NAM ''Atlântico'' (A140) (previously PHM ''Atlântico'' (A140)) is an

amphibious Amphibious means able to use either land or water. In particular it may refer to: Animals * Amphibian, a vertebrate animal of the class Amphibia (many of which live on land and breed in water) * Amphibious caterpillar * Amphibious fish, a fish ...

helicopter carrier A helicopter carrier is a type of aircraft carrier whose primary purpose is to operate helicopters. It has a large flight deck that occupies a substantial part of the deck, which can extend the full length of the ship like of the Royal Navy (RN ...

and current

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of navy, naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically ...

of the

Brazilian Navy The Brazilian Navy () is the navy, naval service branch of the Brazilian Armed Forces, responsible for conducting naval warfare, naval operations. The navy was involved in War of Independence of Brazil#Naval action, Brazil's war of independence ...

. Originally constructed in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

for service with the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

as a landing platform helicopter, she was commissioned on 30 September 1998 as , serving until being decommissioned on 27 March 2018, and then commissioned into service with Brazil the following June.

History

In 2017, media outlets began reporting that Brazil was interested in purchasing ''Ocean'' as a replacement for the aircraft carrier ''São Paulo'', which was withdrawn from service in 2017 following multiple mechanical failures. The Royal Navy released an asking price of £80.3 million ($105.8 million USD), which the

called "convenient". In November 2017, the Brazilian Ministry of Defense began formal negotiations for the acquisition of the ship. In December 2017, the Brazilian Navy confirmed the purchase of the ship for £84.6 million, equivalent to R$359.5M and USD $113.2M. Following her decommissioning from Royal Navy service in March 2018, she would undertake a period of maintenance in the United Kingdom and was expected to arrive in Rio de Janeiro by 25 August 2018, with the intention of being commissioned and fully operational by 2020. Brazilian defence officials confirmed the purchase, as well as officials from the UK MoD, as of 17 February 2018. The Brazilian Navy commissioned the multi-purpose helicopter carrier ''Atlântico'' (A140) on 29 June in the United Kingdom. The helicopter carrier package for Brazil includes an Artisan 3D search radar, KH1007 surface surveillance radar system, four 30 mm DS30M Mk 2 remote weapon systems and four Mk 5B landing craft. However, the three original 20 mm Mk 15 Block 1B Phalanx close-in weapon systems, the torpedo defence systems and 7.62 mm M134 machine guns were removed from the ship before the transfer to Brazil. The ship displaces 21,578 tonnes, is 203.43 m long and has a range of 8,000 n miles. The ship underwent maintenance work by Babcock and BAE Systems in February. The ship was scheduled to reach her homeport,

Arsenal de Marinha do Rio de Janeiro The Rio de Janeiro Navy Arsenal (; AMRJ) is a military organization of the Brazilian Navy. It is located in Ilha das Cobras, at the Guanabara Bay, in the city of Rio de Janeiro. The Arsenal is the main maintenance center and naval base of the B ...

(AMRJ), on 25 August, where ''Atlântico'' underwent operational sea training under the Royal Navy's Flag Officer Sea Training. On 12 November 2020, ''Atlântico'' was redesignated "NAM", for "multipurpose aircraft carrier" (), from "PHM", for "multipurpose helicopter carrier" (), to reflect her capability to operate with fixed-wing

medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle A medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle flies at an altitude window of 10,000 to 30,000 feet (3,000–9,000 m) for extended durations of time, typically 24 to 48 hours.https://www.leonardocompany.com/en/products/falco-xplorer Th ...

s as well as crewed

tiltrotor A tiltrotor is an aircraft that generates lift (force), lift and thrust, propulsion by way of one or more powered Helicopter rotor, rotors (sometimes called ''proprotors'') mounted on rotating shaft (mechanical engineering), shafts or nacelles ...

VTOL A vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft is one that can takeoff and landing, 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- ...

aircraft. In 23 February 2023, the vessel was sent to the port of São Sebastião to provide a

field hospital A field hospital is a temporary hospital or mobile medical unit that takes care of casualties on-site before they can be safely transported to more permanent facilities. This term was initially used in military medicine (such as the Mobile ...

for rescue efforts during the

2023 São Paulo floods and landslides 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious and cultural significance in many societies ...

. On board, the vessel carried 28 medics of several specialties including surgeons, dentists and orthopedists and 180

marines Marines (or naval infantry) are military personnel generally trained to operate on both land and sea, with a particular focus on amphibious warfare. Historically, the main tasks undertaken by marines have included Raid (military), raiding ashor ...

who were designated to operate heavy machinery in aid of the search and rescue efforts.

Gallery

File:GLAM MB Porta-Helicópteros Multipropósito (PHM) Atlântico (28581435097).jpg File:GLAM MB Porta-Helicópteros Multipropósito (PHM) Atlântico (42609047075).jpg File:GLAM MB Porta-Helicópteros Multipropósito (PHM) Atlântico (28581435037).jpg File:GLAM MB Porta-Helicópteros Multipropósito (PHM) Atlântico (42751596394).jpg File:UNITAS LX NAM Atlântico (A140).jpg File:UNITAS LX (48707029391).jpg File:Operação "Poseidon 2021" (51474563917).jpg File:Operação "Poseidon 2021" (51474566922).jpg

References

External links

HMS ''Ocean''
(naval-technology.com) {{DEFAULTSORT:Atlântico Helicopter carrier classes Ships built in Govan 1995 ships Aircraft carriers of the Brazilian Navy Amphibious warfare vessels of the Brazilian Navy

History

Gallery

See also

References

External links