Sea trials, LHD (JCI)

aussienscale

The Bunker Group
Verified Defense Pro
Gr8 pics, thankyou. A bit off topic but here is a link for Jose's latest video of the Pda entering Coruna, he wll post some JC vids soon
[nomedia]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OC2nxVHgw3s&playnext_from=TL&videos=MthPjibPh9k&feature=recentu[/nomedia]
 
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jimmyjames

New Member
does anybody know of flight trials flying off the JC1 and what types of helos are certified for this
ship.... i'm curious about what helos australia will be operating from the same class.
 

the road runner

Active Member
i'm curious about what helos australia will be operating from the same class.
NH90 will be flown of the fat ships,as well as Tiger and Ch-47s......

Not sure if Navy s tender for a new Naval helicopter between the NH-90 and the MH-60R will fly from the LHD .I am under the impression that the Naval helicopters will be for the AWD and Anzacs?

Regards
 

StingrayOZ

Super Moderator
Staff member
Nice pics. The JC1 is a very pretty ship for an amphib. With expansive deck space, smooth lines, bulk with out looking excessively bulky, good proportions. The jump just finishes off her lines nicely. I like her more than the Mistral (always seemed smaller than she was ment to be), or Wasps (which had some yank style elements that Im personally not a fan of, asthetically) , more than the invincibles too. She looks modern yet highly functional. She doesn't look too much like a cargo ship, which I guess is something unavoidable with her fairly slabby sides, I perfer to think stealthy than slabby.

Look at her sides, you could see how there is a surface change about 5m from the deck, almost as if she could be flaired out to additional deck space.

She does appear to pull off the capital ship look, she will be an impressive sight. I wonder how she would look against a Wasp, she seems to be almost as tall (the PDA always looked tiny in comparison).

She looks more aggressive than the PDA, and look at her height, she does make the PDA look quite, err, secondary.. The rear shot makes it almost seem it could fit within her well dock. I think it will be pretty easy to see which would hold up better in rough seas even tho the PDA is lower. The view from the bridge must be nice, compare the two ships, the windows, size, area, etc is far better on the JC1.

The deck surfacing looks good (yet not complete?!?) can't wait to see the image of a few harriers on her deck (if just for demonstrating her size).

Great pics guys.. LKeep em comming!
 

Sea Toby

New Member
What are the names of the carrier in photo?
The smaller older one which looks very similar to the US SCS design of the 1970s, is the Principe de Asturias, Spain's light carrier built during the 1980s... It is the ship Australia should have bought to replace the Melbourne during the late 1970s.

The newer larger BPE/LHD is the Juan Carlos I.... Spain's new LHD, which Australia has bought two of for delivery in the next decade. Australia's will be named Canberra and Adelaide...
 

Marc 1

Defense Professional
Verified Defense Pro
The deck surfacing looks good (yet not complete?!?) can't wait to see the image of a few harriers on her deck (if just for demonstrating her size).

Great pics guys.. LKeep em comming!
One of the vids has some footage of people on the flight deck - gives a good indication of scale. When one of these babies ties up in FBE there will be quite a few businesses in Woolloomooloo wondering where the sun went!
 

kev 99

Member
The smaller older one which looks very similar to the US SCS design of the 1970s, is the Principe de Asturias, Spain's light carrier built during the 1980s... It is the ship Australia should have bought to replace the Melbourne during the late 1970s.
Well, they nearly got something better in the early 80s for a bargain price, but Argentina spoiled that ;)
 

Sea Toby

New Member
Well, they nearly got something better in the early 80s for a bargain price, but Argentina spoiled that ;)
All so true, but I did write should have bought, not could have bought... The US SCS sensors and power plant matched the FFG-07s better than the Invincible. I believe operational costs would have favored the SCS design significantly. Furthermore the British did not have the Invincible up for sale until 1982 whereas the SCS design could have been bought earlier...

But water has passed under that bridge a long time ago... Either ship would have been an asset... I do like the photos of what Australia did buy today and what they should have bought decades ago.
 
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kev 99

Member
But water has passed under that bridge a long time ago... Either ship would have been an asset... I do like the photos of what Australia did buy today and what they should have bought decades ago.
I'm a big fan, it's what the RN should have a good think about rebuilding their amphib fleet around in a decade or so's time, or at least something similar.
 

swerve

Super Moderator
I'm a big fan, it's what the RN should have a good think about rebuilding their amphib fleet around in a decade or so's time, or at least something similar.
Whether we need to replace Ocean in a decade or so depends on hull life. She was built cheaply, so maybe - but it still seems pessimistic to me. If we do, a BPE or similar would do very nicely, though.

Albion & Bulwark are both newer (the latter was commissioned 5 1/2 years ago), & built for longer life. They won't need replacing until 2030 or so.
 

StingrayOZ

Super Moderator
Staff member
But water has passed under that bridge a long time ago... Either ship would have been an asset... I do like the photos of what Australia did buy today and what they should have bought decades ago.
I think its impressive that Australia is buying these two ships given the fact they didn't really get a melbourne replacement. And that if we had bought a PDA then we would proberly be getting these ships anyway as a replacement for the replacement.

So after several decades of poor luck and poor decision making Australia is actually getting what it needed origionally.

Does make you wonder if we had gone down the spanish build SCS, then would we be getting the F-100 earlier as well?
 

kev 99

Member
Whether we need to replace Ocean in a decade or so depends on hull life. She was built cheaply, so maybe - but it still seems pessimistic to me. If we do, a BPE or similar would do very nicely, though.

Albion & Bulwark are both newer (the latter was commissioned 5 1/2 years ago), & built for longer life. They won't need replacing until 2030 or so.
Yes, this is why I was deliberately vague, Ocean needs replacement sooner and there's a good chance we won't get one, while the Albions are good for a while yet.
 

Sea Toby

New Member
Down memory lane......., The picture is quite bad but, you can see the first carrier to "carry and operate" harriers , Dédalo and PDA together thirty years ago. (Thanks to Foro de la Armada)

Also, an update on the latest pictures of JCI

Thanks to "Señalero" & fotosdebarcos.com

fotosdebarcos.com :: Ver tema - L 61 Juan Carlos I
My memory is rusty, but do you recall whether Spain operated fixed wing aircraft from the Dedalo before the Harriers? Did Dedalo in Spanish service have steam catapults? If the answer is yes, which aircraft?
 
Hi Sea Toby, The answer is "No" to both questions Dédalo entered service in 1967 ex /USS Cabot CVL-28. as USS Cabot entered service in 1944 to operate fixed wing prop aircraft in the Pacific and as such did not have steam catapults fitted. When it entered service as Dédalo with the Spanish Armada in 1967 it did only operate helos.
Dédalo started operating Harriers in 1972 being therefore the first ship worlwide to operate them, before even than the RN.

In 1944 was hit by a KAMIKAZE, who would have said the that it would enter service with 2 navies and remain in service (on and off) until 1988!!!!!!!


Best regards.
 

harryriedl

Active Member
Verified Defense Pro
Yes, this is why I was deliberately vague, Ocean needs replacement sooner and there's a good chance we won't get one, while the Albions are good for a while yet.
My ideal world would be to see Argus and Ocean replaced by two BPE's or something similar.
 

aussienscale

The Bunker Group
Verified Defense Pro
JC update

JC has just completed 5 days of sea trials, my friend was unable to capture any video footage of the ship as she was hovering at over 20nm to sea for the whole 5 days. He also noted that PDA will go into an extended refit early next year after JC is comissioned and fully operational.

He will still endeavour to get some video for us and also some video or pics of the progress of the Australian ships as well. So will be interesting to see what type of operations and aircraft the Spanish will operate from the JC while PDA is in refit
 
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