Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC)

A high-speed air-cushion landing craft (hovercraft) that carries up to about 60 to 75 tons of payload, including a main battle tank, from a ship’s well deck across the surf zone onto more than 70 percent of the world’s beaches, versus roughly 15 percent reachable by displacement craft. The US designation is LCAC. It cruises near 40 knots loaded and lands over mud, sand, and low obstacles a conventional ramp cannot cross. The Ship-to-Shore Connector (SSC, LCAC-100 class) is the successor replacing the original 1980s LCAC fleet.