CASR  Background   ~  Sealifters

The CDS, Gen Rick Hillier, has been tepid about the Joint Support Ship Project but warms to ‘Big Honking Ships’, amphib- ious warfare vessels  known as Landing Platform Docks (LPDs). Garnering most interest are USN San Antonios. We will describe LPDs and related ships mentioned in the debate but it’s important is to know what these vessels are not. An LPD is not a replenishment ship (left) nor a Roll-On/Roll-Off transport (right).

LPDs have flight decks but aren’t the mini-carriers dreamt of by pundits nor amphibious assault ships (LST left or LHA) of any kind.  Instead,  LPDs are the large end of  ‘landing ship docks’
(smaller-scale LSDs include the USS Gunston Hall used by the CF for amphibious exercises in November 2006). Larger LPDs serve as bases for landings carrying troops, supplies and landing craft with modest air support.

August 2005

A CF  Rotterdam (‘Enforcer’) class  LPD?
The Enforcer, a commercial-grade offspring of the smaller Spanish-Dutch Galicia and Rotterdam class ‘Landing Platform Docks’, is examined as a potential CF sealifter. This class of LPDs emphasizes helicopters over interior lane space but packs a lot of sealift capacity into a smaller overall package

March 2005      Surplus US Navy San Antonio class LPD vessels for Canada?
The 208m long American San Antonio class are most often mentioned as an example of amphibious warfare ships suited to Canadian needs. The USN has surplus ships but will they release these LPDs to Canada? Do these ships represent a bargain?

In Support  –  the ‘Landing Craft,  Air Cushion’
Almost as important as the LPDs themselves are the landing craft they carry. The most flexible of all landing craft are the hovercraft – what the US Navy called the ‘Landing Craft, Air Cushion’ or LCAC.  Such a landing craft would be needed to make full use of any San Antonio-type LPD ship.