Hovercraft also offered a possible answer to rough-terrain logistics. If the Soviet Union had fielded them first, examples might have travelled west through reverse Lend-Lease while Britain and the United States supplied trucks. A hovercraft would be expensive, but it could still be worthwhile for high-value or urgent cargo where terrain and roads limited movement. Rivers and seas would provide flexible routes because the craft needed little more than a flattened shoreline to enter or leave the water. That flexibility would make its route harder to disable than a fixed road or railway.
Notable Point · 33:17-34:27
Hovercraft as a rough-terrain logistics shortcut
A short logistics aside explains why hovercraft matter beyond assault landings: they can move high-value cargo where roads, rails, and river exits are weak.