T-AH(X) / T-AH Future - LPD-17 Modification
An alternative that has been discussed and studied is a modification of the new LPD-17 class ship. The LPD-17 is a newly designed troop and vehicle transport ship. It is being touted as the most survivable amphibious ship ever put to sea.13 Its design incorporates state-of-theart C41 (Command and Control, Communications, Computers, and Intelligence Gathering) equipment. The ship's profile facilitates a reduced radar cross-section signature. Its design also includes reduced operational costs, an improved ability to incorporate technological advances over its 40-year life, a total ship training system, and integrated engineering and damage control systems. It contains the latest quality-of-life standards for personnel, including sit-up-berth, ship services mall, and the flexibility to accommodate mixed gender Sailors and Marines. The LPD-17 has the ability to carry two LCACs. It can launch/land two CH-53 or V-22 helicopters at the same time; it can hold four of these helicopters at any time. These characteristics make the LPD-17 a very capable platform. They would maximize ship's safety and personnel comfort and would facilitate ease of patient egress and ingress, making the ship a superb candidate for a dedicated hospital ship.
A study by analysts at NAVSEA suggested that only a few, relatively simple design changes would transform the LPD-17 to a dedicated hospital ship. The only major design modifications would be the removal of the existing ship and troop accommodations, combat systems, and the upper vehicle stowage area. These spaces would be replaced with hospital-level medical facilities, ship's crew accommodations, and Navy administrative and medical personnel offices and accommodations. The existing well-deck facilities, aircraft hangar, and aviation facilities would be retained to facilitate effective patient movement by air and sea. The main vehicle stowage area and both lower vehicle stowage areas would be retained to provide transport capability for medical vehicles and supplies.
A major disadvantage of using a modified repeat of the LPD-17 is that it is estimated as of 2002 to cost about $815 million to build each unit. That figure may be low; $815 million was the unit cost of the LPD-17 under the current contract for 12 ships. There are some economies to scale in shipbuilding. A shipbuilder constructing many identical ships experiences large learning economies, resulting in lower unit cost. Any modifications to the design could result in higher costs if the new design is unable to take advantage of all of these economies. Still, for the reasons cited earlier, the LPD-17 hospital variant may be the least cost choice for a new dedicated hospital ship.
The LSDs, because they would be already 30 years old, could be expected to last perhaps 15 years. If we assume that they could be converted for about half the expense of the current T-AHs, the total investment for the LSD would be $150 million to $160 million.30 Consequently, spreading the investment over the life of the ship, the LSD would cost between $10 million and $11 million per year per ship. The LPD-17 is estimated to cost over $800 million to build, and could last 45 years. The investment cost would be between $18 million and $19 million per year per ship, or about 80 percent greater than that of the LSD. However, the LPD-17 would be expected to have about 60 percent more medical capacity than that of the LSD.
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