PM: LPD 17s ‘can do anything’

ARLINGTON, Va. - The San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ships (LPD 17s) in production are incorporating upgrades as the class moves forward to the Flight II configuration, Capt. Brian Metcalf, LPD 17 program manager (PM), noted Jan. 16 at the Surface Navy Association symposium. The roles of the 14 elder Flight I LPDs and the forthcoming Flight II ships will remain the same, he said. Flight II is to begin with LPD 30, and it will incorporate those upgrades, including the Enterprise Air Search Radar (EASR), Consolidated Afloat Networks and Enterprise Services (CANES) architecture, destroyer-style mast, boat deck, SLQ-32 Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program Block, and the Rolling Airframe Missile. Flight IIs will keep the same hull and propulsion plant as Flight Is, but have better fuel efficiency and electrical distribution. The future USS Fort Lauderdale (LPD 28) will be the first LPD to have CANES installed, and fitted with a destroyer-style mast. The ship is scheduled for delivery in the fall of 2021. The future USS Richard M. McCool Jr. (LPD 29), the last Flight I ship, will have EASR installed. The ship is scheduled for delivery in 2023. These amphibs can do anything,” Metcalf said, including “recovering spacecraft or put 800 Marines in your back yard.” The 11 commissioned ships of the San Antonio class have completed 21 deployments. Navy plans to procure 13 Flight II ships. Navy has an option to conduct a block buy, but does not yet have the congressional authority. (Source: Seapower 01/22/19) Gulf Coast Note: HII-Pascagoula, Miss., is the sole provider of the San Antonio (LPD 17) class of amphibious transport dock ships for the Navy. Collectively, LPD 17 class ships replace the functions of more than 41 amphibs in four classes (LPD 4, LSD 36, LKA 113, and LST 1179). The first nine ships in the LPD 17 class - USS San Antonio (LPD 17), USS New Orleans (LPD 18), USS Mesa Verde (LPD 19), USS Green Bay (LPD 20), USS New York (LPD 21), USS San Diego (LPD 22), USS Anchorage (LPD 23), USS Arlington (LPD 24), USS Somerset (LPD 25) and USS John P. Murtha (LPD 26) and USS Portland (LPD 27) - have been delivered. The keel for LPD 28 was authenticated during a ceremony at HII-Pascagoula on Oct. 13, 2017, and is under construction. Pre-Commissioning Unit Richard M. McCool (LPD 29) has been authorized for construction.