air cushion vehicle

...A vehicle that floats near the water surface by maintaining an air layer (air cushion) with a pressure higher than atmospheric pressure between the aircraft and the water surface (or ground), which supports the weight of the aircraft. It is also called ACV (short for air cushion vehicle), GEM (short for ground effect machine) because it floats by using the ground effect, or air car, but it is often called an air cushion ship because of its high value as a means of maritime transportation, such as its high speed of nearly 100 knots, which cannot be achieved by conventional ships.

*Some of the terminology that refers to "air cushion vehicle" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…機体と水面(あるいは地面)との間に大気圧より高い圧力の空気層(エアクッション)を保持して，これにより機体の重量を支え，水面近くを浮上して航走する乗物。ACV(air cushion vehicleの略)，あるいは地面効果ground effectを利用して浮上することからジェム(GEM。ground effect machineの略)，エアカーair carなどとも呼ばれるが，在来の船では達成できない100ノット近い超高速を期待できるなど，海上の交通機関としての利用価値が高いことからエアクッション船と呼ばれる場合が多い。…

※「air cushion vehicle」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報