WASHINGTON, 3 April 2007. Gibbs Technologies and Lockheed Martin have agreed to develop a family of high-speed amphibious vehicles designed specifically for military operations.
The militarized high-speed amphibians (HSAs) will use technology from a fleet of prototype amphibious vehicles developed by Gibbs Technologies for consumer use, including the Gibbs Aquada, a three-person sports car, Gibbs Humdinga, a four-wheel vehicle, and Gibbs Quadski, an amphibious all-terrain vehicle.
Gibbs' technology enables amphibians to travel at speeds over 45 mph on water and over 100 mph on land -- and to transition from water-to-land or land-to-water in five seconds.
Gibbs and Lockheed Martin are developing three military concept vehicles, representing a scalable capability to meet various missions:
-- The Amphibious Combat Craft -- Expeditionary (ACC-E) is a 20-foot amphibian capable 45 mph on the water and 80 mph on land;
-- The Amphibious Combat Craft -- Riverine (ACC-R) is a 35-foot amphibian capable of 40 mph on the water and 65 mph on land; and,
-- The Terraquad, capable of over 55 mph on the water and 50 mph on land.
Gibbs and Lockheed Martin will advance the development by integrating expeditionary command and control capability, armor, and weapons systems. The military version will have network ability to share and distribute information from onboard and remote sensors. The craft will be able to accommodate a variety of weapons systems, based on specific mission needs.
