ARLINGTON, Va. — Three years after the first Ship-to-Shore Connector (SSC) was delivered to the Navy, the service has accepted delivery of six SSCs, with a total of 24 under contract, with manufacturer Textron, the program manager said Jan. 11 at the Surface Navy Association’s annual symposium.
Most recently, the Navy took delivery of LCAC 104 and LCAC 106 in June 2022 and November 2022, respectively, said Capt. Jason Grabelle, program manager for amphibious assault and connectors.
Four SSCs are currently at Assault Combat Unit 4 (ACU-4) in Norfolk, Va., he said, and a number of them are going through post-delivery testing and trials. Multiple craft are currently under construction. The next milestone will be LCAC 105 going to acceptance trials.
Past Issues Resolved
In terms of differences between the aging LCAC platform and the SSC craft that will replace it, Grabelle said the two vessels basically do the same thing. The primary differences concern the four gas turbine engines on the SSC, as well as a lower life cycle cost for the SSC.
“ACUs are not only the operators, they are the maintainers,” Grabelle said. “All the plus-ups we’ve made on the SSC are related to improving operational availability and maintainability.”
Asked whether past issues with the gearbox and blade cracking are behind the program, Grabelle said those problems were no longer an issue.
“We definitely have a steady production baseline,” he said. “We are getting more and more craft delivered to the fleet … and the production line is hot and moving along.”
