Original subtitles

In today's impossible engineering.

It's the most advanced landing craft on the planet.

The world's most cutting edge hovercraft.

The ship to shore connector introduces a capability that's like no other.

It's unparalleled.

It can do things that virtually no other vehicle can do.

And the pioneering historic innovation.

This craft was a real trailblazer.

Look at this thing.

It's immense.

that made the impossible possible.

Making the transition from ship to shore is one of the biggest challenges the

military faces.

Carrying troops and tons of equipment across the ocean and into some of the

planet's most hostile environments.

presents a seemingly impossible problem.

We have to move vehicles, cargo, personnel,

all the sustainment that we need.

We need to be able to do that at points of our own choosing.

We need to be able to do it very quickly.

In order to achieve these ambitions, Engineers have built an all -new

of advanced amphibious vehicle.

This is the ship -to -shore connector.

Also known as the SSC.

The Navy's latest and greatest hovercraft.

It's designed to carry some of the military's heaviest cargo.

into locations that were previously impossible to reach.

Welcome to the Navy's next generation air cushion vehicle, ship -to -shore

connector.

The SSC is the most capable and cutting -edge hovercraft on the planet.

Nothing can compete with the SSC.

The ship -to -shore connector can access over 70 % of the world's coastline.

You can't do that in any other vehicle.

Piloted by a crew of four, this giant hovercraft measures in at almost 50 feet

wide and over 90 feet long, about the length of

three double -decker buses, making it the U .S.

Navy's largest amphibious landing vehicle.

It can carry some of the Marine Corps' heaviest equipment.

and unload it in some of the planet's most hostile coastal locations.

It's a vital tool that helps the military overcome the challenges of

operations.

At a state -of -the -art manufacturing facility in New Orleans,

Navy Captain Cedric McNeil is overseeing the final stages of production of these

brand -new vehicles.

After years of development, they are almost ready to deploy for the first

To say that we're excited to see that the craft are delivering and starting to

get underway and we're starting to see how they operate at sea, that's an

understatement. This is a culmination of the efforts of many personnel over the

years to get to this milestone of an accomplishment.

And at an experimental research base in Florida.

Senior Chief Josh Pearsall and his crew are preparing to evaluate one of the

first completed FSEs ever delivered to the Navy.

Today's mission is operational test of the thrust system over water.

We're going to be operating at high weight and power.

Engineers have created a craft like no other on the ocean.

The ship -to -shore connector is the U .S.

Navy's latest and greatest amphibious vehicle.

Built to conquer the planet's coastlines, this versatile vehicle can

the sea and land to deliver troops and cargo to remote locations.

Powered by four gas turbine engines that produce an excess of 24 ,000

horsepower,

The ship -to -shore connector can reach speeds of 35 knots in waves up to 4 feet

high and transport a payload of either 145 combat

Marines or 74 tons of equipment, enough to carry the Abrams M1A1

tank fitted with a full -width mine plow.

Once the finished vehicle enters active service, it must be able to access

environments that would be impossible to reach with other landing craft.

The uniqueness of the platforms that the Navy and Marine Corps team are working

with industry to design have to be able to be better than just a normal craft or

a normal boat.

So we talk about a deployed scenario and the lack of infrastructure in a foreign

location. We absolutely have to provide solutions that allow us to execute these

missions across a myriad of scenarios.

For inspiration, engineers must look to the innovators of the past.

On the British coast, physicist Andrew Steele has traveled to discover the

secrets of a historic military innovation.

To you and me, this just looks like a cold day at the beach. But to engineers

the military, this represents a challenge.

How can you move seamlessly between land and water and back again without having

to spend ages loading and unloading boats? And if you're in the military,

basically being a sitting duck.

It's a problem English engineer Sir Christopher Cockrell spent years

contemplating.

His solution.

A whole new type of vehicle eliminating the boundary between sea and land.

The hovercraft.

This amazing machine is the SRN5, the Saunders Row Nautical 5 hovercraft. And

it's the world's first production hovercraft based on the pioneering work

Christopher Cockrell.

And isn't it beautiful?

It looks sort of retro and yet futuristic at the same time.

After making its debut flight in 1964, the SRN -5 was the first hovercraft to

enter military service.

This craft was a real trailblazer.

It still got essentially all the same technology as powers a modern

And this was the first commercially successful hovercraft in the world.

The SRN -5 was the result of more than five years of research and development.

Capable of floating across both land and water,

Cockrell's game -changing technology would go on to transform the nature of

amphibious operations.

Given that this vehicle can do something that sounds miraculous, hover in midair

and move over almost any kind of terrain, it's really based on some

simple physics.

One of the big innovations in the SRN5 was that enormous Rolls -Royce engine at

the top there, which is powering the whole hovercraft. And what does it

Well, the first crucial thing is this fan in here.

It doesn't look like a fan that you might normally see.

Its blades are vertical.

It's something called a centrifugal fan. And this fan acts as the lift fan. It's

the crucial thing that makes this a hovercraft. It sucks air from the

and uses it to fill up this enormous skirt underneath the vehicle and lift it

all up off the ground, reducing that friction.

To make the hover work, air from the fan is channeled into a thin curtain around

the perimeter of the vehicle, lifting it off the ground and trapping a cushion

of air under the hovercraft.

The second critical part of this vehicle is that there, the thrust fan, an

enormous set of rotor blades. And what that does is it sucks air and pushes it

backwards, thrusting the hovercraft forward.

Another critical innovation on the SRN5 is this thing, the hovercraft skirt.

It traps the air, meaning less of it can escape.

And because it's made of this flexible, rubbery material, it can adopt the

contours of whatever terrain it's moving over, giving it incredible flexibility.

Cockrell's design revolutionized ship -to -shore operations forever.

This beauty is basically a modern version of the SRN -5, and it operates

exactly the same principles.

So how do those principles work in practice?

They're just driving straight towards the sea.

And how have engineers modernized the design for the most

advanced ship -to -shore vehicle in naval history?

We can make a landing almost anywhere on the planet with this technology.

Engineer Christopher Cockrell developed the concept behind the SRN -5 in the

1950s.

Its fan and skirt design allowed the hovercraft to do what no other vehicles

the time could.

By flying on its air cushion, the craft can transition between land and sea

without stopping, a game -changing innovation that revolutionized landing

operations.

Physicist Andrew Steele is about to experience this remarkable capability

hand.

So, let's get those fans going and fire this baby up.

We're just driving straight towards the sea, which is completely crazy.

That is bizarre.

Just driving smoothly from the beach straight into the sea.

It's a chilly morning out here.

Now the holograph's up and running, we've got that miffed fan blowing the

into the cushion underneath us. We're just hovering out here.

More than 60 years after its introduction, the hovercraft has helped

how the military moves from ship to shore.

You can really see why the hovercraft is such a breakthrough.

It's such a simple idea, but it's such a powerful, versatile vehicle.

One of the most versatile on the planet.

All right, Ben, take us home.

By supersizing the air cushion innovation pioneered by Cockrell,

made the SSC the most capable hovercraft on Earth.

We can reach up to 70 % of the world's coastline on the hovercraft.

We can make a landing almost anywhere on the planet with this technology.

Today, pilot Josh Pearsall and his team in Florida are preparing to put the

advanced air cushion to the test.

on one of this amazing vehicle's first flights.

By flying six

feet above the surface, the SSC can overcome obstacles that would make

impossible for traditional landing craft.

It allows us to go Almost anywhere over water and land itself, whether it's

sand, dirt, ice, you name it, it can go there.

In Louisiana,

engineer Ryan Schaffernacher has access to the impressive inner workings of the

oversized air cushion.

So I'm standing inside the bag of the SSC.

Directly above me is where we install the lift fan volute.

Inside that volute is the lift fan impeller. The impeller drives air

this duct inside the bag and also drives air upwards through the bow thruster.

And in order to enhance Cockrell's early design, the SSC's engineers have

devised an updated take on the skirt system.

So here we're installing the advanced skirt for the SSC.

It is a vulcanized rubber over Kevlar fiber reinforcement.

The air cushion works via the lift band.

So through our main engines, we transform that power through the lift

drive air pressure into the skirt.

The skirt is a bag and finger type system.

The fingers direct that air pressure to the exterior of the craft, providing

it's lift.

By powering two giant fans.

The enormous skirt is filled with air in a matter of seconds.

Hundreds of individual fingers wrap around the perimeter to create a curtain

air that lifts the SSC off the ground.

Each finger can move independently, allowing them to flex when traveling

uneven surfaces to improve ride quality and handling.

And the small cross -section of each finger helps reduce friction to enable

increased speeds.

The skirt is the key for the craft. It's what makes this an air -cushion

vehicle, right? It's what makes it fully amphibious.

Without this technology, it wouldn't be able to perform mission.

But the SSC requires more than just its advanced skirt to operate effectively.

A key factor in enabling us to be able to transport people and cargo to the

beach is speed.

We're in a contested environment oftentimes.

We're against an adversary, and we need to be able to quickly maneuver so that

we can support and execute our mission in a timely and efficient manner.

And the key to achieving this objective is plenty of power.

What we have before us here is the Rolls -Royce MT -7 gas turbine engine. There

are four of these on the SSC platform, which provide propulsion.

These impressive engines drive a pair of thrust propellers that measure in at

almost 12 feet across and push the FSC forward at high speed.

So let's look at the performance overall for the craft.

We're looking at a top speed somewhere between 30 to 40 knots.

This engine was selected because of its lightweight and its pound -for -pound

punch in the way of power.

At the experimental test base in Florida,

Senior Chief Josh Pearsall is one of the few people to have experienced the

speed of the SSC firsthand.

I am very impressed by what I've seen of it so far.

The advantages of being able to move fast that allows us to rapidly deploy

forces around the world and build up the force that we need in any terrain.

As part of today's test flight, Josh gets to put these powerful engines

their paces.

All right, here we go.

Start in one and two, Bravo.

Start in one and two, Bravo.

Combined, the SSC's engines produce around 40 ,000 pounds of thrust, the

equivalent of an F -35 jet.

Got rotation all around.

Roger.

And with such mighty mechanical muscle at its disposal, this all -new

powerhouse will be able to accomplish its mission at previously impossible

speeds.

It's a critical element of the SSD's design.

But the demands of the military's mission pose more challenges for

You have to make design selections that are both lightweight to allow the craft

to fly.

but also rigid enough to perform a very heavy payload transition from the ship

to the shore.

To find a solution, they must turn to the great innovators of the past.

You can imagine soldiers getting ready to fly this plane into battle.

To move some of the U .S. military's most heavy -duty equipment.

In some of the planet's hardest -to -reach locations, engineers have created

awe -inspiring amphibious vehicle.

The ship -to -shore connector.

Designed to be deployed from transport ships known as sea bases, the SSC can

fly at high speeds across the open ocean.

and deliver a payload weighing the equivalent of 11 African elephants to

any terrain.

But the need to launch its operations from far offshore can create challenges

that the Navy's engineers and the manufacturing team in Louisiana need to

overcome.

We're typically looking at going from ship... that are over the horizons

anywhere between 10 to 20 miles.

And then allowing cargo and Marines and personnel to get from the ship to the

shore.

Typically, this can be in a contested environment, so we have to be agile.

All hovercraft of this type must be able to launch from mothership, transition

across the water, and navigate a range of obstacles on the way to shore,

potentially including hostile fire.

There's absolutely no room for compromise.

Agility is a core feature of design for this platform.

To maximize maneuverability, engineers have equipped the SSC with a trio of

steering solutions.

The SSC platform is designed with three primary effectors for maneuverability.

Those components are the controllable pitch propeller, the rudders, and the

thruster.

What you see before you are six controllable pitch propeller blades.

The two rudders you see on the port and the starboard side provide maximum

steering capability for the platform.

80 % of the craft's maneuverability factors are controlled right here with

rudders and the controllable pitch propeller blades.

By adjusting the pitch of the propeller blades, the amount of thrust generated

can be varied.

When the blade angle is increased, more thrust is produced.

And when the blade angle is decreased, thrust is reduced.

The rudders then interrupt the airflow coming from the propellers pushing the

stern of the craft in the desired direction.

The bow thrusters provide that fine -tuning aspect of maneuverability.

By directing a stream of pressurized air from the SSC's lift fan through

rotatable nozzles, the bow thrusters move the craft in the opposing

Off the coast of Florida.

Just enough to get through the bridge.

Senior Chief Josh Pearsall is testing out the SSC's agility.

Under his direction, the pitch propellers, rudders, and bow thrusters

tandem to precisely maneuver the craft.

All right, here we go.

Roger.

Capable of seamless transitions between forward, reverse, and lateral movement.

The SSC can even turn 360 degrees inside its own footprint, allowing it to

navigate through congested terrain with ease.

But agility alone is not nearly enough for the SSC to meet its mission.

A key consideration in the design process for SSC... There's weight and

savings. We have to ensure that there's a balance between what each component

weighs with how much payload we can take ashore.

The bottom line for SST is every pound matters, whether we're talking that from

the perspective of weight savings or how much payload we can take ashore.

For a light but tough hovercraft, the SST's engineers must look to the

of the path.

Engineer Dan Dickrell has traveled to the Military Aviation Museum in Virginia

Beach to discover an incredible piece of aeronautical history.

This is the Yonkers 52.

It was the first cargo plane made out of aluminum.

Look at this thing.

It's immense.

It feels like modern aviation has arrived.

Designed by Ernst Zindel, the Junkers 52 made its maiden flight in 1930.

And its revolutionary all -metal construction meant it could carry an

6 ,000 -pound payload.

A huge upgrade from wooden airframes.

You get a sense of how much space is in here, all of this volume. You can

imagine. All of the supplies that could fit in here and the soldiers getting

ready to fly this plane into battle.

A key factor in making this aircraft capable of carrying all that cargo is

skin.

On the side of the aircraft, we can see this unusual corrugated shape. That's

because... This aircraft is made almost entirely out of aluminum alloy called

Duralumin, which was discovered by Alfred Wilm.

Wilm was a German metallurgist, and his breakthrough alloy would go on to

revolutionize aviation engineering.

When you look at this inspection panel, you get a good sense of how this

aircraft is constructed.

You can actually see the structural elements that compose.

the aircraft, and then also you can see the skin. This is all made of duralumin,

that really, really strong material that enables the plane to carry as much

cargo capacity as possible.

By manufacturing from a metal that was both light enough for flight and strong

enough to hold heavy payloads, the Yunkers proved that airborne cargo

was possible.

This plane, as big as it is, only weighs about 5 ,600 kilograms or about six and

a half tons.

It's a remarkable airplane.

Ville's development of aluminum alloy was crucial to aviation history, but it

was not a smooth process.

It's still quite bendable, and this was very disappointing to Ville.

To build the Navy's lightest and strongest hovercraft of all time.

The engineers behind the shift -to -shore connector will need to use Wilm's

-won innovation in a modern and massive way.

Collection of this material is critical to the success of this vehicle.

When the Junkers 52 debuted in 1930, it was an aviation wonder.

Lighter and tougher than previous planes, the massive carrying capacity

courtesy of Duralumin, an aluminum alloy discovered by German metallurgist

Alfred Wilm.

Engineer Dan Dickrell is demonstrating how this revolutionary material came to

exist. What I have here is a regular piece of aluminum.

Nothing special about it. It's not very strong. It's quite bendable.

This is not very well suited for use in aircraft.

Will knew this, and so what he did is he tried to employ the same techniques

that were used to strength -harden steel. So how we do that is

we create...

An intense source of heat.

In this case, I'm going to use this blowtorch.

And I'm going to heat treat this piece of aluminum.

If we were going to do this on steel, the same technique would be to heat it

to around 700 degrees Celsius.

And then you quickly quench it.

And then we check and see how the strength properties of this aluminum

It's still quite bendable. And this was very disappointing to film.

He had left his laboratory, his tools, and he came back a few days later and re

-examined the aluminum. And what he discovered was this.

It looks the same, but this is age -hardened aluminum.

When I try and bend it, it's a lot tougher.

And this was the magic behind age -hardened aluminum.

That over time, the atomic structure had changed, enhancing its mechanical

properties. And that's what makes this material brilliant.

for aircraft usage is because it is very light and it is very strong.

Vilm's discovery went on to totally transform the aviation industry.

And many modern aircraft are still built with age -hardened aluminum today.

Without the invention of this amazing material, the idea of cargo -carrying

flight would still be impossible.

At the experimental test base in Florida,

Colonel Paul Morita knows that the ability to move more cargo can be key to

success of an operation.

A lighter landing craft is an increased payload.

That means more troops, more vehicles, more combat power, and more sustainment

ashore. The reason that's important is because the quicker that we can get our

combat power ashore, the faster we can prosecute operations.

Once we hit the beach.

By adopting Vilms Aluminum Innovation, the SSC is both strong and light enough

to transport a payload almost 22 times greater than the Yonkers.

A staggering 74 tons.

The SSC allows us to carry extremely heavy loads, like some of our heavier

trucks, some of our artillery systems, and some of our armored vehicles.

At fully loaded capacity, this exceptional hovercraft can move the

weight of 30 Humvees, an essential ability that empowers the troops on the

lines.

These vehicles are important to our operations because it gives us mobility,

gives us speed, and inherent in that is extra firepower as well.

At the factory in New Orleans.

The engineering team is working with this amazing metal as they prepare

vehicle to roll off the production line.

So to construct the hull and the above -deck modules, we use 5083 aluminum.

It's a choice that's undoubtedly influenced by Junker's pioneering cargo

Aircraft and the SSD share a similar design.

They're both very, very sensitive to weight.

The way that aircraft are constructed using aluminum, just very similar to

the same kind of structural engineering approach, the same type of materials.

But the demands placed on the SSE means strength is just as important as weight.

The SSE is designed so that you can carry very, very heavy payloads,

the Abrams M1A1 tank.

That tank needs to be able to roll on top of the SSE.

The modules that we designed for the SSE need to be able to withstand those

kinds of loads.

In this cell, we're building up the fixed and deployable ramps for the SSE.

You can see the stiffeners that are used to strengthen up the module.

We use 5083 aluminum plate and extrusion to build these and then install them on

the craft.

Collection of this material is critical to the success of this vehicle.

Engineers have designed an amphibious vehicle more capable than any other.

But working in destructive offshore conditions presents plenty more

When you look at the different environments that we're called upon to

in, it's some of the harshest environments on the globe.

To find answers, they must turn to the great innovators of the past.

I'm just kind of in awe of my engineering ancestors.

The Ship to Shore connector is the most advanced hovercraft on the planet.

Built to deliver U .S. troops and heavy cargo into hard -to -reach locations,

it's the ultimate amphibious vehicle.

Driven by a pair of propellers that measure almost 12 feet across,

the SSD can hover on a six -foot cushion of air and fly across the water

straight on to 70 % of the planet's coastlines to deliver its outsized

an achievement unmatched by any other landing craft.

But if this brand new vehicle is to achieve its objectives once deployed, it

to be tough enough to survive the rigors of military operation.

When you look at the different environments that we're called

upon to operate in, it's some of the harshest environments on the globe.

And SSC has to deliver, has to be able to take Marines and their cargo from the

ship to the shore.

To function in near -impossible conditions characterized by corrosive

water, abrasive sand, and punishing temperature extremes, the SSC must be

to last.

We have to consider our ability to maintain the craft as it operates over

-year service life. We're talking about wear and tear on the vehicle, individual

components. how long they last, how durable they are.

Each component has to have that factor of consideration before we install it or

incorporate it into the design of FSC.

For inspiration on marine durability, engineers must look to history's great

innovators.

In Evansville, Indiana.

Hi, Rick.

Hello, Mark. I've got to put this on.

Okay. Professor Mark Valenzuela is about to take a once -in -a -lifetime ride on

an icon of military engineering.

Just thinking about 36 men kind of anticipating their arrival onto Omaha

Beach in a boat like this is kind of amazing.

This is an LCVP.

or a landing craft vehicle personnel, one of the most important vessels of

War II.

Built

to

navigate the challenges of shallow waters and land troops directly on the

of Europe,

The LCVP was a game -changing innovation, but its design was far from

The original ones were made out of wood and wood panels, so that would need to

be pieced together using screws and bolts.

Anytime you create that hole in the material, you're really compromising the

integrity of the material.

To improve the durability of the LCVP, military engineers needed a new

Luckily, an inventor by the name of Gaines Slater had made a discovery that

could help solve the problem.

By bonding glass fibers inside a hardening resin, Slater invented a

plastic known as fiberglass.

Stronger and lighter than steel, and highly resistant to rot and extreme

temperatures.

It was an ideal solution for building a new and improved generation of this

iconic landing craft.

Here it is, the fiberglass LCVP, and it is a magnificent boat.

First deployed during the Korean War.

The redesigned LCVP is the earliest known military vessel to be mass

from fiber -reinforced plastic.

We can kind of get that sense of that fiberglass, that hollow thumping sound.

This is in beautiful shape.

The introduction of this incredible composite material offered the new LCVP

number of advantages.

In terms of that manufacturing with fiberglass, we can make it as big as we

to. So we aren't limited by the size of the planks that we would use in regular

plywood.

And so because we can fabricate it in fewer pieces and fewer joints, there's

going to be fewer weaknesses associated with all of those joints.

The radical new strength available via fiberglass produced a more durable,

-hitting LCVP than ever before.

To build on its remarkable success, the engineers behind the ship -to -shore

connector will need to take Slater's lead.

Using composites allows us to achieve some very complex arrow shapes.

And adapt his innovative idea for the 21st century.

In order to build the most capable and durable hovercraft the U .S. Navy has

ever seen, engineers need the right materials.

the team is looking to their forefathers for inspiration.

When military engineers needed to redesign the Landing Craft Vehicle

or LCVP, in the 1950s, they turned from plywood to fiberglass.

So we can kind of imagine plywood panels that would be used to form the shape of

this hole. These two pieces of paper just kind of butted against each other.

We need some way to be able to hold these panels together.

What we could do is kind of simulate these mechanical fasteners just using

staples. But once I start to introduce these staples, those holes then become

these points of weakness in this material.

It might actually be easy for us to be able to... break them open like this,

especially along those joints. And so you'll notice that the failure is

all along that.

So this is one of the weaknesses that we see with the use of plywood.

The advantage, of course, with fiberglass is to be able to use one

sheet that doesn't have to rely on any of these joints or any of these

mechanical fasteners.

Thanks to the introduction of reinforced plastic, many fiberglass LCVPs are

still seaworthy, while none of their plywood predecessors are.

Taking a look at this marvel of engineering from the 1950s, and I'm just

in awe of my engineering ancestors.

Today, at the production facility in New Orleans, Ryan and the team are relying

on fiber -reinforced plastics for key components of the SSC.

So we're using composite technology, the latest epoxy and carbon fiber. We use

that for our lift band volute, the bow thruster, our drive shaft, the prop

the rudders, as well as the propellers themselves.

Composites are very corrosion resistant by their nature, so they're able to

withstand the very difficult operating environment, for instance, salt water

those kind of heavy humidity environments.

And just like the pioneering landing craft of the past, the SSC's durability

improved through its use of these innovative materials.

Using composites allows us to reduce the total part count on this craft and also

allows us to achieve some very complex arrow shapes, such as the lift band

balloon that you see behind me. And we're allowed to do that with fewer

We were able to achieve these shapes by molding the parts all in one.

So with having fewer parts, that's less parts that you have to maintain, so that

improves the lifetime of the craft.

Thanks to the impressive engineering behind this amazing machine, the

of moving from ship to shore can be easily conquered.

The SSC is absolutely one of the most amazing vehicles on the ocean, or the

for that matter. This vehicle can do things that no other vehicle can do.

The capability of the SSC is amazing. It's definitely in a league of its own.

It's next generation, and it's going to allow the Marine Corps to get combat

power ashore much, much more quickly than currently.

By looking to the pioneers of the path for inspiration, adapting

their ideas,

updating their designs, and overcoming huge challenges,

The Ship to Shore Connectors team has built a boundary -pushing piece of

amphibious engineering and succeeded in making the impossible

possible.

The Ship to Shore Connector platform is absolutely one of the most amazing

platforms you'll ever see at sea.

It's simply in a class of its own.

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