JHSV-1 USNS Spearhead: What kind of ship is the Spearhead? The US Navy's pickup truck of the sea

JHSV-1 USNS Spearhead: What kind of ship is the Spearhead? The US Navy's pickup truck of the sea is a catamaran

The first ship in its class. It will be joined by 8 others being built by Austal Shipyard in Mobile, Alabama.

USNS Spearhead, a joint high-speed vessel or JHSV. It's designed for rapid intra-theater transport of troops and military equipment.

This video shows the USNS Spearhead in action- sailing out to sea on its maiden voyage.

USNS Spearhead will be operated and maintained by the Military Sealift Command. MSC accepted delivery of the Navy's first joint high-speed vessel at Austal Shipyard in Mobile, Ala., Dec. 5 2012.

USNS Spearhead is crewed by 22 civil service mariners. They will operate, navigate and maintain the ship for MSC.

Subsequent JHSVs will be named after U.S. counties, such as USNS Choctaw County (JHSV 2).

The 338-foot-long (103m) USNS Spearhead is an aluminum catamaran and is designed to be fast, flexible and maneuverable, even in shallow waters, making it ideal for transporting troops and equipment quickly within a theater of operations.

"Flexibility may be the best attribute of this ship," said civilian Capt. Douglas D. Casavant, Jr., Spearhead's civil service master who has been sailing for MSC for 23 years. "Our 20,000 square foot (1,858 square meters) mission bay area can be reconfigured to quickly adapt to whatever mission we are tasked with, for instance, carrying containerized portable hospitals to support disaster relief or transporting tanks and troops."

The Spearhead is capable of transporting approximately 600 tons of military troops, vehicles, supplies and equipment 1,200 nautical miles at an average speed of 35 knots, and can operate in shallow-draft, austere ports and waterways, providing U.S. forces added mobility and flexibility.

The JHSVs' aviation flight deck can support day and night flight operations for a wide variety of aircraft, including MV-22 Ospreys. It has accommodations to up to 42 crew members and 104 mission personnel; and airline-style seating for 312 people.

The US Navy has announced it will begin testing its newest weapon an electro magnetic rail gun aboard the Spearhead class USNS Millinocket in 2016.
Story here: http://rt.com/usa/navy-test-electroma...

WIRED article:
http://www.wired.com/2011/09/pickup-t...

Have a look at USNS Spearhead's wiki here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USNS_Spe...

Have a look at other cool military vehicles here:
   • Military Vehicles  

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