US Navy picks Damen design for new landing ships
Up to 35 LST100 vessels will be constructed at shipyards in the United States for the Medium Landing Ship programme
(Source: Damen)
The Landing Ship Transport (LST) 100 design from Damen Shipyards Group has been selected by the US Naval Sea Systems Command (Navsea) for up to 35 landing craft to be built in US yards.
The new vessels will be part of the country’s Medium Landing Ship project aimed at enhancing transport and landing capabilities relating to Marine Corps operations in contested environments. Damen had previously delivered one LST100 demonstrator, enabling Navsea officials to see the vessel in service for themselves.
The 101m-long LST100 has a beam of 16m and a draught of 3.6m. The flexible design is suitable for the transport of personnel, vehicles and cargoes and can be deployed in landing, survey, reconnaissance and disaster relief operations.
Its standard design has bunks for 282 persons, a cargo space of 500m2, a vehicle deck of 400m2, and a helicopter deck. The vessel has a maximum speed of 14 knots with a corresponding endurance of 3,890 nautical miles. At ten knots, this increases to more than 7,500 miles.
Alan Borde, Damen area manager Americas, said: “We are delighted at Navsea’s selection of the LST100 for its LSM programme. We are very much looking forward to continuing our cooperation with American shipyards during the construction of these vessels in the coming years.”
