Next generation shark

This posting is on a new type of ship the navy is working on. Yahoo News puts forth this article on the race for a highly anticipated, next generation warship. The ships in competition are a monohull ship versus a trimaran (three hull ship). The sailing ships that are used in the big money races like the America's Cup use trimarans as top-of-the-line designs. The three hulls have low water friction with added stability from balance and are typically advantageous to the single hull design. Neither design in this sense is new.

What is new are nontraditional propulsion systems in the two rivals.

Both versions of the Littoral Combat Ship use powerful diesel engines, as well as gas turbines for extra speed. They use steerable waterjets instead of propellers and rudders and have shallower drafts than conventional warships, letting them zoom close to shore.

Driving close to shore is going to be easy for this new generation ship. This will have the multiple advantages of going up rivers, docking in many inaccessible places and going close to shore chasing the world's unpleasant variety. Pirates, yarrrrrrrh!

The other neat thing is this boat goes automobile highway speeds.

Independence, a 418-foot warship built in Alabama, boasts a top speed in excess of 45 knots, or about 52 mph, and sustained 44 knots for four hours during builder trials that wrapped up this month off the Gulf Coast. The 378-foot Freedom, a ship built in Wisconsin by a competing defense contractor, has put up similar numbers.

Whoever wins the contract will make a mint due to the navy's rush.