{"id":51757,"date":"2023-05-25T21:30:01","date_gmt":"2023-05-25T19:30:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/?p=51757"},"modified":"2024-05-25T00:35:12","modified_gmt":"2024-05-24T22:35:12","slug":"multifunctional-naval-platform-the-small-aircraft-carrier-that-portugal-is-building","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/2023\/05\/25\/multifunctional-naval-platform-the-small-aircraft-carrier-that-portugal-is-building\/","title":{"rendered":"Multifunctional Naval Platform: the small aircraft carrier that Portugal is building"},"content":{"rendered":"

Portugal has the oldest navy in the world, founded in the 12th century, and is a country with a long naval tradition.<\/p>\n

USS Block Island: the story of the carrier that was sunk west of the Canary Islands<\/a><\/rel>
\nThe Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov and its strange series of unfortunate events<\/a><\/rel><\/p>\n

The original design of this new ship<\/big><\/p>\n

Despite its longstanding relationship with the sea, there is one type of ship that the Portuguese Navy has never had: an aircraft carrier<\/strong> (unlike the great Portuguese-speaking country, Brazil, which has already had three: the \"Minas Gerais\", the \"S\u00e3o Paulo\" and the \"Atl\u00e2ntico\"). That could change in the coming years if Portugal's plans prosper.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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On May 27, 2022, the Portuguese Navy announced a new ship with \"a completely revolutionary concept\"<\/a>, which will be \"a versatile and innovative ship, capable of operating at sea on the surface, under the surface and the air, launching drones<\/strong> and thus transforming the Defense of Portugal in and across the sea.\"<\/em><\/p>\n

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These images, published at the time, showed a ship with an island and a flight deck up to the bow, like a small aircraft carrier<\/strong>, and with a lower stern, like a launch platform for smaller boats.<\/p>\n

The new design presented in June 2022<\/big><\/p>\n

The surprise came a month later. On June 29, 2022, the Portuguese Navy published a different design<\/a> of what it called a \"multifunctional naval platform\"<\/strong>. This new design includes some very significant features.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

First of all, the floor deck takes up almost the entire length of the ship<\/strong>, much more reminiscent of the appearance of typical aircraft carriers. The island maintains the shape shown in the initial design, but in the forward part of the flight deck there is a jump ramp<\/strong>, used by ships that board fixed-wing STOVL (take-off short and vertical landing), such as the Harrier II and the F-35.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Apparently, the jump ramp would be designed for the takeoff of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) <\/strong>, which would be the ones that would use the bow half of the flight deck, leaving the aft half as a staging area for helicopter landing and takeoff.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Below the flight deck, the ship would have an area for boats and containers<\/strong>, capable of taking off boats of various types. You can see below these lines a plan of the ship published in November by Chuck Hill's CG Blog<\/a>. The plan shows that the forecast is to operate Lynx Mk95A, NH-90 and EH-101 helicopters<\/strong>. The back of the island would serve as a hangar for a single helicopter and the front would house the smaller drones.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Yesterday, the Portuguese blog Barco \u00e0 Vista<\/a> published this video of the Navy Portuguesa showing a recreation to order of this ship<\/strong>. Unfortunately, the video is posted in very low resolution:<\/p>\n