Spanish ship Juan Carlos I (L61)

Juan Carlos I is a multi-purpose warship in the Spanish Navy (Armada Española). Similar in concept to the American Wasp-class amphibious assault ship, it has the addition of a ski jump for STOVL operations. The ship will be equipped with the AV-8B Harrier II attack aircraft and will primarily be used as an aircraft carrier. The vessel is named in honour of Juan Carlos I, the current King of Spain.

The new vessel is to play an important role in the fleet, as a platform that not only replaces the Newport-class LSTs Hernán Cortés and Pizarro for supporting the mobility of the Marines and the strategic transport of ground forces, but that can also act as a platform for carrier-based aviation replacing the now withdrawn aircraft carrier Príncipe de Asturias.

Design
The design for the Buque de Proyección Estratégica (Strategic Projection Vessel), as it was initially known, was approved in September 2003.



The vessel has a flight deck of 202 m, with a "ski-jump" ramp. The ship's flight deck has eight landing spots for Harrier, F-35 Lightning II or medium-sized helicopters, four spots for heavy helicopters of the CH-47 Chinook type, and one spot large enough for aircraft of V-22 Osprey size. The ship can carry up to 30 aircraft in aircraft carrier mode, using the light vehicles bay as an additional storage zone.

For the first time in the Spanish Navy, the ship uses diesel-electric propulsion, simultaneously connecting both diesels and the new technology gas turbine powerplant to a pair of azimuthal pods.

The complement of the ship is around 900 naval personnel, with equipment and support elements for 1,200 soldiers. Multi-functional garage and hangar space on two levels covers 6,000 m2, with capacity for 6,000 tonnes load on each level. A stern well deck measuring 69.3 by can accommodate four LCM-1E landing craft which can beach-deliver non-swimming ground vehicles like tanks and four RHIBs, or one Landing Craft Air Cushion plus Assault Amphibious Vehicles.

Construction
Construction of the 231 m, 27,000-tonne ship started in May 2005 simultaneously at the Navantia Shipyards in Ferrol, Galicia (with the cut of the first plate corresponding to Block 320) and in Fene, Galicia (with the cut of the first plate corresponding to Block 330). The ship, that supposes a service load of 3,100,000 hours of production and 775,000 hours of engineering, was launched 10 March 2008, and was commissioned 30 September 2010. The original budget was €360 million but the ship cost €462 million (US$600 million) in the end.

Australia
Following a lengthy design contest that pitted the design against the similar but smaller French Mistral-class amphibious assault ship, the Prime Minister of Australia announced on 20 June 2007, that Australia would purchase and build two ships of the same design to become the Canberra-class landing helicopter docks. Navantia will be responsible for construction of the ships from the keel to the flight deck in Spain, after which the hulls will be transported to Australia for completion by BAE Systems Australia.

Russia
In September 2009, Russia invited Navantia to take part in the competition to supply Russian Navy with the new generation of amphibious assault ships to compete against the French Mistral-class ships. In January 2011 Russia chose the Mistral over the Spanish concept.