Whether or not you support the investment in military technology, you have to admit that DARPA comes up with some amazing technologies. A recent DARPA project is the Captive Air Amphibious Transporter (CAAT), which works much like a tank, except it floats on water.
Using air-filled pontoons attached to tank-like treads, the CAAT can drive across the surface of water or swamps at a high rate of speed. When out of the water, the amphibious vehicle can drive directly onto shore – even onto uneven surfaces. The vehicle is designed as part of DARPA’s Tactically Expandable Maritime Platform, which is designed to help support disaster relief from offshore ships. So I imagine these would be brought in on larger boats, and then drive into shore. It’s an impressive sight when you see it in action:
At this point, what you’re looking at here is a 1/5th scale prototype of the CAAT, and it’s not clear if it will eventually make it into full-scale production.
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