Amphibious Training Exercise

[Gilligan]

Some pretty neat pictures...and some impressive equipment on display too.

http://englishrussia.com/2014/03/16/special-combat-operation-of-marines/

 

[b23hqb]

LCAC's are LCAC's. I wonder if theirs are as subject to FOD as ours are.

 

[Larry Gude]

What's the one vehicle for in the latter pages, the one with the 'side arm'? Looks like it had cables. A recovery vehicle? Or some sort of mechanical breacher?

 

[Gilligan]

LCAC's are LCAC's. I wonder if theirs are as subject to FOD as ours are.

Their Zubr's are a heck of a lot bigger than our little LCACs. A bit more than twice the cargo capacity and about three times the cargo area...and the cargo area is enclosed. No sand blasting of the cargo..LOL.

 

[b23hqb]

Their Zubr's are a heck of a lot bigger than our little LCACs. A bit more than twice the cargo capacity and about three times the cargo area...and the cargo area is enclosed. No sand blasting of the cargo..LOL.

I see that. But are they as unreliable as ours? We still have real problems in very hot environments (like the mid-East).

You know the Russians - everything they have just has to be the biggest. Doesn't matter if it works or not - just be the biggest.

 

[Ken King]

What's the one vehicle for in the latter pages, the one with the 'side arm'? Looks like it had cables. A recovery vehicle? Or some sort of mechanical breacher?

You talking about the one with the numbers (103)? If so, I suspect it is some form of armored engineering vehicle, they come in a ton of configurations.

 

[kom526]

What's the one vehicle for in the latter pages, the one with the 'side arm'? Looks like it had cables. A recovery vehicle? Or some sort of mechanical breacher?

Looks like a BMP-R (recovery) basically a tow truck for the other BMP (tracked) and the BTR-80 (wheeled).

Just looked it up, it is a BREM-2 which is a BMP variant.

 

[Larry Gude]

Looks like a BMP-R (recovery) basically a tow truck for the other BMP (tracked) and the BTR-80 (wheeled).

Just looked it up, it is a BREM-2 which is a BMP variant.

 

[Gilligan]

I see that. But are they as unreliable as ours? We still have real problems in very hot environments (like the mid-East).

You know the Russians - everything they have just has to be the biggest. Doesn't matter if it works or not - just be the biggest.

They are reasonably so..just like ours. Hovercraft are a maintenance nightmare in general and horrendously expensive to operate, as you may know. The Zubr's capabilities have been amply demonstrated and are impressive. That is why the Hellenic Navy purchased some (that they cannot afford to operate) but more recently and more importantly, the Chinese concluded a major buy-then-build deal.

 

[b23hqb]

They are reasonably so..just like ours. Hovercraft are a maintenance nightmare in general and horrendously expensive to operate, as you may know. The Zubr's capabilities have been amply demonstrated and are impressive. That is why the Hellenic Navy purchased some (that they cannot afford to operate) but more recently and more importantly, the Chinese concluded a major buy-then-build deal.

I've been on the LCAC, offloading Westpac from Camp Pendleton. My reserve unit out of Tampa (ACU1) did our ATs at Coronado, ACU1, for 17 years, many times working with the SEAL's and Marines. Back in the 90's they were a maintenance nightmare, but really fun to ride on. i don't believe they have actually been used in combat. When they made it back to the well deck of whatever LST or LHA, they were generally beat to crap.

I would have to assume that any other model would have the same maintenance problems. Sucking vast amounts of air up into the fan system to propel the platform, along with anything else in the path, would cause problems anywhere.

A lot like the Osprey program - just a maintenance nightmare.

 

[Gilligan]

I've been on the LCAC, .

Helped design them and similar variants..supplied the electronic control packages..supported builders trials when they were being built (late 80s)..member of design teams for JMAC and later SSC replacement designs that are just now going to production....

Just bragging..but I do know the LCAC pretty well. The weaknesses of the LCAC have been well known from almost the beginning; chief amongst those simply being that corrosion was rampant and maintenance a nightmare. During the SLEP, many of the hulls were scrapped because they were corroded beyond repair.

But...despite all that, the capabilities of the LCAC have always been remarkable. That capability comes with a very high maintenance cost..and probably always will. The new SSC replacement has a much simpler propulsion design and a LOT more composite components instead of the highly corrosive aluminum.

I actually owned and operated a hovercraft for a while..even being almost entirely of composite construction, I estimated that I had something like 50 hours of maintenance and repair time for every hour of flight time!! But it sure was fun....