U.S. Navy unveils its first high-speed vessel class Spearhead

The U.S. Navy has unveiled to the press on the first joint high-speed vessel class Spearhead.

The USNS Spearhead, the first ship of the Joint High Speed ​​Vessel Program (JHSV), was built by the shipyard Austal in Mobile, Alabama.

Commissioned in September 2011, it has successfully completed its acceptance trials a year later. This is the first of a series of 10 units designed to meet the needs of rapid projection of the U.S. Army. It will be followed by the USNS Choctaw County (JHSV-2), USNS Millinocket (JHSV-3), USNS Fall River (JHSV-4) and USNS Resolute (JHSV-5). The other five have not yet received their name.

103 meters long with a width of 28.5 meters, USNS Spearhead is an aluminum catamaran with a displacement of 2400 tons and over exceeding the speed of 40 knots (75 km / h) with four diesel engines MTU and four jets, with a propulsion power of 36 MW.

In addition to its crew of 22 or 41 people, the building is designed to carry 312 soldiers in a space designed like a room fast ferry with airline style seating, as well as equipment, vehicles and supplies, or a load of 600 tons projectable over a distance of nearly 2000 kilometers speed of 35 knots.

Featuring 1860 m² of reconfigurable following missions and a landing ramp at the rear, the USNS Spearhead also has a wide platform (but no hangar) able to accommodate different types of machines, with a heavy helicopter CH-53 Super Stallion.