The U.S. Navy’s first America-class amphibious assault ship, the USS America (LHA-6), recently destroyed a drone with a missile to prepare for its first deployment.
The ship shot down the unidentified unmanned aircraft with a Raytheon [RTN] Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) during an April 6 exercise in the Pacific Ocean, the Navy said in a statement. The drone simulated a missile being fired at the vessel to test the ship’s defense capabilities. The Navy declared the test a success.
The Navy said the ship is now conducting integration operations with more than 1,000 sailors and 1,600 Marines aboard. The LHA-6 is the centerpiece of the America Amphibious Ready Group.
Earlier in the month, off the coast of California, the LHA-6 completed a four-day survivability trial, during which the ship simulated being hit by a conventional weapon. Last year, the LHA-6 achieved another milestone when it hosted the first at-sea power module and engine swap of the F-35B, the Marine Corps variant of the Lightning II.
The 844-foot-long, large-deck ship was built by Huntington Ingalls Industries [HII] Ingalls Shipbuilding division in Pascagoula, Miss., and delivered to the Navy in 2014. It is homeported in San Diego and can carry a Marine Expeditionary Unit, including Marine helicopters, MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft and F-35B short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing fighters.
The America class will replace the Tarawa class of amphibious assault ships (LHA-1 to LHA-5), all decommissioned. The USS Tripoli (LHA-7) is under construction and is scheduled to be launched this summer and delivered in 2018. In June, Ingalls was picked to build LHA-8, which will have a well deck.