ONR Phase II T-Craft Contracts Issued

We have previously covered a bit of the T-Craft program as it advanced into phase II. There were three winners total. According to Office of Naval Research announcement (PDF) on the project last year, several metrics for T-Craft were established.

The Office of Naval Research has identified the following list of capabilities, the desired thresholds/objectives, and a list of other relevant information for the T-CRAFT prototype:
Capability List:

1. Un-refueled range, in a no cargo condition, of 2,500 nautical miles in a Fuel Efficient/ Good Sea Keeping Mode (20 knots, through Sea State 5)
2. Open ocean operations through Sea State 6 (through Sea State 4 in High Speed/Shallow Water Mode) and survivable in Sea State 8.
3. Maximum Speed, full load condition in High Speed, Shallow Water Mode = ~40 knots through top end of Sea State 4.
4. Amphibious capability, in Amphibious Mode, to traverse sand bars and mud flats thereby providing a “feet dry on the beach” capability.
5. Ability to convert between modes at-sea without any external assistance.
6. Maximum un-refueled range in High Speed/Shallow Water Mode = ~500-600 nautical miles (40 knots, through Sea State 4).
7. Ability to mitigate wave-induced motions in Sea State 4/5 to enable rapid vehicle transfer (loading/un-loading) between the T-CRAFT and a Maritime Prepositioning Force (Future)/Sealift ship.
8. To be used as an assault connector and a logistics connector.

As a potential ship to shore connector for Sea Basing, naturally we are very interested in this project, although with some reservations. Following the selection of winners back in January, contracts were issued yesterday to Alion Science & Technology Corp., UMOE Mandal (USA) Inc., and Textron Marine & Land.

Alion Science & Technology Corp., Chicago, Ill., is being awarded a $10,180,211 cost plus-fixed-fee completion task order #0003 under previously awarded contract (N00014-07-D-0200) to develop detailed designs of the transformable craft (T-Craft). The goal of the program is to design and build a prototype demonstrator of a T-Craft which can deploy in an unloaded condition (range of 2,500 nm) from the intermediate support base to the sea base and then be used as a sea base connector, transporting wheeled and tracked vehicles through the surf zone and on the beach. Work will be performed in Alexandria, Va., and work is expected to be completed Apr. 2010. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured under Office of Naval Research Broad Agency Announcement 05-020. The Office of Naval Research, Arlington, Va., is the contracting activity.

UMOE Mandal (USA) Inc., Washington, D.C., is being awarded a $9,433,754 cost-plus-fixed-fee completion task order #0003 under previously awarded contract (N00014-07-D-0336) to develop detailed designs of the transformable craft (T-Craft). The goal of the program is to design and build a prototype demonstrator of a T-Craft which can deploy in an unloaded condition (range of 2,500 nm) from the intermediate support base to the sea base and then be used as a sea base connector, transporting wheeled and tracked vehicles through the surf zone and on the beach. Work will be performed in Mandal, Norway, and work is expected to be completed May 2010. Contract funds in the amount of $1,946,659 will expire at end of current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured under Office of Naval Research Broad Agency Announcement 05-023. The Office of Naval Research, Arlington, Va., is the contracting activity.

Textron Marine & Land, New Orleans, La., is being awarded an $8,728,893 cost-plus-fixed-fee completion task order #0003 under previously awarded contract (N00014-07-D-0049) to develop detailed designs of the transformable craft (T-Craft). The goal of the program is to design and build a prototype demonstrator of a T-Craft which can deploy in an unloaded condition (range of 2,500 nm) from the intermediate support base to the sea base and then be used as a sea base connector, transporting wheeled and tracked vehicles through the surf zone and on the beach. Work will be performed in New Orleans, La., and work is expected to be completed April 2010. Contract funds will not expire at end of current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured under Office of Naval Research Broad Agency Announcement 05-020. The Office of Naval Research, Arlington, Va., is the contracting activity.

The image at the top is the UMOE Mandal version. The total development of th ONR T-Craft project is said to be around $175 million. Considering the cost of a JHSV is around $190 million, there is a lot of money being invested here by comparison. One would think Textron Marine & Land has the advantage onsidering they developed the LCAC, but with ONR you never know.

Some have tried to compare the JHSV and T-Craft, but we see them as two different things. The final construction cost for the T-Craft is still an unknown, but we expect it to be fairly expensive, potentially over $100 million. That is more than was spent on FSF-1 Sea Fighter, meaning T-Craft will be expensive.

As an ONR project, it could easily be a one and done attempt to create something new, but as people try to figure out what T-Craft is, think of it as a high speed vessel version of the LCU 2000 with the capabilities of a LCAC. While the designs look neat, and the capabilities sound neat, all indications are this idea is not going to be cost effective, but we will have to wait and see to know for sure. Either way, interesting little research and development project here worth watching.