US Navy amphibious ship Harrisburg floated out
Huntington Ingalls Industries' Ingalls Shipbuilding division launched the future US Navy amphibious transport dock (LPD) USS Harrisburg at its Pascagoula, Mississippi facilities on Saturday, October 5.
Like its San Antonio-class sister LPDs, the future Harrisburg is designed to support embarking, transporting, and landing US Marines and their equipment by conventional landing craft (LCU) or air-cushioned landing craft (LCAC).
The LPD's well deck can accommodate either one LCU or two LCACs, and the ship's capabilities are further enhanced by its flight deck and hangar, enabling the ship to operate a variety of helicopters and the MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft.
Because of the San Antonio-class ships' inherent capabilities, they are able to support a variety of amphibious assault, special operations, expeditionary warfare, or disaster relief missions, operating independently or as part of Amphibious Readiness Groups, Expeditionary Strike Groups, or Joint Task Forces.
The future Harrisburg will be the second US Navy ship to be named after the capital city of Pennsylvania.
