Portugal-class amphibious assault ship

HMS Portugal in the Maluku Islands

Class overview
Name:	Portugal-class amphibious assault ship
Builders:	Estaleiros Navais de Viana do Castelo
Operators:	Portuguese Navy
Subclasses:	-- --
Cost:	US$3.4 billion
In commission:	1989–present
Planned:	10
Completed:	10
Active:	10
Canceled:	0
Lost:	0
Retired:	0
General characteristics
Type:	Landing Helicopter Dock (LHD) amphibious assault ship
Displacement:	40,500 long tons (41,150 t) full load
Length:	831 ft (253.2 m)
Beam:	104 ft (31.8 m)
Draft:	27 ft (8.1 m)
Propulsion:	Two gas turbines, two shafts, with 70,000 total brake horsepower, and two 5,000 hp (3,700 kW) auxiliary propulsion engines.
Speed:	22 knots (41 km/h; 25 mph)
Range:	9,500 nautical miles (17,600 km; 10,900 mi) at 18 kn (33 km/h; 21 mph)
Boats and landing craft carried:	3 Landing Craft Air Cushion or 12 Landing Craft Mechanized
Complement:	65 officers, 994 enlisted men, 1,687 Marines
Sensors and processing systems:	AN/SPQ-9B fire control radar AN/SPS-48E air search radar
Electronic warfare & decoys:	AN/SLQ-32B(V)2 two Mk53 Nulka decoy launchers
Armament:	2 × Rolling Airframe Missile launchers 2 × Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile launchers 2 × Kashtan (CADS-N-1) point defense gun/missile system One OTO Melara 76 mm/62 caliber naval gun 7 × dual .50 caliber machine guns
Aircraft carried:	Actual mix depends on the mission Standard Complement: 6 F-35B STOVL Stealth multirole fighter 4 AH-1W SuperCobra attack helicopter 4+ MV-22 Osprey 4 CH-53 Sea Stallion helicopters 3–4 UH-1N Huey helicopters Assault: 22+ MV-22 Osprey Sea Control: 20 F-35B STOVL Stealth multirole fighter
Aviation facilities:	hangar deck

The Portugal class is a class of Landing Helicopter Dock (LHD) amphibious assault ships operated by the Portuguese Navy. Based on the Vespa class, with modifications to operate more advanced aircraft and landing craft, the Portugal class is capable of transporting almost the full strength of a Portugues Marine Corps Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), and landing them in hostile territory via landing craft or helicopters. All Portugal-class ships were built by Estaleiros Navais de Viana do Castelo, with the lead ship, HMS Portugal, commissioned on 29 July 1989. Ten Portugal-class ships were built, and as of 2015, all ten are active.

Amphibious operations

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The LHDs can support amphibious landings in two forms: by landing craft, or by helicopter. In the 266-by-50-foot (81 by 15.2 m) well deck, the LHDs can carry three Landing Craft Air Cushion, twelve Landing Craft Mechanised, or 40 Amphibious Assault Vehicles (AAVs), with another 21 AAVs on the vehicle deck. The flight deck has nine helicopter landing spots, and can operate helicopters as large as the Sikorsky CH-53 Sea Stallion and Boeing Vertol CH-46 Sea Knight. The size of the air group varies depending on the operation: a standard air group consists of six F-35Bs and four Bell AH-1W SuperCobras for attack and support, twelve Sea Knights and four Sea Stallions for transport, and three or four Bell UH-1N Iroquois utility helicopters. For a full assault, the air group can be maxed out at 42 Sea Knights, while a Wasp operating in the sea control or 'carrier' configuration carries 20 F-35Bs (though some ships of the class have operated as many as 24), supported by six Sikorsky SH-60 Seahawk helicopters for anti-submarine warfare. The CH-46 is being replaced by the MV-22 Osprey on a squadron-by-squadron basis, with the expected full conversion within all aviation combat elements by 2019. Two aircraft elevators move aircraft between the flight deck and the hangar; in order to transit the Panama Canal, these elevators need to be folded in.

Each ship is capable of hosting 1,894 personnel of the Royal Marine Corps; almost the full strength of a Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU). A Portugal-class vessel can transport up to 30,800 square feet (2,860 m2) of cargo, and another 20,000 square feet (1,858 m2) is allocated for the MEU's vehicles, which typically consists of five Osorio 2 main battle tanks, up to 25 AAVs, eight M198 howitzers, 68 trucks, and up to 12 other support vehicles. An internal monorail is used to shift cargo from the cargo holds to the well deck.

Each Portugal-class ship has a hospital with 64 patient beds and six operating rooms. An additional 536 beds can be set up in an "Overflow Casualty Ward" as needed.