Carrying Capacity and Speed
The chartered vessels quickly lived up to their billing. Normal transit for a Marine battalion from Okinawa, Japan to South Korea aboard ferry or amphibious shipping is about 2-3 days, and moving it by air would take 14-17 “lifts” from C-17 aircraft, a process that might require several trips depending on how many planes were available. The same deployment could be carried out by Austal’s chartered WestPac Express catamaran in 24-30 hours; which is to say, at about half the time of conventional naval options, at about 25% of the cost of using airlift.
Operations
saw extensive Army use in operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom, as well as supporting operations in the Pacific, Atlantic, Mediterranean, Horn of Africa, Persian Gulf and Southeast Asia. In one operation, Spearhead moved the 101st Airborne Division’s military police and their equipment from Djibouti, Africa to Kuwait in the Persian Gulf. The fast catamaran made the 2,000 mile trip in 2.5 days. Its naval LSV predecessor would have needed 10 days to make the voyage, and would only have carried the equipment, forcing the troops to fly separately.
http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/jhsv-fast-catamaran-transport-program-moves-forward-updated-01535/
Known as Wave Piercing Catamarans
Can travel anywhere. less than 6 day Atlantic crossing to the United Kingdom. After servicing in Gulf waters, she crossed the Indian Ocean and proceeded back across the Pacific Ocean to the US West Coast.
http://www.incat.com.au/domino/incat/incatweb.nsf/v-title/Joint%20Venture%20HSV-X1?OpenDocument
