Turkey has long planned to acquire a large-deck amphibious-assault ship, and by early this year the government had selected the domestic Sedef shipyard to construct the vessel, which will be closely based on Spain’s 27,000-ton Juan Carlos I–class design (pictured here) from shipbuilder Navantia. At 656 feet and only 19,000 tons, however, the planned Turkish vessel is expected to be roughly 100 feet shorter and 30 percent smaller displacement than similar ships built for the Spanish and Australian navies. Crew size has also been reduced to 190 sailors for the Turkish vessel, which is expected to be able to carry 8 helicopters, along with an assortment of armored vehicles and landing craft, plus 700 troops. While the ship will be built in Turkey, the vessel’s propulsion system and LCM-1E landing craft reportedly will be built in Spain. No formal construction or delivery dates have yet been released.
South Korea placed an order in February for Phalanx Block IB close-in weapon systems to outfit its newest Incheon-class frigates and future AOE II combat-support ships. Most current South Korean warships are armed with the Dutch 30-mm Goalkeeper point-defense gun systems. This latest $123-million contract with Raytheon calls for deliveries of nine Phalanx CIWS systems beginning in 2016 and concluding by 2022. The Phalanx was designed to defend against incoming missiles and has a range of more than 3,000 yards. It consists of a multi-barrel M61A1 20-mm gun co-mounted with radar; the Block 1B variant adds an infrared imaging and tracking system that also enables defense against high-speed surface threats such as speedboats. The system has a very high rate of fire—4,500 rounds per minute—to counter air threats, including advanced antiship missiles, and fires at 3,000 rounds per minute against surface threats. Up to 15 Incheon-class frigates are eventually planned for South Korean service.
In December 2013 Denmark approved funding and announced a contract to build a third unit of the 1,750-ton Knud Rasmussen–class Arctic patrol ship. The first two vessels of the class, the Knud Rasmussen and Ejnar Mikkelsen (pictured here), were delivered in 2008 and 2009 respectively, while the planned third vessel is slated for a 2017 delivery. Intended to replace the aging Agdlek-class patrol ship Tulugaq for operations off the coast of Greenland, the new vessel will include several improvements over her sisters, including a modular crane system as well as enhanced sonar and research capabilities. The 236-foot Knud Rasmussen–class patrol ships are built with strengthened hulls for operation in icy waters. The vessels are typically armed only with .50-caliber guns, but the design includes modular weapon stations onto which a 76-mm gun, torpedo tubes, and a vertical-launch system for Evolved Sea Sparrow surface-to-air missiles can be fitted. The ships have a helicopter deck aft, but no hangar.