USAF Pararescue Seeks Extended Maritime Mobility Vessel
The Special Warfare Contracting Office at Wright-Patterson AFB in Ohio has issued a Request for Information (RFI) for a new capability called the Extended Maritime Mobility Platform, essentially an airdroppable rigid hulled inflatable boat.
Currently, the force relies on small inflatables boats with small outboard motors and 2-man Advanced Rescue Crafts which are wave runner-style craft used to provide close access to those who need rescuing in the open ocean. These systems, like the anticipated EMMP are airdropped from HC130 aircraft.
The boat will be used by the Air Force’s Pararescue which is organized as the Guardian Angel community consisting of the action arm made up of enlisted Pararescuemen and commissioned Combat Rescue Officers along with enlisted Survival Evasion Resistance and Escape specialists who provide training and unit support.
According to the RFI, “Guardian Angel (GA) surface maritime operations include search/support/recovery of Isolated Personnel (IP) and recovery of Sensitive Items from ocean and coastal environments across permissive, semi-permissive, and contested threat environments.
Fielding an air-droppable, survivable, open-ocean capable, hard-hulled watercraft will provide the United States Air Force (USAF) with long range maritime Personnel Recovery adequate for vast, extended duration, open- ocean operations.”
The RFI closes on 10 July but hopefully the team issuing the RFI attended last week’s Multi-Agency Craft conference in Portsmouth, Virginia to see the gathering of small boat manufacturers.
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