Expeditionary fast transport
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The ''Spearhead''-class expeditionary fast transport (EPF) is a
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 ...
–led shipbuilding program to provide a high-speed, shallow draft vessel intended for rapid intra-theater transport of medium-sized cargo payloads. The EPFs can reach speeds of , and allow the rapid transit and deployment of conventional or special forces, equipment and supplies." The vessels are a part of
Military Sealift Command Military Sealift Command (MSC) is an organization that controls the replenishment and military transport ships of the United States Navy. Military Sealift Command has the responsibility for providing sealift and ocean transportation for all US m ...
's Sealift Program. The class was previously designated as "Joint High Speed Vessel (JHSV)", and redesignated in September 2015.A New Class of Ship – 'Expeditionary Support'
- Navytimes.com, 3 September 2015


Capabilities

The EPF is able to transport U.S. Army and
U.S. Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through comb ...
company A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of people, whether Natural person, natural, Legal person, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common p ...
-sized units with their vehicles, or can be reconfigured to become a
troop transport A troopship (also troop ship or troop transport or trooper) is a ship used to carry soldiers, either in peacetime or wartime. Troopships were often drafted from commercial shipping fleets, and were unable land troops directly on shore, typicall ...
for an
infantry battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions are e ...
. The EPF has a flight deck for
helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...
s and a load ramp that will allow vehicles to quickly drive on and off the ship. The ramp is suitable for the types of austere piers and quay walls common in developing countries. EPF has a shallow draft (under ). The EPF is an aluminum twin-hull
catamaran A Formula 16 beachable catamaran Powered catamaran passenger ferry at Salem, Massachusetts, United States A catamaran () (informally, a "cat") is a multi-hulled watercraft featuring two parallel hulls of equal size. It is a geometry-stab ...
shell containing four
diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-call ...
s, rudimentary facilities for up to 40 crew members, and 312 airline-style passenger seats, with an expansive flight deck on the top. The rest of the vessel is a convertible mission bay that can be loaded to carry any cargo. Vehicles and cargo are loaded and unloaded by a ramp that can support up to 100 tons of weight. Although designed for a military crew of 46, the ships usually have a crew of 26. The passenger room contains reclining seats with overhead televisions and racks for weapons and equipment. Each vessel has 104 permanent berthing spaces. Without resupply, it can support 312 embarked personnel for four days, or 104 personnel for 14 days. The design is a derivative of the
Hawaii Superferry Hawaii Superferry was a Hawaii-based transportation company that provided passenger and vehicle transportation between Honolulu Harbor on the island of Oahu and Kahului Harbor on Maui. Legal issues over environmental impact statements and prot ...
, also built by Austal USA. The EPF has a greater level of comfort for the crew than larger Navy ships. The stateroom-style berthing areas for the ship's crew have private features including toilet stalls, outlets, air conditioning, and thermostats. People being transported are less well catered for; they may be subjected to " hot racking"-style living arrangements of available berthing bunks if necessary. There is no ship's store in the typical Navy sense of the term, but the ship's captain may unlock the "slop chest" and sell ship's coins and other ship-specific paraphernalia on a case-by-case basis. The ship is unstable in rough seas and at high speeds. At 10 knots in calm sea states the hull can roll up to four degrees to each side, while conventional ships would roll very little; this increases if the ship goes faster or in rougher conditions, raising the possibility of
seasickness Motion sickness occurs due to a difference between actual and expected motion. Symptoms commonly include nausea, vomiting, cold sweat, headache, dizziness, tiredness, loss of appetite, and increased salivation. Complications may rarely include de ...
. To achieve its top speed the ship has to be traveling in waters not exceeding sea state 3 (waves up to high). At sea state 4 it can travel at up to 15 knots, at only 5 knots in sea state 5, and has to hold position in any higher sea state. This reflects the ship's purpose of operating close to shore rather than in "blue-water". , an EPF costs $180 million to build and has an annual operating cost of $26 million.


Other roles

The U.S. 4th Fleet has expressed interest in using the EPF as a low-cost ship for performing drug interdiction missions around Central and South America. U.S. Southern Command is experiencing a shortage of Coast Guard cutters available to interdict drug runners due to ship age and budget cuts. In May 2013, HSV-2 Swift conducted a drug interdiction patrol, showing that an aluminum catamaran was capable of performing the role. An EPF is capable of embarking a Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment (LEDET). The EPF has no weapons or defensive systems to fulfill combat missions, but the Navy is looking to expand its roles to include re-supplying special operations forces and conducting humanitarian assistance missions.
Chief of Naval Operations The chief of naval operations (CNO) is the professional head of the United States Navy. The position is a statutory office () held by an admiral who is a military adviser and deputy to the secretary of the Navy. In a separate capacity as a memb ...
Jonathan Greenert has suggested using the ships as a cheaper way to perform counter-piracy missions to free up blue-water combatants. Offensive armament and defensive measures against pirates would be handled by a security team on board, and an EPF's speed would also be a good defense against an attack by pirates. After various tests to explore the EPF's suitability to perform different missions, the ship was found to perform its primary role of intra-theater transport effectively, but had extreme difficulty in carrying out other suggested missions. When performing at-sea transfers of equipment with a Mobile Landing Platform (MLP), the EPF ramp used for vehicle transfers could not effectively operate with it in open ocean sea states of 2–3, and was determined to only be able to work in calm sea states found in protected harbors, an unacceptable constraint for operational deployment; the Navy has been aware of the current ramp's limitations and is developing one for use in up to sea states 3–4. When deploying a SEAL Delivery Vehicle (SDV), the EPF's stern-mounted crane could launch it in up to sea state 3 conditions, but support surface craft were needed to get divers into the underwater vehicle, which could only be launched in sea state 2.


Electronic systems

The electronic systems for this class are provided by General Dynamics Mission Systems. The infrastructure integrates the ship's electronic systems including: computing environment, internal and external communications, electronic navigation, aviation and armament systems, remote surveillance system, plus the entertainment & training system. The same General Dynamics OPEN CI is used on the (also built by Austal USA).


Amphibious assault

Marine Corps General John M. Paxton, Jr. called the EPF "a very capable ship" for certain missions, but cites several deficiencies as a substitute amphibious assault ship, including inability to operate in difficult sea states, survivability in contested waters, lack of a well deck to launch amphibious vehicles, and lack of "splash capability" to drive vehicles off the ramp into the sea. The ship has been rejected as a platform on which to base MV-22 Ospreys due to its weight, and potential flight deck damage from engines during take-off and landing. The USMC is investigating changes to the EPF ramp to enable the "splash capability" for placing
Amphibious Combat Vehicle The Amphibious Combat Vehicle (ACV) is a program initiated by Marine Corps Systems Command to procure an amphibious assault vehicle for the United States Marine Corps to supplement and ultimately replace the aging Assault Amphibious Vehicle (AAV ...
s into the water near the shore. A single EPF could carry and deploy 20 to 30 ACVs.


Ambulance version

Beginning with EPF-14, the ships will be designated as EPF Flight II, with increased health services capabilities while still maintaining most of the original mission of the ship. The Flight II variant is designed to bring enhanced medical capabilities at the request of Combatant Commanders, and allows patients to recover onboard rather than in a higher-level facility. They can respond faster, and to more places than the Navy's larger, slower and unarmed hospital ships. The EPF Flight II design includes upgrades to the medical facilities for resuscitation and surgery, enhanced support of V-22 flight operations, and enhanced launch and recovery of 11-meter rigid inflatable boats.


Program

The EPF program combines the Army's Theater Support Vessel (TSV) program (dating from 2004) with the Navy and Marine Corps High Speed Connector (HSC) (requirement dating from 2004). The EPF program received Milestone A approval in May 2006. The Navy awarded Phase One preliminary design contracts in early 2008, and a detail design and construction contract in the 4th Quarter of FY08. The Navy's Program Executive Office, Ships will conduct acquisition for both the Army and Navy, but each service will fund its own ships. After delivery, each service will be responsible for manning, maintaining, and providing full lifecycle support for its vessels. , the lead ship in the class, was launched in September 2011 and delivered to the Navy in early 2012. The Navy expected to purchase 23 EPF vessels over 30 years. On 2 May 2011, all Army JHSVs were transferred to the Navy. On 30 June 2011, Austal was awarded construction contracts for EPF-6 and EPF-7. On 27 February 2012, Austal was awarded construction contracts for EPF-8 and EPF-9. On 5 December 2012, the first ship in the class, USNS ''Spearhead'', was delivered to
Military Sealift Command Military Sealift Command (MSC) is an organization that controls the replenishment and military transport ships of the United States Navy. Military Sealift Command has the responsibility for providing sealift and ocean transportation for all US m ...
in Mobile, Alabama. On 10 December 2012, the Navy awarded its final option under its current contract, and ordered EPF-10. On 5 April 2013, the EPF program was added to the remit of the Littoral Combat Ship Council, so that the capabilities of both ship types could be considered together. In 2014, the USN considered outsourcing the management of the fleet, but concluded that the ships would continue to be manned by civil service mariners. Funding for the construction of an eleventh EPF was appropriated by Congress in the FY 2015 National Defense Authorization Act. The procurement of long-lead-time material and initial engineering support for the Expeditionary Fast Transport (EPF) 12 (formerly Joint High Speed Vessel 12) was announced on 5 May 2016 under the Naval Sea Systems Command's contracting activity (N00024-16-C-2217). On 16 September 2016, Austal was awarded a contract to design and construct EPF-11 and EPF-12. On 13 February 2018, Navy Secretary
Richard V. Spencer Richard Vaughn Spencer (born January 18, 1954) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 76th United States Secretary of the Navy from August 3, 2017, to November 24, 2019. While serving as Secretary of the Navy, he also brief ...
announced the name of T-EPF-12 as ''Newport''. Congress allocated money for a 13th Expeditionary Fast Transport (EPF) in the FY 2018 budget, and a 14th EPF in the FY 2019 budget. On 18 October 2018, the navy awarded Austal a $57.8 million order to fund the procurement of long lead-time materials, which included diesel engines, water jets and reduction gears, for the construction of the 13th EPF. On 3 December 2018, the navy awarded Austal a $40.4 million order to fund the procurement of long lead-time materials, which included diesel engines, water jets and reduction gears, for the construction of the 14th EPF. On 26 March 2019, the Navy awarded Austal a $262 million contract for the design and construction of two additional Expeditionary Fast Transport Ships, EPF-13 and EPF-14. This follows the long lead-time materials contracts awarded in October the previous year, of $57.8M for EPF-13, and in December $40.4M for EPF-14. Construction of EPF-13 is scheduled to commence in late 2019, and EPF-14 is to follow in the middle of 2020. On 26 February 2021, the U.S. Navy awarded Austal a $235 million contract for the detailed design and construction of EPF-15. EPF-15 will include enhanced medical capability. Austal USA secured a contract from the US Department of Defense to carry out the detailed design, procurement, production implementation, and demonstration of autonomous capability in EPF-13.


History

In June 2011, a fifty-ton module was damaged at the Austal shipyard in Mobile during the construction of USNS ''Choctaw County''. In 2013 a Frost & Sullivan report predicted that sales could be made to
APAC Apac is a town in Apac District in the Northern Region of Uganda. It is the 'chief town' of the district and the district headquarters are located there. The district is named after the town. Location Apac is located approximately , by road ...
countries. During operations in 2015, the first ship of the class, , experienced bow damage from rough seas requiring more than a half-million dollars (USD) to repair. It was determined that a design change that Austal recommended to the Navy late in the design phase to save weight has resulted in a weakened bow structure. The first five ships in the class will require additional work done to improve the superstructure, at a cost of $350k-$1.2M each. The remaining ships which are still various stages of construction will require upgrading following construction as well.


Derivatives


HSSV

In early 2014, Austal announced it had been awarded a $124.9 million contract for two High Speed Support Vessels (HSSV) for a foreign customer, later revealed to be the Royal Navy of Oman. The HSSV has a similar catamaran hull design as the EPF and supports naval operations including helicopter operations, rapid deployment of military personnel and cargo, and search and rescue missions. It is long and can travel at 35 knots. An HSSV has a crew of 69 personnel with 69 berths, can seat another 250, and has a cargo capacity of 320 tonnes (350 short tons). Both are to be delivered by 2016. Austal launched the first HSSV, RNOV ''Al Mubshir'', on 31 October 2015 at its
Henderson, Western Australia Henderson is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located within the City of Cockburn. History The suburb of Henderson comprises land resumed by the Commonwealth Government in 1915 for defence purposes. A large naval base was planned by Admira ...
facility.Austal launches Oman Navy support ship
Richard Tomkins, www.SpaceWar.com, 26 October 2015, accessed 3 November 2015
it was delivered to Oman on 20 May 2016.Austal Delivers First High Speed Support Vessel
Austal 20 May 2016


Ships in class


Related/similar projects

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HST-2 ''HST-2'', formerly named USNS ''Puerto Rico'' and ''Alakai'', is a vessel owned by the United States Navy Military Sealift Command. She was originally Hawaii Superferry's first high-speed ferry. The vessel was later chartered by Bay Ferries, B ...
(ex-''Puerto Rico'') (Navy) * ''Sea Fighter'' (FSF-1) (Navy) * ''Sea Shadow'' (IX-529) (Navy) *
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(an experimental
pentamaran A multihull is a boat or ship with more than one hull, whereas a vessel with a single hull is a monohull. The most common multihulls are catamarans (with two hulls), and trimarans (with three hulls). There are other types, with four or more ...
) (DoD/ Navy) * Juliet Marine Systems ''Ghost'' (an advanced super-cavitating stealth ship) (DoD/ Darpa/ Navy)


See also

*


References


External links

*
General Dynamics Mission Systems
ship mission system integrator for the Expeditionary Fast Transport (EPF) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Spearhead-class Joint High Speed Vessel Military catamarans