Light hovercraft
such as the Neoteric Hovertrek are used by the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S.
Air Force, U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Border Patrol,
particularly for search and rescue missions.
Because it safely
hovers 9 inches above any terrain, a hovercraft keeps military personnel above
the danger – not in it – and gives them access to areas that helicopters, boats
and other vehicles can’t reach.
Neoteric trained military hovercraft pilots from
the U.S. Air Force Utah Test and Training Range at Hill Air Force Base. Among
the trainees is Capt. Cory Lingelbach (left), who used one of the base's
Neoteric craft to rescue a downed F-16 pilot who crashed in 2006 on the Great
Salt Lake mudflats, where no other rescue vehicle could travel. Read the full story ...
The Neoteric Military HoverTrek™ LCAC Trainer was recently demonstrated in both the United States and in South Korea. This specialty military hovercraft is engineered as a training apparatus for LCAC (Landing Craft Air Cushion) pilots and navigators.
Here, the Trainer was launched in Terre Haute, Indiana for a demonstration. A pilot instructor in the starboard front seat and a hovercraft radar navigation instructor in the rear seat instruct and evaluate their respective students in the port seats ...
And here, in South Korea, the Trainer was introduced to U.S. and South Korean Generals during a joint military exercise. The Neoteric craft was also used to demonstrate the concept and feasibility for dragging plastic fuel pipeline over tidal mudflats …
In the U.S., Navy and Marine LCAC pilots and navigators are currently trained using simulators, followed by final training in actual LCACs. In contrast, military aircraft pilots are first trained in light aircraft and simulators, then in heavy aircraft. Applying this standard protocol for aircraft pilot training to LCAC training would significantly reduce training costs and improve training quality. Light hovercraft such as the Neoteric Military HoverTrek™ LCAC Trainer have an extremely low hourly operating cost as compared to that of heavy Hovercraft like the LCAC. The basic operational principles, however, are identical for both.
In addition to offering a vastly superior cost/benefit ratio for the U.S. Department of Defense than the training programs currently in use, the Neoteric Military HoverTrek™ LCAC Trainer can serve as an inexpensive means of vetting or qualifying future LCAC pilots and navigators. And, since Neoteric craft capture public attention, such a program will serve as a public relations and marketing tool to boost the success of military recruiting efforts.
