Have I got this right? He is proposing a "hospital ship". It must be able to evacuate casualties, so needs aviation facilities, & integral amphibious & vehicle (ambulances, of course!) carrying capability would be very useful (think tsunamis, typhoons, etc), & since you currently assign one of your little flat-top LPDs to this role & it's proved quite suitable, it's logical to build a similar ship . . . . And since it isn't a warship it can be funded out of the Civil Protection budget. Is that right?I can't believe it that smart guy Forcieri is selling a ship that resembles very much to our 4th LPDH to a left-leaning Parliament by calling it a "hospital ship"
Let's see the details, but it would be an amazing accomplishment !
At worst, even if it weren't big enough to be a LPDH, it will be a useful complement to our support forces, halfway between a Etna AOR and a San Marco LPDH.
ciao
Cunning. Very cunning. I like this man!