When the Marines want to haul infantry troops and the gear they'll need to fight on any shoreline they send the Landing Craft, Air Cushioned (LCAC).
A huge hovercraft that skims the surface of the water at nearly 50 mph carrying up to 75 tons of equipment, the LCAC is as fast as it is versatile.
The Navy says the craft can carry troops, tanks, and whatever else the military wants, to 70 percent of the world's coastlines — but it's not only used in combat.
The hovercraft, like the amphibious assault ships that transport them, are also used in disaster relief and humanitarian aid missions. The LCACs are what brought supplies to the shores of Haiti following the 2010 earthquake, and the assault ships that carried them there became immense floating hospitals.
While the LACC is not new, it was designed in the 1980s, but it remains effective and essential to many Naval maneuvers.
When we visited the USS Wasp last month, the one in the following slides was brought into the ship's well deck and a member of the crew was good enough to show us around.
This is the part of the USS Wasp called the well deck
That metal gate folds down allowing cargo to be brought aboard while the ship is far from shore
And that's how the LCAC came aboard — unfortunately there was a 'man overboard' drill and we missed its arrival
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