 |
| -Total displacement = 9000 tons -Length = 142.9 meters -Width = 21.5 meters -Flight deck with two runways and landing pads for heavy-lift helicopters in the extremities and 30-ton lift in the central part of the deck -The power plant includes two diesel engines Wärtsilä 12V32 rated at 6000 kW -The maximum speed = 20 knots -Cruising range = 11,265 km -Generation of electricity will be provided by four diesel generators Isotta Fraschini V1716 C2ME capacity of 1300 kW and one emergency V1708 T3 of 600 kW -Armament includes MBDA SAAM-ESD (Aster missiles + A50 launcher Sylver) behind the island superstructure + Oto Melara 76/62 Super Rapid + 2 Single 25mm -The electronic structure will include Selex Sistemi Integrati EMPAR + AESA radar of CICS Athena-C + navigation radar and flight control by -gosopoznavaniya SIR + Communication system supplied by Selex Elsag + EW systems produced by Elettronica and Thales + two SCLAR-H decoy launchers -The Algerian helicopter landing ship dock can accommodate 3 Landing Craft Mechanized (LCM) + 3 small Landing Craft Vehicle Personnel (LCVP) + 1 large Landing Craft Personnel (LCP) + 2 semi-rigid boats. The garage can accommodate up to 15 armored vehicles. -The crew = 150 people -The landing force = 440 people |
I look at this ship and lust after it for the US Navy and Marine Corps. Have you noticed something about the US Amphibious Fleet? The further we move away from actual combat at sea (talking WW2.....the last extensive at sea fight) the bigger our ships have gotten. When you must land the landing force, you don't put all your eggs in one basket or even a couple of baskets...you spread it out to make it resilient.
In the 1960's the USMC spread a MEU among a LPH, LPD, LSD and LST. Today? You can fit the entire MEU aboard an LHD and LPD. Knock out one of those ships and you basically kill 50% of a potential landing force. Knock out the LPD and you take away most of the MEU's ground mobility.
Smaller, more numerous and simpler Amphibs might be what we should be investing in. Which is more flexible. Five 9,000 ton LHDs or one 45,000 ton LHA?
