LHA-98-class amphibious assault ship

The LHA-98-class is a class of operated by the navies of Chezzetcook, Tiperyn, Agrana y Griegro,Ringerike and New Valentina. Based on the Fraternite-class light carrier, the LHA-98 combines the capabilities of a and. It is capable of delivering over a battalion of marines, helicopters, STOVL or non-STOVL fixed wing aircraft that are unable to operate from other similar ship classes, landing craft, and a range of ground vehicles. Additionally, it is also capable of providing a landing force with robust hospital services as well as long-range rocket artillery fire support. As of January 2021, 13 LHA-98-class warships have been built.

The class is relatively unique among amphibious assault ships in the same niche in that it features an angled flight deck with a arrangement, including two steam catapults and three arrestor cables. This allows the LHA-98 to launch and recovery larger, more capable planes with larger payloads, while other comparable ships are often limited to lighter and less capable aircraft and helicopters. Between 40 and 50 aircraft can be carried on board depending on the variant, although the typical air group composition also depends on the mission and the specific navy in question.

In Chezzetcooker service, their variant of the LHA-98 is called the Corsaire Class. Meanwhile, in Tiperyn and Agrana y Griegro service, it is designated the Johana-class and Reina Sofia-class respectively (both a reference to past monarchs).

History
The LHA-98 program is he result of negotiations between Chezzetcook and Tiperyn for a joint naval program as part of improved relations in the latter years of the 20th century. Both countries would produce their own variants of the LHA-98 and simultaneously laid down their first keels on 6 May 1998. Agrana y Griegro later joined the program in 2005 following a lobbying effort made by Tiperyn through the North-South Defence Consortium. They commissioned their first LHA-98, the Reina Sofia, in 2009. New Valentina has also since received delivery of two Tiperyn-produced Johana-classes (Tiperyn variant of the LHA-98), which were partially subsidized by Tiperyn through a bilateral agreement.

The LHA-98 hull is derived from the Fraternite class CVL produced for Chezzetcook, Akiteiwa, and Kodeshia. The LHA-98 and Fraternité share the majority of their hydrodynamic profile, as well as much of the structure in the forward half of the ship. The LHA-98 has a different stern configuration owing to its and vehicle decks.

Aviation
The LHA-98-class is designed with aviation capability in mind as an amphibious assault ship. The flight deck is broadly simmilar between the two sub-variants, with a shallow angle landing path set to the port side and an elevator outboard on the starboard side just aft of the island. All variants include two 75-metre steam catapults fitted to the bow and three arrestor wires to recover aircraft. The flight deck can accommodate up to seven medium helicopters simultaneously for improved airlift capability. All aircraft handling elevators to the flight deck are rated at 26 tonne lift capacity. On both ships the hangar deck provides 6.5m of clear height.

For the Realm Armada's Johana-class a second elevator is placed aft on the portside. The hangar for the Johana-class spans from the stern to approximately half way, with a large comprehensive hospital forward on the hangar deck. The hangar facility on the Johana-class measures 1,535 square meters, although this was reduced to 1,447 square meters on Block 2 ships. The Block 2 modifications also added a sponson forward of the island to modestly increase parking capacity and allow for the reduction in hangar space. Space was then shifted to additional room for berthing of marines and storage of additional munitions for its VLS launchers. The Johana-class's flight deck compared to the Corsaire's further features heat-resistant reinforcement to accomodate STOVL aircraft, as per Tiperyn requirement. This is because the Realm Armada operates a number of Kayan STOVL aircraft, including troop transports and AEW aircraft.

A typical Johana-class air group consists of 12 Siren multirole fighters (CATOBAR-capable), 22 troop transports (STOVL), 1 airborne early warning aircraft (STOVL), and 11 helicopters of various types. For example, during operations where the Siren fighter squadron may not be necessary, such as when supported by a friendly aircraft carrier, an additional 9 STOVL troop transports could be carried in a pure "assault" configuration. With the standard air group composition, a Johana-class can deliver up to 700 Marines simultaneously via its 22 troop transports. With a pure assault air group composition, this figure increases to nearly 1,000 marines. This marine delivery capability also doesn't include the marines the Johana-class can disembark via small boats, landing craft, and amphibious armored vehicles.

The Marine Nationale's Corsaire Class is fitted as a conventional aircraft carrier in order to operate fixed wing aircraft, and has a number of changes from the Johana-class as a result. It lacks a portside elevator. Rather, the Corsaire's second elevator is forward of the island on the starboard side, inset into the flight deck. This is because the hangar is extended forward and the hospital moved down into the vehicle deck. This reduces capacity for both vehicles and hospital beds while enhancing aviation capability. As a result the Corsaire Class can accommodate a greater number of more varied aircraft than its sister the Johana-class. The Corsaire Class is able to launch and recover most aircraft in use by the Marine Nationale. However, its amphibious landing and hospital facilities are restricted. The hangar on the Corsaire Class measures 3000 square meters.

A typical airgroup of the Corsaire Class includes six Rapace fighters, six Broussard attack aircraft, six Serpent attack helicopters, eighteen Frelon or Super Frelon Assault/Utility helicopters, four Goéland heavy lift helicopters, and four Panther utility helicopters. The airgroup may be changed depending on mission however.

Well Deck and Boats
The LHA-98 class is equipped with a large to support a number of landing craft or amphibious assault vehicles. Measuring 100m long by 15m wide the well deck can accommodate a wide assortment of large landing craft. The well deck is fed by small vehicle deck forward of 1500 square meters, capable of taking main battle tanks up to 60 tonnes, or amphibious assault vehicles. Above the tank deck and the well dock is a larger, but lower clear height vehicle deck which feeds to the tank deck by a lower-able vehicle ramp. On the Johana Class the upper vehicle deck measures 3000 square meters. The aft aircraft elevator provides access to both the hangar as well as the upper vehicle deck, allowing for transfer of vehicles between the two. The upper vehicle deck provides 1000 lane meters of vehicle storage when accounting for the aircraft elevator and ramp to the lower vehicle deck. The Corsaire Class upper vehicle deck is only 1500 square meters owing to the inclusion of various facilities in the forward space. Unlike the Johana Class, the Corsaire Class has no elevator access between the hangar and upper vehicle deck. The upper vehicle deck has a maximum vehicle weight capacity of 30,000kg. The lower vehicle deck has capacity for 600 lane meters, or 36 main battle tanks or amphibious assault vehicles.

There are two inset davits on each side of the ship which allow the carriage of smaller boats or LCVP.

Propulsion
The ship is powered by a combined diesel and gas turbine electric drive. Four diesel generators in the hull provide primary propulsion power with 15,000 shp each, with a 24,000 shp gas turbine mounted in the island to provide higher power output when needed.

Weapons
The LHA-98 class is armed with two trainable launchers to provide fire support to landing troops on the beach and deeper inland. Each launcher, mounted on sponsons on both starboard and port side of the hull, below flight deck level, is supplied with a magazine with up to eight reload pallets each. The MLRS uses a palletized load system providing flexibility in munitions, which allows employment of guided munitions with ranges in excess of 70km, out to 500km with theatre ballistic missile loads. Because of the placement of the launchers firing arcs for some are restricted, though technically 360 degree coverage exists. Firing starboard side launchers over the port side for example requires firing over the flight deck and thus can only occur when the flight deck is cleared.

Further, the LHA-98 class is equipped with two 16-cell VLS systems mounted towards the stern. However, Block 2 variants of the Tiperyn Johana-class upped this number to three 16-cell VLS systems as a stopgap measure to compensate for the Realm Armada's relatively small inventory of guided-missile frigates and destroyers. These VLS systems are strike length, allowing carriage of land attack cruise missiles, as well as an assortment of air defense and anti-submarine missiles. Loads may vary, though the VLS is intended to provide a limited land attack cruise missile capability or up to 32 short range air defense missiles for local defense.

For close in defense the LHA-98 class is armed with four guns. These are tied into the LHA-98 air defense sensors and can be operated in either manual or automatic mode to intercept sea-skimming missiles or aircraft. One gun is installed on each corner of the ship providing full 360 degree coverage. One known problem with the CIWS mountings is that their height above water, just below flight deck, and limited gun depression, limits coverage very close to the ship. To counter this in low-intensity threat areas, various manually operated small arms such as machine guns can be mounted at various points.