The ''Dokdo''-class amphibious assault ship (, ) is a

class Class or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differently ...

of landing platform helicopter (LPH)

amphibious assault ship An amphibious assault ship is a type of amphibious warfare ship employed to land and support ground forces on enemy territory by an amphibious assault. The design evolved from aircraft carriers converted for use as helicopter carriers (and, a ...

s operated by the

Republic of Korea Navy The Republic of Korea Navy (ROKN; ko, 대한민국 해군), also known as the ROK Navy or South Korean Navy, is the naval warfare service branch of the South Korean armed forces, responsible for naval and amphibious operations. The ROK Navy inc ...

(ROKN). Designed and built by

Hanjin Heavy Industries HJ Shipbuilding & Construction Company, Ltd. (Korean: 주식회사 HJ중공업, Hanja: 株式會社HJ重工業), formerly Korea Shipbuilding & Engineering Corporation (Korean: 대한조선공사, Hanja: 大韓造船公社) and Hanjin Heavy Ind ...

(HHIC), the amphibious landing ships were meant to enhance South Korea's amphibious operation capability, both in terms of assault and

military operations other than war Military operations other than war (MOOTW) focus on deterring war, resolving conflict, promoting peace, and supporting civil authorities in response to domestic crises. The phrase and acronym were coined by the United States military during the ...

(MOOTW).

Development

The ROK Navy required a versatile landing ship with amphibious capabilities in its program to build a

blue-water navy A blue-water navy is a maritime force capable of operating globally, essentially across the deep waters of open oceans. While definitions of what actually constitutes such a force vary, there is a requirement for the ability to exercise sea cont ...

. In the end, Hanjin's ''Dokdo'' design was chosen to fulfill this need. The—also built by HHIC—was chosen as the landing craft air cushion (LCAC) to operate from the ship.

Specifications

The LPX is an amphibious warfare ship which includes a well deck to accommodate amphibious assault vehicles (AAVs) and two LCAC, the first of which (LSF 631) was acquired in April 2007. The ship is long, wide, with a 14,000-ton (empty), or 18,000-ton (full) displacement and was built incorporating stealth technologies. It has been said to be one of the most advanced vessels in the Asia Pacific. As a high-speed amphibious ship, the LPX was based on the concept of "over-the-horizon assault." As the name indicates, the "over-the-horizon assault" comprises a military operation in which an amphibious landing is conducted with high-speed air-cushioned vehicles and helicopters from beyond the horizon, where they cannot be easily detected or attacked by the enemy. The conventional landing ship tank (LST) has to approach the coastline for landing, at the risk of being fired upon by the enemy. The LPX can carry 720 marines (+300 crew members), 10 tanks, 10 trucks, 7 AAVs, three field artillery pieces, and two LCAC hovercraft capable of landing on enemy shores doing —a mix that enables it to launch troop landings from both sea and air. She can also carry 10 helicopters when there are no ground vehicles on her hangar deck. The flight surface is also sprayed with urethane, which can support

VTOL A vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft is one that can take off and land vertically without relying on a runway. This classification can include a variety of types of aircraft including helicopters as well as thrust-vectoring fixed-wi ...

jets, like Harriers. South Korea is considering the purchase of F-35B fighters to operate from its ''Dokdo''-class ships. Currently, the LPX operates mainly

UH-1 The Bell UH-1 Iroquois (nicknamed "Huey") is a utility military helicopter designed and produced by the American aerospace company Bell Helicopter. It is the first member of the prolific Huey family, as well as the first turbine-powered helico ...

H and UH-60P. However, both of these are designed for land‐based operations and lack abilities for ship-borne operations such as protection against damage from salty breezes, making them difficult to operate on-board continuously. The KUH-Amphibious, the sea-based amphibious variant of the KAI Surion, is now under development. Production is planned to commence in late 2015 with some 40 helicopters planned. Self-defence armament includes the

RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile The RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) is a small, lightweight, infrared homing surface-to-air missile in use by the German, Japanese, Greek, Turkish, South Korean, Saudi Arabian, Egyptian, Mexican, UAE, and U.S. Navies. It was origin ...

system. The

Goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting ...

close-in weapon system A close-in weapon system (CIWS ) is a point-defense weapon system for detecting and destroying short-range incoming missiles and enemy aircraft which have penetrated the outer defenses, typically mounted on a naval ship. Nearly all classes of l ...

(CIWS) was purchased in January 2003 from

Thales Thales of Miletus ( ; grc-gre, Θαλῆς; ) was a Greek mathematician, astronomer, statesman, and pre-Socratic philosopher from Miletus in Ionia, Asia Minor. He was one of the Seven Sages of Greece. Many, most notably Aristotle, regarded ...

, at a pre-set price of 13,000,000,000 won (roughly $15,000,000). The second ship of the class, ''Marado'', was built with some changes compared to ''Dokdo''. The flight deck is adapted to accommodate two

V-22 Osprey The Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey is an American multi-mission, tiltrotor military aircraft with both vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) and short takeoff and landing (STOL) capabilities. It is designed to combine the functionality of a conventio ...

s, while ''Dokdo'' was able to only carry one. In place of the Thales SMART-L multibeam radar and MW08 surveillance radar, ''Marado'' uses the

Elta Systems ELTA Systems Ltd (ELTA) is an Israeli provider of defense products and services specializing in radar, ELINT, COMINT, C4ISTAR, Electronic Warfare, Communication, Autonomous Ground Systems, Intelligence and Cyber products. ELTA, a group and ...

EL/M-2248 MF-STAR The EL/M-2248 MF-STAR is a multifunction active electronically scanned array naval radar system developed by IAI Elta for maritime installation on warships. It is capable of tracking both air and surface targets and providing fire control gui ...

multifunction surveillance radar and

LIG Nex1 LIG Nex1 Co., Ltd. (formerly known as NEX1 Future and LG Innotek) is a South Korean aerospace manufacturer and defense company. It was established in 1976 as Goldstar Precision. LIG Nex1 was previously owned by LIG Holdings Company, which in tu ...

SPS-550K 3-D air and surface surveillance radar. It also has a different weapons suite than the 30 mm Goalkeeper and RAM, instead using two 20 mm

Phalanx CIWS The Phalanx CIWS (often spoken as "sea-wiz") is a gun-based close-in weapon system to defend military watercraft automatically against incoming threats such as aircraft, missiles, and small boats. It was designed and manufactured by the Gen ...

and having a

K-VLS The Korean Vertical Launching System (K-VLS or KVLS) is a vertical launch weapon system developed by South Korea to be deployed by the Republic of Korea Navy. It is used in the Sejong the Great-class destroyer, and is scheduled to be added to the D ...

at the rear of the superstructure for the locally developed K-SAAM. ''Dokdo'' is similar in size to the

light aircraft carrier A light aircraft carrier, or light fleet carrier, is an aircraft carrier that is smaller than the standard carriers of a navy. The precise definition of the type varies by country; light carriers typically have a complement of aircraft only one- ...

s derived from the Sea Control Ship, such as the

Spanish Navy The Spanish Navy or officially, the Armada, is the maritime branch of the Spanish Armed Forces and one of the oldest active naval forces in the world. The Spanish Navy was responsible for a number of major historic achievements in navigation, ...

's former aircraft carrier and the Royal Thai Navy's .

Ships in the class

Plans

Some proposed uses for the ship include UN peacekeeping operations and disaster relief. The Korean news agency

Yonhap Yonhap News Agency is a major South Korean news agency. It is based in Seoul, South Korea. Yonhap provides news articles, pictures and other information to newspapers, TV networks and other media in South Korea. History Yonhap (, , translit. ' ...

reported in December 2017 that the Korean military was considering operating F-35B aircraft from the ''Dokdo''-class amphibious assault ships.But as of December 2022, no such plans have been officially declared.

First steps to a blue water navy

In a speech delivered in March 2001, the then South Korean President

Kim Dae Jung Kim Dae-jung (; ; 6 January 192418 August 2009), was a South Korean politician and activist who served as the eighth president of South Korea from 1998 to 2003. He was a 2000 Nobel Peace Prize recipient for his work for democracy and human ...

stated that his administration was aiming to build a navy that "will defend the national interests in the five oceans and perform a role in defending world peace." By the year 2020, the ROK Navy plans to deploy two to three rapid response fleets, each comprising 1 ''Dokdo'' class, 2 ''Sejong the Great'' class, 4 ''Chungmugong Yi Sun-sin'' class, 1 ''Gwanggaeto the Great'' class, severals, and 2 or 3 Type 214 submarines. ROK Navy's Rapid Response Fleet: * ''Dokdo''-class LPH (flagship) * (KDX-III) Aegis Combat System * * * * Type 214 submarine (diesel-electric)

References

External links

Dokdo class LPH - ROK Navy

LPX Doko launching ceremony pictures

Naval Technology entry for the Dokdo class
*https://namu.wiki/w/%EB%8F%85%EB%8F%84%EA%B8%89%20%EB%8C%80%ED%98%95%EC%88%98%EC%86%A1%ED%95%A8?from=%EB%8F%85%EB%8F%84%EA%B8%89%20%EA%B0%95%EC%8A%B5%EC%83%81%EB%A5%99%ED%95%A8 {{DEFAULTSORT:Dokdo Class Amphibious Assault Ship Helicopter carrier classes Amphibious warfare vessel classes Amphibious warfare vessels of the Republic of Korea Navy Dokdo class landing platform experimental ships Dokdo class landing platform experimental ships