Textron's Landing Hovercraft Cut 20% in U.S. Navy Five-Year Plan
- Vessels are intended to bring at least 26 passengers ashore
- First two test vessels running over a year behind schedule
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The U.S. Navy is proposing a 20 percent cut in its planned fleet of new hovercraft being built by Textron Inc. to bring Marine and Army forces and equipment ashore from amphibious warfare vessels.
The service’s next five-year budget will call for 58 of the new Ship to Shore Connector instead of the 73 currently envisioned. The Navy is focused on its plans to expand to a 355-ship fleet from 286 today, but the hovercraft, which has been hampered by early development problems, doesn’t count against that total.