''Kalaat Beni Abbes'' (L-474) is an

amphibious transport dock An amphibious transport dock, also called a landing platform dock (LPD), is an amphibious warfare ship, a warship that embarks, transports, and lands elements of a landing force for expeditionary warfare missions. Several navies currently opera ...

of the

Algerian National Navy , image = Algerian Naval badge.svg , image_size = 220px , caption = Algerian Naval badge , dates = 1516–18271963–present , country ...

. The ship built by the Italian firm

Fincantieri Fincantieri S.p.A. () is an Italian shipbuilding company based in Trieste, Italy. Already the largest shipbuilder in Europe, after the acquisition of Vard in 2013, Fincantieri group doubled in size to become the fourth largest in the world (2014 ...

as an enlarged and improved version of the . The ship measures long and wide. The ship has a continuous

flight deck The flight deck of an aircraft carrier is the surface from which its aircraft take off and land, essentially a miniature airfield at sea. On smaller naval ships which do not have aviation as a primary mission, the landing area for helicopte ...

with two deck-landing spots for helicopters at the bow and stern. Ordered in 2011, the ship was commissioned by the Algerian National Navy on 4 September 2014. The first official docking - and commissioning ceremony - was on 28 March 2015 in the presence of the Chief of Staff of the ANP and the High Command of the Algerian National Navy.

Capabilities

The ship has an opening dock to the rear which allows it to launch up to three landing craft. The port side of the ship has davits which are able to launch three landing craft, and two fast boats for commandos. The ship also houses a garage for 15 heavy tanks and housing for 440 soldiers plus 150 crew. The ship also carries a 60-bed hospital and operating theaters. The ship is continuously assisted by three craft also built by Fincantieri, named ''Chaland'', which can each carry a heavy tank or a maximum of 140 personnel.

Weapon systems

The ship is fitted with an

EMPAR EMPAR (European Multifunction Phased Array Radar) is a rotating C band multifunction passive electronically scanned array radar that reached IOC in 2006 and was initially built by Selex ES (previously SELEX Sistemi Integrati, since 2016 merged i ...

radar for detecting long-range threats, and 16

Aster 15 The Aster 15 and Aster 30 are a Franco-Italian family of all-weather, vertical launch surface-to-air missiles.Oerlikon KBA The Oerlikon KBA is a 25 mm (25×137mm) autocannon, developed as a close range multipurpose weapon for the mechanised battlefield, originally made by Oerlikon (now Rheinmetall AG) and currently produced in Rheinmetall Italia S.p.A. facilities. It ...

25x137 mm cannons that can be used for defence against aircraft or surface targets. The vessel also has a complete electronic warfare suite provided by

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 ...

and Elettronica, linked to two SCLAR-H Oto-Melara decoy launchers.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kalaat Beni Abbes (474) 2014 ships San Giorgio-class amphibious transport docks Ships of the Algerian National Navy Landing craft Helicopter carriers Ships built by Fincantieri