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LPD-17 cutaway
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LPD-17 San Antonio class amphibious assault support vessels are just entering service with the US Navy. Between 10-12 scheduled ships of this new class are slated to assume the functional duties of up to 41 previous ships. Much like their smaller predecessors, their mission is to embark, transport, land, and support elements of a US Marine Corps Landing Force. What changes are the ships’ size, their cost, and the capabilities and technologies used to perform those missions. Among other additions, this new ship is designed to operate accompanying platforms like the Marines’ MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft, and the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle amphibious armored personnel carrier.

While its design incorporates notable advances, the San Antonio Class has also had its share of teething problems. So, too, has the New Orleans shipyard to which most of this contract has been assigned. The number of serious issues encountered in this ship class have been much higher than usual, and more extensive. The initial ships have been criticized for sub-standard workmanship, and it took 2 1/2 years after the initial ship of class was delivered and accepted before any ship of class was sent on an operational cruise. Whereupon the USS San Antonio promptly found itself laid up Bahrain due to oil leaks. Meanwhile, costs are almost twice the originally promised amounts at over $1.7 billion per ship – 2 to 3 times as much as many foreign LPD classes, and more than 10 times as much as Singapore’s 6,600 ton Endeavour Class LPD.

DID’s FOCUS articles offer in-depth, updated looks at significant military programs of record. This is DID’s FOCUS Article for the San Antonio Class, detailing the ships’ unique features and capabilities, its program innovations and issues, ship timelines, and related contracts throughout the program’s history. As has become DID custom, the most recent additions are highlighted in green type. The latest developments include problems with the LPD 21 New York now, which contains steel from the destroyed World Trade Center…

• LPD-17 San Antonio Class: Capabilities and Features
• LPD-17 San Antonio Class: Process & Issues
• LPD-17 San Antonio Class: Program, Budgets & Timelines [updated]
• LPD-17 San Antonio Class: Contracts and Events (1996-Present) [updated]
• Appendix A: Additional Readings & Sources – LPD-17 Ship Class
• Appendix B: Additional Readings & Sources – News and Views

Subscribe to DII and start reading the full story of the San Antonio-class amphibious ship and our compilation of related materials including:

• Rich media resources including 14 photos of the ships and related systems, cutaway graphics and renditions, and links to published project reviews
• Chronology of acceptance trials, cost overruns, the effects of Hurricane Katrina, and political climate
• Procurement events and project milestones dating back to 1996, with links to source materials
• Description of new ship features that differentiate it from other ships of its broad type, and links to the air and land platforms it will support including the V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor, CH-53K heavy transport helicopter, UH-1Y/AH-1Z transport/attack helicopters, MH-60 Seahawk helicopter family, LCAC hovercraft, and amphibious vehicles like the troubled EFV program.
• Vast network of links to additional DII discussion and other source materials

DII readers have easy access to more facts and the extensive Defense Industry Daily archive. Subscribe now for access to this in-depth collection of news, events and resources.

 

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