They were arguably for a military purpose as well. One of the demonstrations iirc was about creating a deepwater harbor anywhere you wanted more or less instant

They were arguably for a military purpose as well. One of the demonstrations iirc was about creating a deepwater harbor anywhere you wanted more or less instantly. Suddenly your invasion surface is no longer limited to where anyone can look at a map today and see where a ship can land and unload supplies. You could probably dredge a whole channel inland with a strafe in certain areas.