The Army announced it is expanding its seagoing cargo fleet. The Army needs the vessels to support operations in the Pacific and to serve Army Prepositioned Stocks. See link below
The Army's Little-Known Boat Fleet Is Getting a Big Upgrade
Military.com 14 Nov 2022
Sandboxx | By Hope Hodge Seck
While the Navy’s struggle to build out new ship classes for future conflicts makes headlines, the Army is quietly revamping its own little-known fleet – one that has at times had more vessels than the Navy’s, albeit smaller ones.
In October, the Army launched the first prototype of the new Maneuver Support Vessel (Light), or MSV(L), a cargo watercraft that’s set to become the service’s newest boat class. The 117-foot MSV(L), made by Vigor Industrial, has been in development since 2017 when the Army inked a $980 million, 10-year contract with the company . . .
General Charles Flynn, commanding general of U.S. Army Pacific, told an audience at the Association of the United States Army’s annual meeting in October that the service is working to activate more vessels in the region to support Pacific-based Army Prepositioned Stocks, or warfighting gear stockpiles that stand ready for combat. He added that the Army likely needed more boat companies to meet the logistics challenges of supporting allies in the Pacific and establishing a presence through its Pacific Pathways initiative, which promotes exercises with regional allies.
The USMC continues its delusional march to eventual oblivion as it makes itself irrelevant.
Very interesting...the link to the Vigor Intl. page for the MSV(L) shows it carrying an M1 looking tank: https://vigor.net/projects/msvl.
The list of design capabilities include:
-The ability to carry modern equipment into diverse littoral settings, up to and including a main battle tank
-Greater maneuver options in anti-access, area-denial environments
-Superior seakeeping and survivability