Q&A ยท 3:17:03-3:21:06

Who would build an Arctic LHD first?

Russia has the stronger structural need for an Arctic amphibious ship, while the United States can treat Alaska access more as a transport problem.

Question

Would Russia or the United States be first to produce an Arctic LHD for far-northern resource security?

Short answer

Russia, because Arctic access is a continuous necessity for it, while the United States has other ways to secure access to Alaska.

Notes

Russia has a permanent far-northern access and security requirement, while the United States can rely more heavily on connections to Alaska through Canada. A purpose-built Russian combatant might combine helicopter and small-boat facilities with the air-warfare and general-purpose systems of a destroyer. Nuclear propulsion would be plausible at the required scale. Anti-submarine work would be difficult because icebreaking creates intense acoustic disturbance and makes hull, bow, or towed sonar arrays unusually vulnerable.