Karel Doorman-class support ship

The Karel Doorman is a multi-function support ship for amphibious operations currently under construction for the Royal Netherlands Navy.

The ship is planned to replace both HNLMS Zuiderkruis scrapped in 2012 and HNLMS Amsterdam to be sold in 2016 replenishment oilers. The new JSS is scheduled to enter service by 2015. At 204.7 m it will be the largest ship in service in the Netherlands navy. It was built at the Damen yard in Galati, Romania. On 16 August 2013 the ship arrived in Vlissingen, The Netherlands where final outfitting and installation of the weapon systems will take place.

In September, 2013, it was announced that as part of a series of Dutch defense budget cuts, the vessel wouldn't enter military service, but this decision has been reversed by the Dutch government. The vessel will get in service when it is completed.

The vessel will cost 400 million Euros.

Characteristics
For maritime support the ship will have two Replenishment-At-Sea masts, the holding capacity of approx 8000 m3 of fuel, more than 1000 m3 of helicopter fuel, approx 450 m3 of potable water and approx 400 tonnes of ammunition and other supplies.

The JLSS has 2000 lane meters for transport of material such as vehicles or containers. It has an elevator and crane for up to 40 tons, a roll on/roll off facility for vehicles, and a steel beach stern construction for accommodating cargo transfer via landing craft. The ship can also carry two landing craft.

For sea-basing operations it will have large helicopter deck with landing spots for operating two Chinooks simultaneously, and a hangar with a storage capacity of up to 6 medium sized helicopters, including NH90 and AH-64D Apache.

The ship can accommodate up to 300 personnel, of which 159 are the ship's crew. It also has command rooms for war staffs and a large hospital facility with 20 treatment areas, and two surgery rooms. Also further large areas for evacuees or prisoners can be arranged.

Armament
The armament of the JLSS is bigger than that of the LPDs and replenishers, but is still primarely for self-defence. In high-risk operations the ship will require additional protection from frigates or destroyers.

Two Goalkeeper CIWS systems protect the ship against incoming missiles and aircraft at short range, while two Oto Melara Marlin WS 30mm rapid cannons provide force-protection against small surface targets such as high speed boats. The ship is also equipped with 4 Oto Melara Hitrole NT 12.7mm guns. The same weaponry has been chosen for the s. All weapon systems of the JLSS are remote-controlled from the operations and command room.

Sensor suite
The Karel Doorman will get the same sensor suite as the s. All sensor systems are housed in an integrated mast, provided by Thales Nederland, called the I-Mast 400, comprising a SeaMaster 400 SMILE air warning radar, a SeaWatcher 100 active phased-array surface detection and tracking radar and the GateKeeper infra-red/electro-optical (EO) warning system. With these systems the ship is able to monitor 140 nm using an Integrated Sensor and Communication Systems (ISCS), also by Thales Nederland.