Large Amphibious Assault Vessels

thecheeto said:

Just read an article about HMS Ocean going in for some work. $105 million for radar, phalanx, plumbing and paint... Is it common to have a ship like this go in for year + work twice in 5 years?

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Generally, major overhauls will occur every five years or so on such vessels. But if there are enough "goodies" or necessary repairs or updates to warrant adding them sooner, and they are viewed critically enough, a vessel such as this will spend additional yard time in getting it done.

They are simply too valuable to not warrant the latest technology, particularly when it comes to defense. The new radar and updates to the CIWS would fall in that category, and as long as it is in there there's no sense in not performing other maintenance and upgrades that would fit in the timeline as well.

Re: America Class details LHA 6 & 7 no well deck, LHA 8 on with well decks

Jeff Head said:

LHA 6, the USS America, and LHA 7, the USS Tripoli, will not have well decks, but will be, as I said, "Aircraft Centric."

LHA 8 and those built after her after will have a well deck, albeit a little smaller than the Wasp Class LHD well deck. They may end up calling them a new class because of this, but right now they are all intended to be called the "America" class.

As I said, their well deck from LHA 8 on will be slightly smaller than the well deck on the USS Wasp class, embarking two LCACs instead of three.

Here's the quote from US Marine Col. Weisz, the Deputy Commander of Expeditionaty Group Two.



You can read the entire interview

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so they are basically "small" aircraft carriers for the marines =)

notice the quotes, since they are still larger and more capable than almost every other countries' carriers.

Re: America Class details LHA 6 & 7 no well deck, LHA 8 on with well decks

tphuang said:

so they are basically "small" aircraft carriers for the marines =)

notice the quotes, since they are still larger and more capable than almost every other countries' carriers.

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Yep, that's about it. Special carriers to support US Marines...or, when called upon, to act as Sea Control Carriers for the US Navy.


.and her self defense weaonry is just as strong as the large carriers. Two 20mm Phalanx CIWS, two ESSM launchers w/8 missiles each, and two RAM missile launchers w/21 missiles each.

Here's her launch:

Lots of great pictures of the French LHD Dixmude being loaded out.

thecheeto said:

Lots of great pictures of the French LHD Dixmude being loaded out.

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With the light Armor they are taking in, and with their ability to stage attack and transport helo support, the Mistral class are specifically made for this type of operation.

Notional LPD Flight II. Seems interesting, but I really don't know enough about amphib development to know if it's actually a good idea or not...

[video=youtube;yI5GFP_b7kQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=yI5GFP_b7kQ[/video]

Link to Huntington Ingalls web site on the subject:

thecheeto said:

Notional LPD Flight II. Seems interesting, but I really don't know enough about amphib development to know if it's actually a good idea or not...

Link to Huntington Ingalls web site on the subject:

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What they are proposing with the LPD Flight II hull is actually a very good idea if they can pull it off.

To have the same hull be able to be configured as an actual LPD, a hospital/relief ship, or act as an arsenal ship would be very beneficial and save a lot of money during building, and particularly over the long haul.

They could position these aresenal ships to act as BMD shield around the US coastline and allies, without having to committ the Burkes, which is what we are currently doing. The Burkes have a lot of other capabilities that should not be tied down to such duty.

In addition, by using the PVLS cells which can also carry other wapons, such vessels could be configured for the mission and help with Amphibious assault and provide area air defense at the center of the task force as well as huge Tomahawk presicion guided fire support of the forces ashore.

Cool video of Canberra class Island getting preped to be lifted onto the ship.

[video=youtube;kfR-rWBwIBs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=kfR-rWBwIBs[/video]

Great looking ship, It'd look even better with some F-35s aboard.

thecheeto said:

Cool video of Canberra class Island getting preped to be lifted onto the ship.

[video=youtube;kfR-rWBwIBs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=kfR-rWBwIBs[/video]

Great looking ship, It'd look even better with some F-35s aboard.

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theoretically, yes. But I remember reading one of the Aussie defense guys saying how in reality this probably won't make sense, since it's not designed for it. Just because you have the deck space and hangar space for F-35B, that doesn't mean you have a carrier.

I must be missing something... how is the Juan Carlos/Canberra design not designed for STOVL?