Page 38 - Theory and Design of Air Cushion Craft

22 Introduction to hovercraft

In the 1960s and 70s BHC had some success in marketing their SR.N6 and BH.7
craft for military service, to Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Iran. There has been no signifi-
cant fleet development to follow this. The British Navy carried out trials for many
years [213] without moving forward to integration of ACV and SES technology with
its fleet. This was partly due to defence policy in this period which concentrated on
projection of UK power to far flung colonies - the 'blue water' Navy - rather than oper-
ations in the European coastal area. Without support from the UK government, it
was difficult for British ACV/SES manufacturers to develop and market suitable
products for sale abroad. UK companies were therefore limited to what was possible
in a self resourced commercial environment. The utility market had requirements
which could be met in this respect, and the operational support, though demanding,
was not on the scale that military customers would demand.
In the SES market, the UK shipbuilding industry was already in decline from the
early 1960s, and so development of larger SES vessels, which would require consider-
able investment, was not taken up. This opportunity was taken up first by Bell Halter,
and latterly by shipyards in a number of other countries.

1.3 ACV and SES development in the former USSR

The former USSR has carried out ACV and SES research since the beginning of the
1960s. More than two hundred sidewall passenger hovercraft have been built since
then, and over two hundred amphibious ACVs for military missions and passenger

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Fig. 1.21 USSR air cushion oil exploration platform model BU-75-VP.