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36 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News The U.S. Navy's push toward a new generation of smaller, stealthier, and more versatile vessels is taking shape at Nichols Brothers Boatyard in Whidbey Island, Wash., as the Navy last month christened the experi- mental X-Craft Sea Fighter, designated as the first Fast Sea Frame. The high-speed, experimental vessel, designed by Nigel Gee & Associates, is designed to test a variety of technologies that will allow the Navy to operate more effectively in littoral, or near-shore, waters. Sea Fighter will be used to evaluate the hydrodynamic per- formance, structural behavior, mission flexibility, and propulsion system efficiency of, high-speed vessels, and will also serve as a test bed for developmental mis- sion packages. It will serve as a risk reduction, exper- imental vessel for the Littoral Combat Ship and Coast Guard's Deepwater Program concept of operation development at sea. The keel of the aluminum catamaran was laid in June 2003, and is 262 x 72 x 11.5 ft. long and displaces 950 tons. Two LM2500 aeroderivative marine gas turbines Circle 276 on Reader Service Card Navy X-Craft Sea Fighter Makes its Debut The Littoral Surface Craft - Experimental, "X-Craft," was christened Sea Fighter (FSF-1) in February at the Nichols Brothers Boatyard on Whidbey Island, Wash. MR MARCH 2005 #5 (33-40).qxd 3/1/2005 2:12 PM Page 4
