Armada 2050
The Spanish Navy is preparing a double-effect coup to become one of the most feared nations at sea
The Spanish Navy is preparing a double-whammy to reclaim the country's historic military outpost and once again become one of the most feared nations at sea with a new vessel.
The Ministry of Defence's budgets and the 'Armada 2050' plans have opened the door to developing two new LHD (Landing Helicopter Dock) aircraft carriers.
Vice Admiral Nicolás Lapique Martín, who is the Director of Naval Engineering and Construction of the Navy (ADIC), announced the will of the Spanish Navy from the Exponaval hall in Chile.
The objective of these two new aircraft carriers is to improve expeditionary capacity in the midst of global tensions, particularly due to conflicts in Europe and the Middle East.
The Kremlin's constant threats to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) have European countries in doubt about the future in the coming years.
Spain only has the LHD L61 'Juan Carlos I' in operation and, with these plans, seeks to be at the level of other nations, with an aircraft carrier that serves to improve the design of the existing one, updating it to current needs and technology.
The Spanish Navy will have two new LHD aircraft carriers
The Spanish economic reality, which will boost the budgets of the Ministry of Defense, has led the Navy to prepare an exhaustive naval resources plan that, framed within what is known as «Navy 2050», aims to incorporate its current assets in the next two decades.
This desire was made public by Vice Admiral Nicolás Lapique Martín, who is the Director of Naval Engineering and Construction of the Navy (ADIC), just a few weeks ago at a conference within the framework of the Exponaval exhibition in Chile.
Analyzing what was presented to the audience, the Navy's project to soon have two new LHD (Landing Helicopter Dock) aircraft carriers stands out, which will allow for increased expeditionary capacity in the face of possible crises to which it will be necessary to respond autonomously or with our European allies and those of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
This desire is relevant, if we take into account that today only the LHD L61 “Juan Carlos I” is active and that several of the nations in our immediate surroundings, such as Italy or France, have several similar ships at their disposal.
The Navy will therefore increase the number of capital ships to be able to deal with several crises that may occur at the same time. As for the aircraft carriers in question, which must not be forgotten will require jets and helicopters to perform their naval function with the greatest precision, we believe that they will correspond to an updated design of the current “Juan Carlos I”. The experience operating with it, which was manufactured by Navantia, will surely be able to be used to develop an improved version that corresponds to the future needs of the Navy.
Surely, and taking into account that according to the schedule with which the Navy is already working, work on the first of the two new LHD aircraft carriers would begin at the beginning of 2028 and the construction of both would be projected at least until 2037 — it will surely be the Navantia facilities in Ferrol that will focus the work -, there will be a moment, which would be at the end of the next decade, when the three LHDs will be available; we do not know if finally, the «Juan Carlos I», which is relatively modern, would then be considered as a candidate to be sold or decommissioned, nor if finally a planned mid-life modernization scheduled for the beginning of the next decade will be applied to it.
Regarding the technical characteristics of the two future LHD aircraft carriers, it should be noted that they could reach 30,000 tons, they would have decks to carry different types of vehicles and they would have a floodable dock for landing craft and powerful hovercraft, which will be included in the list of future acquisitions of the Spanish Navy. This forecast is good news for Spain and for its naval security.