USS Tripoli to join Operation Epic Fury

The Pentagon is deploying an amphibious ready group led by the
USS Tripoli and its Marine Expeditionary Unit to the Middle East,
as the war with Iran continues

USS TRIPOLI (LHA-7)
Commissioned: July 2020
Displacement: 45,000 tonnes
Length: 257m
Speed: 22+ knots
Crew: 1,200 sailors, 1,871 Marines

Aircraft: F-35B stealth fighters,
MV-22 tiltrotors, plus heavy-lift,
utility and attack helicopters

F-35B

Two elevators move
aircraft from hangar deck
up to flight deck

Armament: Four surface-to-air
missile launchers, two 20mm
close-in weapon systems

Propulsion: Two General Electric
LM2500+ marine gas turbines
(52,000kW total)

Ship purpose-built to maximise
aviation capacity by having no
well deck for launching watercraft

TRIPOLI AMPHIBIOUS READY GROUP

Note: Not all ships may deploy to Middle East

USS Tripoli: America-class amphibious
assault ship

USS New Orleans
San Antonio-class
amphibious transport dock

USS Robert Smalls
Ticonderoga-class cruiser

USS Rafael Peralta
Arleigh Burke-class destroyer

31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU)
About 2,500 personnel Ð force would be to conduct maritime raid
operations such as seizing and holding oil and gas facilities

Sources: Naval News, The Independent, TWZ
© GRAPHIC NEWS