What Looks Like an Attack Helicopter but Isn't? It's a CHARC!

(Translated from the Portuguese from an article in Sistemas De Armas). Lockheed Martin is developing a protype for a naval Covert High-speed Attack and Reconnaissance Craft (CHARC - pronounced Shark in English). The CHARC uses a Small Waterplane Area Twin Hull (SWATH) design, has a crew of two in an attack helicopter-type cabin and will also be offered in unmanned versions. It is armed with a 20mm cannon in the nose and four internal weapons compartments for AGM-114 Hellfire missiles or long-range NetFires, and possibly a grenade launcher. There will be two variants, 11 meters and 12 meters for use in special operations command missions. It will carry out missions of defense against light boats, anti-submarine warfare in flat waters, mine hunting and insertion of special forces. It will operate from existing surface ships and the new Littoral Combat Ship (LCS). The SWATH configuration will it give great stability, with diesel propulsion and a maximum speed of about 60km/h. The use of water jets increases the agility. It will have a minimum draft of 1.5 meters to operate in shallow water. It will have a low IR, radar and visual signature. The exhaust will be underwater. It will have a mast of sensors with a large field of vision. The struts can fold to fit in an area 3.6 meters wide and 3.6 meters high for storage, about the same the space necessary for an 11 meter RHIB boat. The struts will have wheels to maneuver it inside the ship. A 1/4 scale model will be constructed initially. The prototype should be available in 2008.
[From Sistemas De Armas]

Update: Read more and see more photos at Boat Design Forums.

Posted by trygstad | Category: Navy | 05:28 PM