the LCM-8s in service.

While I’m no subject matter expert in amphibious landing systems, the conceptual or operational craft that immediately came to my mind as possibly meeting these requirements were the: ST Marine Brave 75t; BMT Caimen 90 Fast; QinetiQ PACSCAT; Socarenam L-CAT/EDA-R. Also, I was reminded of an old Textron concept, which would need to be scaled down significantly, the Textron High Speed Landing Craft Utility (HSLCU). (old patent document: Patent US6792886 - Planing landing craft - Google Patents ).

Also, from the MSV-L Questions & Answers link on the TACOM page, there seems to be some interest from a Turkish entity.

 

[FormerDirtDart]

The Army has made their selection for the future Maneuver Support Vessel (Light)
Vigor Press Release - Vigor wins award to build the U.S. Army’s Maneuver Support Vessel (Light), MSV(L), a new generation of landing craft for U.S. Army.

"... The Vigor MSV(L) design was developed in partnership with BMT following a detailed study of the Army’s unique needs and the available design options to fulfill those needs. It dramatically improves the capabilities of the current LCM-8 and provides the optimal combination of performance, operational flexibility and life-cycle cost while maintaining the reliability and versatility of the Army’s current craft. ..."

Defense News - Army awards billion-dollar contract for 100-foot landing ships

WASHINGTON – The Army has awarded a nearly $1 billion contract to the Oregon-based shipbuilder Vigor Works to replace its aging Mike Boats with a larger, faster Maneuver Support Vessel (Light).

The contract announced Thursday is a firm fix-price contract for $979,794,011 with an estimated completion date in 2027.

The MSL(V) replaces the Landing Craft Mechanized 8, a 74-foot boat with a top speed of 9 knots that first entered service in the late 1950s.

Base on released art work, and Vigor's press release stating they developed the vessel with BMT it is a modification of BMT's CAIMEN-90 Fast
I believe this will the first actual operational development of BMT's "tri-bow monohull" form.
View attachment 6901

The Army's media release provides some answers on further development and production
Army maneuvers new watercraft program to award

"... The award comes concurrent with a "Milestone B" decision that moves the program into its engineering and manufacturing development phase. Over the next four years, the Army will work with Vigor Works, LLC as it produces a full-scale prototype for additional evaluation and to inform the program's final requirements. A "Milestone C" decision and authorization for low rate initial production of the first four vessels are scheduled for the end of fiscal year 2021, followed by a full-rate production decision in fiscal year 2023. The Army seeks to buy 36 total vessels for use by Army mariners around the world. ..."