Joint High-Speed Vessels May Answer the Changing Logistics Needs of Navies, Finds Frost & Sullivan

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20 May, 2013, 10:00 GMT

- Low-cost, highly efficient JHSVs offer superior versatility, covering both military and logistics operations

LONDON, May 20, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The Joint High-Speed Vessel (JHSV) is a joint programme of the U.S. Army, Navy and Marine Corps to sustain a fast and efficient sea transport for troops and equipment. With the aim of providing an intra-theatre logistics solution, the decision-makers at the Pentagon chose a low-cost, commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) platform offered by Austal, an Australian-based shipbuilding company.

"The JHSV is an interesting example of applying a low-cost, commercial solution to a naval environment," noted Frost & Sullivan's Aerospace & Defence Industry Analyst Dominik Kimla. "Due to budget constraints, it is expected that navies around the world will be leveraging COTS solutions and adopting other commercial approaches more frequently to provide the necessary naval capabilities."

New Market Insight (MI) from Frost & Sullivan (http://www.defence.frost.com), High Speed Vessels: The Future of Naval Logistics, finds that the JHSV offers notable project budget efficiency. It has allowed the U.S. Navy to quickly gain a cost-effective and operationally efficient capability, while minimising project production outlays and financial risk.

Apart from operational efficiency, a major benefit of the JHSV is low maintenance and operational costs. A commercial approach has meant that operations run smoothly and within budget – critical in times of shrinking defence expenditures.

From a military logistics point of view, the JHSV is tremendously versatile. It is capable of transporting a company size unit with equipment, a full infantry battalion (as a troop transport), or 635 tonnes of payload, and transport it in-theatre within 1,200 nautical miles of range at an average 35 knots, almost twice as fast as current ships.

"The JHSV can offload the logistics at even the most basic ports," added Kimla. "This makes it an essential tool for logistics support in various operations, including rapidly deploying response forces to distant areas, transporting cargo at high speed into an active operating theatre, conducting relief operations in small or damaged ports, responding to natural disasters, providing humanitarian assistance, and participating in multinational operations and counter-piracy missions."

Furthermore, JHSV is able to interact with cargo ships at sea, providing logistics scalability and force projection over a larger combat footprint. Also, the shallow-draft capabilities of JHSV give it multi-sea access and increased littoral operations, which are particularly important assets in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, where there are many areas with shallow waters.

The JHSV is, for now, primarily a U.S. concept, with the country ordering 10 vessels. However, Frost & Sullivan research indicates that the market potential for high-speed logistics vessels is substantially bigger.

In addition to the U.S. military, demand is likely to come from the APAC. It is expected that the closest U.S. allies in the region – South Korea, Japan and the Philippines – and scattered island countries, such as Indonesia and Malaysia, will be potential customers for the high-speed logistics vessels.

"In the mid- and long-term perspective, this type of vessel would be an effective capability to have for the European Union multinational, rapid humanitarian and crisis management missions conducted under the framework of the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP)," concluded Kimla. "Additionally, high-speed logistic vessels, similar to JHSV, could be commonly operated/managed by a few navies as a pooling and sharing asset across EU/NATO countries, securing critical sea routes and providing rapid-response logistical support in disaster-hit areas."

This Market Insight, High Speed Vessels: The Future of Naval Logistics, is part of Frost & Sullivan's Aerospace, Defence & Security Growth Partnership Services programme. If you are interested in more information on this research, please send an e-mail to Joanna Lewandowska, Corporate Communications, at joanna.lewandowska@frost.com, with your full contact details. The MI is also available on Slide Share.

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Joanna Lewandowska
Corporate Communications – Europe
Frost & Sullivan
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