Marine hovercraft flawed by propeller cracks

TheU.S. Navy accepted delivery this year from Textron Inc. of the first two in a new generation of hovercraft for the Marines despite “extensive propeller blade cracking” that will require a redesign, according to service officials and documents.

The previously undisclosed problem was discovered during mid-2019 tests of the $5.7 billion program to build new air-cushion hovercraft tomoveMarines from ship to shore.

Even with the cracks unresolved, the Navy awarded Textron a $386million contract for 15 more hovercraft that Congress had approved for fiscal years 2017-2020. But ordering those vesselswas held up pending resolution of other technical problems.