RUSS LYNCH / RLYNCH@STARBULLETIN.COM
Navatek Ltd.'s new HYSWAC ship was due to float off its dry dock at Pier 41 this afternoon.
Navatek wings it
A ship design developed in Hawaii
for the military has brought
$12 million into the state
A ship design and building experiment that was to climax with a launching in Honolulu Harbor today has brought millions of dollars into the Hawaii economy and could bring many millions more if the design works and the Navy likes it.
Navatek Ltd., the local company that designed and built Navatek I and Navatek II and other craft for commercial and military use, today showed off its new HYSWAC, which stands for Hybrid Small Waterplane Area Craft.
The key element in the design is a device like an aircraft wing that fits between and below the two hulls and is deep below water when the craft is sitting still, said Michael Schmicker, vice president-business development at Navatek Ltd.
Navatek holds five patents for the device, called an underwater lifting body. Nacelles at each end hold the propellers, driven by shafts running down from the hull. Large flaps on the "wing" and smaller flaps on the trailing edge receive computer assisted commands to raise or lower or trim the ship to meet the waves. In motion the ship practically flies with the hull above the water level.
Schmicker said $12 million of the $17.5 million contract to design the system and fit in on to an existing Navy vessel was spent in Hawaii.
RUSS LYNCH / RLYNCH@STARBULLETIN.COM
Michael Schmicker, vice president of business development for Navatek, shows a flap like an aircraft wing that lifts the new HYSWAC ship and makes it go faster and ride more smoothly in rough water
Navatek did the design and Honolulu Shipyard workers fitted the 170-ton device to the ship, under a navy contract. It took 18 months to complete. The 160-foot, 270-ton vessel is a large-scale demonstration of technology that Navatek, a subsidiary of Pacific Marine & Supply Co., had successfully tried in a much smaller version.
The HYSWAC job employed 40 scientists and construction workers in Hawaii for 18 months, Schmicker said.
The next step for Navatek is a study for Fortune 500 defense contractor Northrop Grumman to explore the possibilities for using the HYSWAC system in the Navy's upcoming littoral combat ship project.
The Navy expects to procure as many as 100 of the special ships, designed as fast-maneuvering platforms for close-to-shore launch of missiles and aircraft.
