With just a quarter of beaches suitable for assault by conventional landing craft, the air-cushion vehicle has earned its place in the inventories of amphibious forces worldwide. Charles Hollosi surveys current developments and looks to the future.rnFifty years have passed since SR.N1, the world's first operational hovercraft, crossed the English Channel on 25 July 1959. In the half century since that auspicious occasion, designers have exploited the military capabilities of a vehicle isolated by a cushion of high-pressure air from the surface over which it is travelling.
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