Tanks are like big bank vaults with jacketed wheels on bottom and cannons jutting out. They’re also extremely heavy.
This fact is nothing pioneering or radical (it’s a freaking tank for crying out loud) but just know we injected the reminder for a reason — for a setup — because what you’re about to see is a real life oxymoronic military paradox.
We present to you, in the following footage from RIMPAC 2014, the UHAC (Ultra Heavy-Lift Amphibious Connector) aka a battle tank that’s also a boat. It’s a United States Marine Corps toy, and good golly is it wild to watch …
More from AiirSource:
The Ultra Heavy-Lift Amphibious Connector is being developed as an option to replace the Landing Craft Air Cushioned (LCAC) Hovercraft.
Lt. Col. Don Gordon, the current technology officer at MCWL, said the UHAC is one of those experimental technologies that displays a possible capability of being able to insert Marines in areas where current technology wouldn’t be able to insert them based on current systems that are fielded. The UHAC prototype is a ship-to-shore connector and is half the size of the intended machine. Currently, the UHAC travels at four knots using a track system with floatation-like pads that propels itself through different terrain.
What’s next? A weightless anchor? A flameless flamethrower? Or an aircraft carrier … that’s also a basketball arena?