VESSEL REVIEW | QENS Al Fulk – Qatari Emiri Navy’s newest amphibious ship boasts secondary air and missile defence capabilities
The Qatari Emiri Navy has taken delivery of a new landing platform dock (LPD) built by Italian shipyard Fincantieri.
QENS Al Fulk was completed as a slightly larger and improved variant of the three San Giorgio-class LPDs built by Fincantieri for the Italian Navy in the late 1980s. This makes Qatar the second overseas customer for this family of amphibious ships after Algeria, which has been operating one example since 2014.
In addition to operating as an amphibious transport dock with helicopter carrying capability, the LPD can also be used for air and ballistic missile defence in support of Italian and NATO naval task groups thanks to its surface-to-air missile (SAM) armament.
Significant vehicle- and helicopter-carrying capabilities
Al Fulk has a length of 142.9 metres (468.8 feet), a beam of 21.5 metres (70.5 feet), a draught of 5.3 metres (17 feet), and space for 150 crewmembers and up to 440 additional personnel.
Smaller landing craft can be housed in and deployed and recovered using the LPD's spacious well deck while the large flight deck can accommodate NH90 multi-role helicopters. A garage with two ramps is available for the transport of an assortment of land vehicles.
The propulsion setup consists of two 12,000kW (16,000hp) diesel engines that can deliver a top speed of 20 knots and a range of 7,000 nautical miles at a cruising speed of 15 knots.
Broad array of defensive armament and systems
The ship's armament includes a Leonardo 76mm rapid fire naval gun, two Leonardo Marlin 30mm remotely controlled autocannon, and two eight-cell vertical launch systems that can house a total of 16 Aister SAMs. The missiles are capable of destroying airborne threats such as aircraft, helicopters, drones and missiles up to 600 kilometres away.
Two decoy countermeasures launchers supplied by Lacroix Defense Sylena will meanwhile provide the ship with added protection against guided missiles.
The electronics suite includes two navigation radars, a Leonardo Kronos multi-function radar, and a Leonardo active electronically scanned array radar with a maximum detection range of around 1,500 kilometres.
The LPD will also be capable of performing humanitarian missions, its significant transport capacity being ideal for carrying emergency response equipment and relief aid to disaster sites as well as for housing displaced residents.
Al Fulk was designed and built by Fincantieri in compliance with RINAMIL standards. The LPD will be operated in conjunction with the Qatari Emiri Navy’s Doha-class corvettes, which were also built by Fincantieri and are themselves capable of air and ballistic missile defence.
