The Dokdo-class amphibious assault ship () is a

class Class, Classes, 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 d ...

of landing platform helicopter (LPH) and amphibious assault ships operated by the

Republic of Korea Navy The Republic of Korea Navy (ROKN; ), also known as the ROK Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the Republic of Korea Armed Forces, South Korean armed forces, responsible for naval and Amphibious warfare, amphibious operations. The South ...

(ROKN). It was designed and built by

Hanjin Heavy Industries HJ Shipbuilding & Construction Company, Ltd. (), formerly Korea Shipbuilding & Engineering Corporation () and Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction Co. Ltd. (), is a South Korean-based multinational shipbuilding company, founded in 1937 as ...

(HHIC) to enhance South Korea's amphibious operation capability in terms of assault and

military operations other than war Military operations other than war (MOOTW) are military operations that do not involve warfare, combat, or the threat or use of violence. They generally include peacekeeping, peacebuilding, disaster response, humanitarian aid, military enginee ...

(MOOTW).

Development

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

blue-water navy A blue-water navy is a Navy, 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 Co ...

which was met by the ''Dokdo'' design. The ''Solgae''-class LCAC — made by HHIC — was selected as the

landing craft air cushion The Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC) is a class of air-cushioned landing craft (hovercraft) used by the United States Navy and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF). They transport weapons systems, equipment, cargo and personnel from s ...

(LCAC) to operate from the ship.

Specifications

The LPX is an amphibious warfare ship with a

well deck In traditional nautical use, well decks were decks lower than decks fore and aft, usually at the main deck level, so that breaks appear in the main deck profile, as opposed to a flush deck profile. The term goes back to the days of sail. Late-2 ...

to accommodate amphibious assault vehicles (AAVs) and two LCACs, the first of which (LSF 631) was acquired in April 2007. The ship is 199 meters (652 ft 11 in) long, 31 meters (101 ft 8 in) wide, with a 14,000-ton (empty) or 18,000-ton (full)

displacement Displacement may refer to: Physical sciences Mathematics and physics *Displacement (geometry), is the difference between the final and initial position of a point trajectory (for instance, the center of mass of a moving object). The actual path ...

, and was built incorporating stealth technologies. As a high-speed amphibious ship, the LPX was based on the concept of "over-the-horizon assault." The idea comprises a military operation in which an amphibious landing is conducted with high-speed air-cushioned vehicles and helicopters from beyond the horizon, where the enemy cannot easily detect or attack them. 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 has a carrying limit of 720 marines and 300-plus crew members, ten tanks, ten trucks, 7 AAVs, three field artillery pieces, and two LCAC hovercraft. It can also carry ten helicopters when no ground vehicles are on its 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 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.

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

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

UH-1H The Bell UH-1 Iroquois military helicopter, first introduced in 1959, is the first production member of Bell Helicopter's prolific Huey family of helicopters, and was itself developed in over twenty variants, which are listed below. XH-40 and Y ...

and UH-60P. However, both are designed for land‐based operations and lack abilities for ship-borne operations, such as protection against damage from salty breezes, making them challenging 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-defense 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 United States navies. It wa ...

system. The

Goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), 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 i ...

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 ( ; ; ) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient Greek Pre-Socratic philosophy, pre-Socratic Philosophy, philosopher from Miletus in Ionia, Asia Minor. Thales was one of the Seven Sages of Greece, Seven Sages, founding figure ...

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 Ospreys, while ''Dokdo'' could only carry one. In place of the Thales SMART-L multibeam radar and MW08 surveillance radar, ''Marado'' uses the Elta Systems EL/M-2248 MF-STAR multifunction surveillance radar and

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

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 () is an automated 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 General Dynamics Co ...

and having a K-VLS 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 smaller than the Fleet carrier, standard carriers of a navy. The precise definition of the type varies by country; light carriers typically have a complement of aircraft onl ...

s derived from the Sea Control Ship, such as the

Spanish Navy The Spanish Navy, officially the Armada, is the Navy, 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 The Royal Thai Navy (Abbreviation, Abrv: RTN, ทร.; , ) is the Navy, naval warfare force of Thailand. Established in 1906, it was modernised by the Admiral Prince Abhakara Kiartiwongse (1880–1923) who is known as the father of the Royal N ...

'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 news agency in South Korea. 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 was esta ...

reported in December 2017 that the Korean military was considering operating F-35B aircraft from the ''Dokdo''-class amphibious assault ships. However, as of December 2022, no such plans have been officially declared. In November 2024, the

tested the Gray Eagle STOL UAV on ROKS ''Dokdo'' amphibious assault ship. The Gray Eagle UAV took off from ''Dokdo'', flew twice close to her port side to perform a "simulated landing procedure", but did not land on the ship.

References

External links

Dokdo class LPH - ROK Navy

Naval Technology entry for the Dokdo class
{{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