The 8th and final unit
Exports orders from Egypt is pending
Do you know the specs on those vessels? They look very nice, and seem to have a very good carrying capacity.
I wonder if they are ocean going?
The US now operates 34 of these LCU 2000 vessels, and is still building them. Plans for 42 total:
They are fully ocean-going and can either carry their cargo/vehicle/troops from port, or from deeper draft, large cargo or other amphibious ships into shore.
Their specs are:
Length: 174ft
Beam: 42ft
Draft: 8 ft
Displacement: 1,100 tons (full load)
Crew: 13
Speed 16 knots cruising
Capacity: 350 tons (Equivalent of eight C-17 loads)
Range: 6,500 miles (full load)
10,000 Miles (light load)
The US also operates eight of the following very large LSVs, which have a 2,000 ton capacity and can carry and deliver up to 26 Abrams tanks, or 43 LAVs, or 37 Strykers at one time. And they are ocean going as well:
In that second picture, for comparison, you see one next to a LCU-2000. They are BIG.
Their specifications:
Length: 274 ft
Beam: 60 ft
Draft: 12 ft
Displacement: 4,250 tons (full load)
Crew: 29
Speed 16 knots cruising
Capacity: 2,000 tons (Equivalent of twenty-five C-17 loads)
Range: 6,500 miles (full load)
8,200 miles (light load)
Although their complete draft is 12ft, they can operate and discharge equipment in as little as 6ft of water.
They have modular variants of this vessel which allow them to operate carrying purely container cargo, troops and/or vehicles, and one that places a landing pad over the main deck and allows them to carry several medium sized helicopters and land them on the upper deck and then store them below with an elevator.
Now the US is building the Theater Suppert Vessel (TSV) or Joint HJigh Speed Vessel (JHSV) as they are now officially known. Plans call for up to 25 of them and ten of them have already been funded and awarded. You have seen pictures of it before:
Not as big as the Class, LSV shown before...but very fast. In the second and third pictures, you can see how the initial vessel, which was converted from a commerical Austal ferry design, has changed to its standard design for the class, incorporating the lessons learned from TSV-X1 into what will be klnown as the JHSV class, showing JHSV-1 and HJSV-2 here.
Here are its specs:
Length: 315 ft
Beam: 88 ft
Draft: 12 ft
Displacement: 1,300 tons (full load)
Crew: 40
Speed 40 knots cruising
Capacity: 1,250 tons (Equivalent of fifteen C-17 loads)
Range: 4,700 miles (full load)
6,500 miles (light load)
The one thing about these vessels? They are not US Navy vessels. They are US Amry vessels. A little known fact is that the US Army operates over 300 ships of its own...as many as the US Navy. Hehehe...so Reagen's 600 ship Navy really did come about!
As ity turns put, recently the decision was made to make the JHSV a USNS vessel operated by Sealift Command of the US Navy. You know there is a LOT of politics going on with that decision. LOL!. But, the others remain US Army vessels.