OREANDA-NEWS. May 25, 2016. Amphibious landing craft, air cushioned is used during war for safeguarding the coastline from intruders. It is used also for coastal surveillance to ensure that trade routes are kept safe. Maintaining separate equipment and a unit of troops specializing in amphibious assaults is very important for maintaining the safety of a coastline. Conventionally, indigenous landing crafts were used to carry troops and equipment from big ships or fleets to the warzone along a coastal area. However, with the advent of the latest technologies the industry has started the production of advanced and more sophisticated landing crafts that can move to diverse terrains and help carry equipment and troops to the warzone while keeping casualties at a minimum.

The primary factors influencing amphibious operations have changed significantly in the last few years. These changes have had a bearing on the amphibious ships’ design. For instance, due to the latest technologies integrated, fleets’ ability for shore-based coastal defense has increased by multiple magnitudes. The need to meet the stringent government regulations has considerably influenced the design of modern amphibious ships.

Q: What opportunities for the amphibious landing craft, air cushion market are present in the U.S?

A: The U.S., despite being one of the advanced markets, will witness a decline in revenue from military applications due to the reduced spending by the federal government on landing craft procurement. The market, however, will gain from the commercial applications of landing crafts. Nevertheless, the U.S. Navy has recently formally accepted the delivery of its 10th San Antonio-class amphibious landing dock during a ceremony organized at Huntington Ingalls Industries. It has been christened John P. Murtha. It is a 684-feet long and 105-feet wide landing dock and is designed to enable the U.S. marines, their supplies, and other equipment embark and land on shore via amphibious assault vehicles or a conventional landing craft augmented by vertical takeoffs or helicopters and landing aircraft.

Q: What factors are expected to boost the market in Asia Pacific?

A.  The global market for amphibious landing craft, air cushion is expected to witness attractive opportunities in Asia Pacific. The seething tensions in East Asia due to the prevalent sovereignty disputes at sea provide lucrative prospects for enterprises operating in the market to capitalize on. With China continuing to build up its capabilities, nations such as Russia, Japan, and India have been compelled to stock up theirs. This provides extremely attractive opportunities for the market to gain from.

Q. How has China’s amphibious infantry division grown in the last few years?

A. According to latest reports of DefenseNews, an independent news source, China presently has 11 army aviation regiments, two divisions of amphibious mechanized infantry, two marine brigades, and three airborne divisions. The Chinese Navy includes 30 amphibious transport docks and 22 medium landing ships. Additionally, the country has signed several purchase contracts with Ukraine on assault hovercrafts. Also, China’s investments to strengthen its amphibious ships indicate the country’s intention to develop an expeditious and powerful amphibious assault capability, as per recent reports.

All these factors have emerged as key growth drivers for the amphibious landing craft, air cushion market in Asia Pacific.