The fifth and final La Fayette-class frigate for the French Navy, the Guepratte, is seen on trials off Lorient in April. The 3,600-ton, 407-foot ship is to conduct an extended shakedown voyage this summer and is expected to commission in September. It had been hoped the ship would incorporate the much-delayed SAAM (Systeme d'Autodefense Antimissile) vertical-launch weapon system and its Aster-15 missiles in a group of eight launch cells forward of the bridge, but the Guepratte, like her sisters, is fitted with an octuple launcher for the Crotale CN2 surface-to-air system atop the hangar. Other armament on the diesel-powered, 25-knot Guepratte includes up to eight MM 40 Exocet antiship missiles and a 100-mm dual-purpose gun; no antisubmarine capabilities are fitted to the class, which each can carry a Panther liaison helicopter. A larger version of the La Fayette, three of which are on order for Saudi Arabia, may be the basis for the design of a hoped-for series of 17 Fregates d'Action Navale that would begin delivery to the French Navy in 2010.
The second of four dock landing ships for the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, the 13,000+-ton Shimokita is seen at her launch on 29 November 2000 at Mitsui Zosen's Tamano yard. The class-name ship Osumi was commissioned on 11 March 1998, and Mitsui laid down the third on 7 September 2000. The 584-foot long by 84.6foot beam, diesel-powered ships belatedly were found to draw too much water (nearly 20 feet) to perform disaster relief and evacuation—necessitating a new program for a trio of 2,000-ton landing ships capable of beaching on Japan's offshore islands. The Shimokita and her sisters can carry 330 troops (1,000 in an emergency) and up to 1,400 tons of combat cargo, including 14 heavy tanks; the stern docking well can accommodate a U.S.-made LCAC (air-cushion landing craft), and two landing craft are carried in davits. The 426.5-foot upper deck is mainly for storage of vehicles and cargo; only the after portion can be used to handle two Chinooksized helicopters; there is no helo hangar.
The sixth Indian Navy Khukri-class corvette, the Kirch, was commissioned on 22 January 2001 and is seen during the Indian Navy review off Mumbai in February. The first four units of the class carry four Russian P 20/21 Termit (NATO SS-N2C) antiship missiles, but starting with the 1998-completed Kora, the ships are being equipped with 16 Kh-35 Uran (NATO SSN-25 Switchblade) missiles. The Kirch differs further in having an OTOBreda 76-mm SuperRapid dual-purpose gun forward in place of the Russian 76.2-mm AK-176 gun; a new Bharat-made Lynx fire-control radar has supplanted the Russian MR-123 Vympel' (Bass Tilt). None of the 1,400-ton, 299-foot Khukris is antisubmarine warfare capable, and their air defenses are limited to the dual-purpose gun, two Russian AK-630 gatling guns (with optical directors), and two launch positions for shoulder-fired Igla-2M surface-to-air missiles. Still to be completed are the Kulish, launched 10 August 1997, and the Kharmuk, launched 6 April 2000.