US Navy commissions the last San Antonio-class Flight I vessel
The US Navy Blue Angels fly over the USS McCool. (Photo: US Navy)
The 13th and final San Antonio Class Flight I Landing Platform Docks (LPD) entered service with the US Navy on 7 September. The commissioning ceremony of the USS Richard M. McCool (LPD 29) was conducted at the Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida.
Engineered to support Navy–Marine Corps team amphibious assault, special operations or expeditionary warfare missions, this class of vessel offers networked, survivable capabilities. The LPD 29, however, incorporated in its design additional lessons learned from other San Antonio-class vessels.
Admiral Lisa Franchetti, chief of naval operations for the US Navy, claimed that the USS McCool brought “a
Our news & analysis is now part of Defence Insight®
A Basic-level or higher Defence Insight subscription is now required to view this content.
More from Naval Warfare
-
Industry sees opportunity in Australia’s shift to networked undersea warfare
Australia’s new defence innovation strategy indicates a shift from platform-centric to network-centric undersea warfare, with Ocius and Anduril Industries pointing to fast-growing opportunities for local industry.
-
Asia-Pacific emerges as the largest export market for US-made USVs
Asian customers have placed one of the largest known international purchases of US-built uncrewed surface vessels, highlighting accelerating regional demand for autonomous maritime capabilities and distributed naval operations.
-
RTX confirms US Marine Corps and US Navy acquire Hadalus UUV
RTX told Shephard that the Hadalus UUV has been procured by the US Marine Corps and the Office of Naval Research for operational experimentation as the company prepares additional demonstrations with the US Navy, NATO and AUKUS partners.