sustain a crew of 2 warrant officers and 11 enlisted personnel for up to 18 days and 10,000 miles. This class is also equipped with an aft anchor to assist in retracting from the beach. LCU Class 1700 The LCU 1700-class boats are destined to replace the existing LCU 1610-class of amphibious landing craft on a one-to-one basis. The LCU-1700 is 139 feet long, can reach speeds of 11 knots, has a range of 1,200 nautical miles at 8 knots, and has accommodations for a mixed gender crew of 14. It can carry two M1A1 tanks, or 350 combat troops, or 170 short tons of cargo. The contract announcement noted that the LCU 1700s will recapitalize the LCU fleet as a similarly rugged steel craft (to the LCU 1610) with a design life of 30 years. The similarities of these two classes of ships will help the U.S. Navy to improve efficiency and reduce cost of the training programs, operations and overall ownership cost. The craft will enter, exit and be transported in well decks of current and programmed U.S. Navy amphibious warfare ships, for design purposes defined by the dimensions of LHD, LPD, LSD and LHA classes without ship alterations, while transporting loads up to 11 feet high above the craft’s vehicle deck. The contract was awarded to Swiftships in 2018 to design and build the prototype and up to 32 vessels. Work is being performed in Morgan City, Louisiana, and is expected to be completed by November 2023. References External links Royal Marines – Landing Craft (royalnavy.mod.uk) U.S. Navy fact sheet Landing craft