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Message: <blockquote data-quote="RP1" data-source="post: 51020" data-attributes="member: 64">A simple phrase: "Horses for courses". Advanced Marine Vehicles (i.e. anything other than displacement or semi-displacement monohulls) are, as a general rule, less suitable for "general application" than the monohull. For example:SWATH: Has superior seakeeping, with higher speeds in a seaway and lower motions, but has a higher structural weight, greater draught and is more resistful at lower speeds. SWATH hullforms are, nonetheless, used by Germany (research vessel), the UK (personnel transfer) and the US (Sonar tug).Catamaran: Greater deck area and lower draught than an equivalent displacement monohull, but "unusual" motions in a seaway. Used by the Australians for mine countermeasures vessels.SES / Hovercraft: Very high speeds and resistance to underwater explosion but complex and expensive. Used by UK, US, Russia, Greece, Norway etc etc for landing craft and mine countermeasures.Hydrofoil: Very high speeds and improved seakeeping, but practical limitations on scale and complexity. Used by Russia, China as fast attack craft.Trimaran: (Depending on configuration and operating envelope) Reduced resistance, improved sea-keeping, increased upperdeck space and stability. Research on large trimarans only got underway in a serious way in the West in the 1990s. The general draw-down of military forces post Cold War means that the fact that a demonstrator and one experimental warship have been built is actually quite impressive.<blockquote>Do they not look like proper ships and so the Navies don't like them?</blockquote>Navies and Defence Ministries can be of two minds on this:1. Look at the amazing new technology!2. The risk! The risk! Won't someone please think of the risk!Somehow out of these two comes a conservative, but quite pragmatic approach to the development of ship designs.RP1[Ninja edit]The trimaran CVF design is, IIRC, actually a product of the AVPRO consultancy, not the MoD. It showcased some of their ideas, such as a screw-jack based lift and highly angled flight deck.</blockquote>

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