Late 2010 saw a highly innovative vessel, Susitna, enter service in the USA. Built by Alaska Ship & Drydock, the vessel is a demonstrator funded by the Office of Naval Research (ONR) to prove the concept of a variable draft, beachable, landing craft that is also capable of carrying a large payload in variable sea states. The twin hull vessel, which can also operate in light ice conditions, is now in operation as a ferry on the challenging passage across Knik Arm between the Mat/Su Borough region and Anchorage, Alaska. The vessel is capable of operating both as a Small Waterplane Area Twin Hull (SWATH) and as a monohull. Such is the potential of this genuinely unique design that it has also attracted the attention of the US Navy, which is interested in it because it offers the potential to meet evolving requirements for 'transformable naval vessels that can carry men and equipment across long distances, at speed, but also come in close to shore and disembark men and equipment.
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机译：2010年底，一艘高度创新的船只Susitna进入美国服役。该船由阿拉斯加造船厂（Alaska Ship＆Drydock）建造，是由海军研究办公室（ONR）资助的演示器，用于证明可变吃水，可搁浅的着陆艇的概念，该艇还能够在变化的海州运载大量有效载荷。该双体船也可以在轻冰条件下运行，现在作为渡轮在Mat / Su Borough地区和阿拉斯加安克雷奇之间穿越Knik Arm的具有挑战性的通道上运行。该船既可以作为小型水上飞机区域双体船（SWATH）也可以作为单体船进行操作。这种真正独特的设计具有这种潜力，它也引起了美国海军的关注，它对此感兴趣，因为它具有满足“可携带长距离载人和装备的可变形海军舰艇”不断发展的要求的潜力，速度很快，但也要靠近岸边并下水人员和装备。
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