Hovercraft in the context of Atmospheric pressure

A vehicle (from Latin vehiculum) is a machine designed for self-propulsion, usually to transport people, cargo, or both. The term "vehicle" typically refers to ground transport vehicles such as human-powered land vehicles (e.g. bicycles, tricycles, velomobiles), animal-powered transports (e.g. horse-drawn carriages/wagons, ox carts, dog sleds), motor vehicles (e.g. motorcycles, cars, trucks, buses, mobility scooters) and railed vehicles (trains, trams and monorails), but more broadly also includes cable transport (cable cars and elevators), watercraft (ships, boats and underwater vehicles), amphibious vehicles (e.g. screw-propelled vehicles, hovercraft, seaplanes), aircraft (airplanes, helicopters, gliders and aerostats) and space vehicles (spacecraft, spaceplanes and launch vehicles).

This article primarily concerns the more ubiquitous land vehicles, which can be broadly classified by the type of contact interface with the ground: wheels, tracks, rails or skis, as well as the non-contact technologies such as maglev. ISO 3833-1977 is the international standard for road vehicle types, terms and definitions.

A watercraft or waterborne vessel is any vehicle designed for travel across or through water bodies, such as a boat, ship, hovercraft, submersible or submarine.

An amphibious vehicle (or simply amphibian) is a vehicle that works both on land and on or under water. Amphibious vehicles include amphibious bicycles, ATVs, cars, buses, trucks, railway vehicles, combat vehicles, and hovercraft.

Classic landing craft are not amphibious vehicles as they do not work on land, although they are part of amphibious warfare. Ground effect vehicles, such as ekranoplans, would likely crash on any but the flattest of landmasses so are also not considered to be amphibious vehicles.

A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, airship, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (usually air or water). On an airplane, the rudder is used primarily to counter adverse yaw and p-factor and is not the primary control used to turn the airplane. A rudder operates by redirecting the fluid past the hull or fuselage, thus imparting a turning or yawing motion to the craft. In basic form, a rudder is a flat plane or sheet of material attached with hinges to the craft's stern, tail, or afterend. Often rudders are shaped to minimize hydrodynamic or aerodynamic drag. On simple watercraft, a tiller—essentially, a stick or pole acting as a lever arm—may be attached to the top of the rudder to allow it to be turned by a helmsman. In larger vessels, cables, pushrods, or hydraulics may link rudders to steering wheels. In typical aircraft, the rudder is operated by pedals via mechanical linkages or hydraulics.

An amphibious assault ship is a type of amphibious warfare ship designed for spearheading amphibious incursions of marines into enemy territories during an armed conflict, via launching either naval landings or air assaults and also by providing shipborne close air support and logistics for landed friendly forces. Such a ship is typically the capital ship of a dedicated fleet known as the amphibious ready group or expeditionary strike group.

Amphibious assault ships evolved from aircraft carriers converted for specific use as helicopter carriers, which, as a result, are often mistaken for conventional fixed-wing aircraft carriers. Like the aircraft carriers they were developed from, some amphibious assault ships also support V/STOL fixed-wing aircraft, and some latest models (e.g. China's Type 076) have catapult systems for assisted takeoff of fixed-wing light aircraft such as UCAVs and have a secondary role as drone carriers. Most modern AAS designs also carry landing craft with most including a well deck, usually at the stern, to support large LCACs (hovercraft) and LCUs, which can insert both infantry and combat vehicles directly onto land.

A ground-effect vehicle (GEV), also called a wing-in-ground-effect (WIGE or WIG), ground-effect craft/machine (GEM), wingship, flarecraft, surface effect vehicle or ekranoplan (Russian: экранопла́н – "screenglider"), is a vehicle that makes use of the ground effect, the aerodynamic interaction between a moving wing and the stationary surface below (land or water). Typically, it glides over a level surface (usually over water). Some models can operate over any flat area such as a lake or flat plains similar to a hovercraft. The term Ground-Effect Vehicle originally referred to any craft utilizing ground effect, including what later became known as hovercraft, in patent descriptions during the 1950s. However, this term came to exclude air-cushion vehicles or hovercraft. GEVs do not include racecars utilizing ground-effect for increasing downforce.

The SR.N4 (Saunders-Roe Nautical 4) hovercraft (also known as the Mountbatten class hovercraft) was a combined passenger and vehicle-carrying class of hovercraft. The type has the distinction of being the largest civil hovercraft to have ever been put into service.

Work on the SR.N4 was initiated in 1965 by Saunders-Roe. By the time that the vehicle's first trials took place in early 1968, Saunders-Roe had merged with Vickers' hovercraft division to form the British Hovercraft Corporation, who continued development. Power was provided by four Rolls-Royce Proteus marine turboshaft engines each driving its own lift fan and pylon-mounted steerable propulsion propeller. The SR.N4 was the largest hovercraft then built, designed to carry 254 passengers in two cabins besides a four-lane automobile bay which held up to 30 cars. Cars were driven from a bow ramp just forward of the wheelhouse. The first design was 40 metres (131 ft) long, weighed 190 long tons (193 t), was capable of 83 knots (96 mph; 154 km/h) and could cruise at over 60 knots (69 mph; 111 km/h).

The Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC) is a class of air-cushioned landing craft (hovercraft) used by the United States Navy and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF). They transport weapons systems, equipment, cargo and personnel from ship to shore and across the beach. It is to be replaced in US service by the Ship-to-Shore Connector (SSC).

The Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) maintains a fleet of sea- and lake-going vessels, hovercraft, and aircraft. The variety of equipment allows the CCG to perform its mandated functions of navaids and sea-going transportation management, search and rescue, marine pollution response and the support of other Canadian federal authorities.

In aeronautics, a ducted fan is a thrust-generating mechanical fan or propeller mounted within a cylindrical duct or shroud. Other terms include ducted propeller or shrouded propeller. When used in vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) applications it is also known as a shrouded rotor.

Ducted fans are used for propulsion or direct lift in many types of vehicle including airplanes, airships, hovercraft, and powered lift VTOL aircraft. The high-bypass turbofan engines used on many modern airliners is an example of a very successful and popular use of ducted fan design.