Maritime Prepositioning Force Utility Boat - Aft View

The

Maritime Prepositioning Force Strategic sealift ships are part of the United States Military Sealift Command's (MSC) prepositioning program. There are currently 17 ships in the program, strategically positioned around the world to support the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corp ...

(MPF) Utility Boat (MPFUB) is a commercially designed utility craft used primarily to move personnel and light equipment during MPF offload operations. The 41 foot long, high-speed landing craft are replacing the Navy’s existing

LCM-8 The LCM-8 ("Mike Boat") is a river boat and mechanized landing craft used by the United States Navy and Army during the Vietnam War and subsequent operations. They are currently used by governments and private organizations throughout the world. ...

craft as part of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

's Improved Navy Lighterage System (INLS) in support of pre-positioned Marine Amphibious assault missions. Additional missions include supporting waterborne force protection, transportation of personnel and materials, medical evacuation, salvage, damage control, and repair operations. The MPFUB's power bow ramp facilitates embarking and discharging personnel over an INLS, low pier, or quay. Cargo capacity is ten tons, or up to 30 personnel with 150 lbs of equipment at speeds up to 25 knots fully loaded. It can reach speeds around 40 knots when empty. The MPFUB weighs about 44,000 pounds (19,950 kg). Propulsion is provided by twin Cummins QSM11 engines rated for 660 hp at 2300 rpm and Hamilton 364 water jets (for beach deployments). The MPFUB has three weapon mounts for

M2 Browning The M2 machine gun or Browning .50 caliber machine gun (informally, "Ma Deuce") is a heavy machine gun that was designed towards the end of World War I by John Browning. Its design is similar to Browning's earlier M1919 Browning machine gun, w ...

Mk 19 grenade launcher The Mk 19 grenade launcher (pronounced Mark 19) is an American 40 mm belt-fed automatic grenade launcher that was first developed during the Vietnam War. Overview The Mk 19 is a belt-fed, blowback-operated, air-cooled, crew-serve ...

, or

M240 machine gun The M240 – officially the Machine Gun, 7.62 mm, M240 – is the U.S. military designation for the FN MAG, a family of belt-fed, gas-operated medium machine guns that chamber the 7.62×51mm NATO cartridge. The M240 has been used by the U ...

s. It was designed by Kvichak Marine Industries, Incorporated. Procurement of the MPFUB is managed by the Naval Facilities Expeditionary Logistics Center (NFELC). The first MPFUB was delivered to the Navy's Assault Craft Unit ONE in 2006.

References

{{Reflist Landing craft United States Navy Military boats