NEW ORLEANS, 19 Feb. 2008. Textron Marine & Land Systems (TM&LS), an operating unit of Textron Systems, a Textron Inc. company, has been selected for a Phase II contract by the Office of Naval Research (ONR) to continue development of the Sea Base Connector, Transformable Craft (T-Craft).

Work on Phase II of the T-Craft development will be performed by a team of world-class organizations in the advanced marine vehicle industry, lead by TM&LS in New Orleans. Work is expected to start on the project early in 2008.

T-Craft is one of several naval prototypes being developed by ONR to support the broad objectives of the U.S. Navy's Sea Base program. Its mission is to self-deploy from an intermediate support base to a sea base area of operations.

Once on site, the T-Craft will take cargo, consisting primarily of wheeled and tracked vehicles, from the sea base to the shore line without the use of port facilities. The transit will be made at high speed, and will end with the delivery of cargo "feet dry" on the beach in a range of sea conditions and terrain.

During a Phase I study, the TM&LS team developed a preliminary design of a craft that can operate as a catamaran at low speed, a surface effect ship at high speed, and as an amphibious air cushion vehicle for cargo discharge. In addition, the air cushion is used to provide a powerful motion control system to stabilize the T-Craft during cargo transfer operations at the sea base