What do you get when you cross a tank with a boat? If you’re asking someone from the U.S. Marine Corps, the answer is an Ultra Heavy-Lift Amphibious Connector (UHAC). The massive vehicle has begun exercises at the Marine Corps Training Area Bellows on Oahu, Hawaii during a Marine Corps Advanced Warfighting Experiment.

The UHAC is an experimental vehicle that showcases a possible capability of being able to take Marines to areas where current technology wouldn’t be able to insert them. The prototype is a ship-to-shore connector and is only half the size of the intended machine that will eventually replace the Landing Craft Air Cushioned (LCAC) Hovercraft.

The UHAC travels at four knots using a track system with flotation-like pads that propels itself through different terrain.

Scroll down to watch it in action and find out what makes it tick.

By Dan Mihalascu

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