At the Surface Navy Association symposium in Arlington, Virginia, an official from Huntington Ingalls Industries told reporters that his company is in discussions with government officials on the possibility of fitting the San Antonio-class LPD with missile defense radars and laser weapons.
By Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class John K. Hamilton, USN (Official U.S. Navy Photograph) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Brian Cuccias, corporate vice president at HII and president of Ingalls Shipbuilding, said the design features of the amphibious transport docks make them suitable for carrying massive radars thanks to the ship’s configuration.
“When you close in the well deck of the LPD ship you expand that capability to take a lot of weight, and the stability on LPD is such you can actually put weight up high” to install large radars.
Cuccias also mentioned that the LPD has ample internal volume for generating power required by missile defense radars and laser weapons.
“You can put a pretty significant power generation plant or plants on the platform and you could put pretty significant cooling capabilities on that platform,” he said. “And the platform, because of its internal volume and … because of its stability, can handle it without radical changes to the ship.”
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