San Giorgio-class amphibious transport dock
The San Giorgio class is an amphibious assault ship, a type of helicopter carrier, of the Italian Navy. These ships can carry a battalion of troops and up to 36 armored vehicles. The stern floodable dock can accommodate three landing craft. The ships are based at the Brindisi naval base on the Adriatic coast.
San Giorgio and San Marco have been extensively modified into landing helicopter docks. They accommodate a full-length flight deck with four landing spots. San Giusto, the third vessel, has not been modified since construction, however, featured an improved design, and is normally employed as a training ship.
The issue I have with the San Giorgio class is there is no hanger for the helo's and they have stay on the upper deck which is okay for calm sea's but not so much for open ocean of the Pacific, Tasman Sa and the Southern Ocean. So not suitable for the RNZN.
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The Italian Marina Militare amphibious transport dock San Marco (L9893) underway in the Mediterranean Sea on 16 June 2016.
| Cost: | $291 million |
|---|---|
| Type: | Amphibious transport dock |
| Displacement: | - 7.960 t (7.834 long tons) full load - 8.000 t (7.874 long tons) for San Giusto (full load) |
| Length: | 133 m (436 ft) |
| Beam: | 20.5 m (67 ft) |
| Propulsion: | - 2 x diesel engines Grandi Motori Trieste GMT A 420.12, 6,264 kW (8,400 hp) each - 4 x diesel engine generators Grandi Motori Trieste GMT B230.6, 770 kW (1,030 hp) each |
| Speed: | 21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph) |
| Range: | 7,500 nautical miles (13,900 km; 8,600 mi) at 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph) |
| Boats & landing craft carried: |
- 3 x LCM62-class LCM - 3 x MTP96-class LCVP - 1 x patrol craft |
| Capacity: | 350 troops with 30 medium tanks or 36 tracked armored vehicles |
| Complement: | 17 officers, 163 ratings |
| Sensors and processing systems: |
- SMA MM/SPQ 702 search radar - GEM Elettronica navigation radar: MM/SPN-748 then MM/SPN-753(V)9 and now dual-band radar (X/Ka) MM/SPN-760(V)1 - Selex ES RTN-10X fire control radar Electronic warfare & decoys: Elettronica SpA INS-3 ECM/ESM suite |
| Armament: | - 1 × Otobreda 76 mm gun (removed from San Giorgio and San Marco to increase flight deck space) - 2 × OTO Melara KBA 25/80 mm guns |
| Aircraft carried: | 3 x AW-101 , 5 x Agusta Bell AB-212 helicopters or 18 SH90A |
| Aviation facilities: | Flight deck However no hanger. |
| Notes: | - San Giusto has a full load displacement 300t greater than the other ships in the class - Italian ships in class include: San Giorgio (L9892) - San Marco (L9893) - San Giusto (L9894) - Algerian ship in class include only Kalaat Béni Abbès, armed with Aster 15 missiles - one similar ship on order for the Qatari navy. |
Cost 291 million USD, however, this is most likely from 1998 cost and therefore we have to add inflation to 2025 dollars but will be well within the 1 billion NZD budget. (would be around roughly 700 million NZD) However, the load capacity is similar to that what we have now with HMNZS Canterbury the only advantage is the well dock. However, a disadvantage is access to a hanger for deployment for the helo's. I am not 100% sure if the Algerian amphibious transport dock Kalaat Béni Abbès has a lift to the hanger or not, but I am pretty sure the older vessels like San Marco don't.
I personally don't see much of advantage over what we can do now with HMNZS Canterbury other than the well dock and hospital space.
