US Navy’s fifth America-class amphibious ship to be named after Afghanistan’s Helmand Province

US Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro has confirmed that the US Navy’s fifth America-class amphibious assault ship (LHA) will be named USS Helmand Province.

The LHA commemorates the multiple US Marine Corps operations that took place in Afghanistan’s Helmand Province as part of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF). The name selection follows the tradition of naming amphibious assault ships after US Marine Corps battles, early US sailing ships, or legacy names of earlier aircraft carriers from World War II.

The America-class ships have replaced all of the decommissioned Tarawa-class LHAs and are now optimised for aviation ability, accommodating the US Marine Corps’ future Air Combat Element while adding additional aviation maintenance capabilities and increasing fuel capacities, and extra cargo storage.

As with its sisters, the future Helmand Province will be built at the Pascagoula, Mississippi facilities of Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Ingalls Shipbuilding division.

Upon completion, the LHA will have a length of 844 feet (257 metres), a beam of 106 feet (32 metres), and two gas turbines with a total installed power of 70,000 hp (52,000 kW) to deliver speeds in excess of 20 knots. Armament will include surface-to-air missiles, 12.7mm machine guns, and a 20mm close-in weapon system.