LHA Amphibious Assault Ship
An LHA is 844 feet long with a 106-foot beam. It weighs 44,854 tons and takes five years to build. The large deck ships are the centerpiece of an Amphibious Ready Group used to transport Marine Expeditionary Units and their equipment. LHA 6 is the first ship in its class built without a well deck. The ships have a crew of 1,204 and can transport up to 1,800 troops and their equipment. An LHA has 984 miles of cable. America (LHA 6) is nearly three football fields in length and is 20 stories high from its keel to the top of its deckhouse. It has 2 acres of flight deck.
Facts
An LHA Amphibious Assault Ship is equipped with:
- 9 F-35B Joint Strike Fighters
- 4 AH-1Z Viper attack helicopters
- 4 CH-53E Super Stallion helicopters
- 12 MV-22 Osprey
- 2 MH-60S Search and Rescue helicopters
- 12 defensive weapons systems that include .50 caliber machine guns, PHALANX, and RAM launchers.