FutureWarTHINK 008: Hovercraft as Fast Attack Craft (FAC) SFBs? How about WIGs?

Should our proposed USN Armored Amphibious Aircraft Battle Cruiser (AAABC) be a mothership for small hovercraft Small, Fast Boats (SFBs)?

Does the fact that hovercraft fly over land--007 movie, "Die Another Day"--and sea mines platform-survival attributes trump high visual, audio, radar signature?

What are the high I.Q. crafty Persians, ehh Iranians doing with hovercraft?

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/why-irans-rag-tag-navy-would-actually-cause-lot-problems-war-66617

Iran’s vast stock of over three thousand naval mines, for example, could gravely impede access to the Gulf, and could be deployed via small Ashora-class boats, submarines, corvettes, helicopters and so forth. Domestic Iranian drones or Iran’s bizarre ground-effect hovercraft could spy on the position of enemy ships and transmit targeting coordinates to land-based missiles. Iran has imported Chinese C802 Silkworm missiles with a strike range of 120 miles, as well as reverse-engineered its own domestic Noor cruise missile, and begun working on a 200-mile range Ghadir ASCM. And the Persian Gulf ranges in width only between 35 to 212 miles.

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Do hovercraft have high fuel consumption?

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/why-irans-rag-tag-navy-would-actually-cause-lot-problems-war-66617

Both civil and military shipping in the Persian Gulf is exceptionally vulnerable to mines, cruise missiles and fast boat attacks because its shallow straits force large ships to squeeze through predictable lines of transit.

Iran is unusual for having two navies. The older, Artesh (“regular”) Iranian Navy focuses on operating larger corvettes, frigates and missile boats, as well as over two-dozen submarines. Its area of operations is chiefly further afield in the Straits of Hormuz, the Gulf of Oman and the Indian Ocean. Its 22 Ghadir-class midget submarines, however, are well suited to ambush warfare in the shallow and rocky waters of the Persian Gulf.

Meanwhile, the quasi-military Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps also has its own Navy, counting over 1,500 fast boats designed to rapid swarming attacks in the shallow littoral waters of the Persian Gulf. Effectively answerable to religious hardliners rather than the head-of-state, the IRCGN has been involved in more provocative diplomatic incidents, such as the seizure of a U.S. Navy fast assault boat in January 2016.

In terms of ‘civilian boats,’ the IRGCN musters hundreds of fast-in-short boats are on the pattern of the open-cabin ‘Boston Whaler’ motorboat, typically fitted with unguided rocket launchers, rocket-propelled grenades, anti-tank missiles and recoilless rifles. Other popular platforms include Swedish Boghammar motorboats and rigid-hull Zodiac inflatable rubber dinghies. These small watercraft can be based on isolated islands and oil platforms in the middle of the Persian Gulf.

However, Iran also is manufacturing specialized military speed boats with more impressive capabilities. One example is the Seraj-1, reverse-engineered from a British Bladerunner 51 speed boat purchased from South Africa. Photos reveal these have been armed with a multiple-rocket-launcher system and a heavy anti-aircraft machinegun on the prow. The Seraj can reportedly attain speeds of 55 to 72 knots.

The sleek, domestically-designed Zolfaghar (video here) has a maximum speed of 70 knots and mounts an integrated radar and two launch canisters for Nasr-1 cruise missiles on its stern. Based on the Chinese C704 missile, the Nasr-1 has a range of 22 miles, and can use infrared, radar or television guidance. Iranian media has also released images revealing the boat’s simple cockpit and computer displays, and an apparent mass-production line for the boats.

Even more exotic watercraft includes semi-submersible boats designed to partially submerge below the water to evade detection for sabotage, special-forces insertion and spying.

Finally, on the heavy end the IRGCN can deploy 20 Thondar-class fast attack boats armed (Chinese Houdong-class) with four C802 anti-ship missiles each, and 10 Tir-II torpedo motorboats.

If the Mad Max-style tactics of barreling towards enemies at maximum speed in swarms of over-gunned open-topped motor vehicles seems outlandish, it has a certain logic for Iran. The small and affordable boats have low radar signatures, which combined with speed, would significantly reduce their target’s reaction time. More importantly, their sheer numbers could overwhelm the expensive defensive systems onboard U.S. warships—if necessary, by running them dry of ammunition.

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tondar_(hovercraft)

The Tondar (Persian:تندر meaning: Thunderbolt) is a hovercraft designed and manufactured by Iran. The Islamic Republic of Iran Navy is equipped with two variants of this craft, one for combat and one for transport missions, of which the Tondar is the combat type. General Ahmad Vahidi unveiled it in a ceremony in November 2012. According to the Fars news agency, the Tondar can be used with different types of weapons, including rockets, guns and can also launch UAVs.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bavar_2

The HESA Bavar 2 (Persian:باور ٢, meaning: Belief 2) is a ground effect vehicle unveiled in September 2010 by the IRGC Navy. It is designed to have a small radar signature, and therefore be difficult to track on radar, to be able to remain undetected while carrying out patrol missions. The boat can be equipped with different kinds of weapons including locally produced rockets and missiles.[2][3][4][5] The design is based on the work of Alexander Lippisch and is similar in concept to the 1970s experimental RFB X-113.

Because they ride on a cushion of air generated between their wings and the water's surface and don't actually fly, as such, surface-effect vehicles (SEVs) are able to sustain payloads approximately three times the weight of those carried by equivalent-sized airplanes. This fact - taken together with their small size, quick acceleration, high speed, close proximity to the water and ability to blend-in with small, stationary boats on radar while loitering - makes small SEVs like the Bavar ideal platforms for carrying-out asymmetric approaches to conventional naval surface forces, especially at night and within the confines of an area as restricted (and often congested) as the Persian Gulf. The Bavar II exhibits a small radar signature and is therefore difficult to pick-up and track, especially while lying passive/motionless, when set against a cluttered backdrop, while merely trolling (see photo) and/or at longer ranges. Its reduced cross-section is intended to allow the Bavar to remain undetected while carrying out reconnaissance/patrol/attack missions, but its tellingly quick approach is often given-away through its employment of a (radar-reflecting) high propeller and a (heat-emitting) high, exposed engine. For these reasons, future versions are expected to incorporate a smaller and lower, enclosed turbofan, as well as emphasize the more extensive use of carbon-fibre, facetted surfaces and radar-absorbing paint to further minimize their profiles.

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Of course, the higher you fly, you leave ground effect and become a seaplane.

Imagine that!

A small seaplane like the SeaWolf Amphibian (SWA) could also operate from motherships leaving/entering like ugly ducklings via stern ramps or by LO-LO crane. If the ABC has ski jumps and/or catapults the SWA killer bee swarms could take-off DRY--and land to be recovered WET--just like the IJN '44 seaplane battleship carriers or our proposed KRIEGS '46 concepts. 

Airborne!

James Bond is REAL.