South Korea eyes a ‘Lightning carrier’
As China begins the build of a planned multi-hull LHD fleet and Japan prepares to operate F-35B fighters from its two newest ‘helicopter destroyers’, the Republic of Korea Navy (ROKN) is now planning to field an LHD capable of operating short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) fighters towards the end of the next decade.
This is a significant move, because South Korea has never had the ambition to field such a carrier before now.
Strategic competition with both Japan and China likely figured prominently in Seoul’s aspiration to own a fighter-capable LHD.
Research will first be conducted before any such
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