The USS Tripoli, the Navy’s newest F-35 ‘lightning carrier,’ is headed to the Indo-Pacific, bolstering US air power near China

In May 2012, Huntington Ingalls Industries was awarded the contract to build USS Tripoli, and the warship launched five years later in 2017 from Pascagoula, Mississippi.

It is the third vessel to bear the Tripoli name, a tribute to the first recorded land battle the US fought overseas when Marines landed on Tripoli’s shores in 1805.

Initially planned to join the Navy’s fleet a year behind schedule in 2019, the Tripoli’s commissioning was pushed to 2020 due to “unspecified technical difficulties” and delays brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Tripoli is the second America-class amphibious assault ship delivered to the US Navy. The 45,000-ton vessel measures 844 feet in length and 106 feet in width, similar in size to its predecessor, the Wasp-class amphibious warships.

Powered by two marine gas turbines, the warship has a speed of 22 knots or about 25 mph. The assault carrier is armed with surface-to-air missile systems, two automated gun-based close-in weapon systems, and seven heavy twin machine guns.

The America-class fleet was designed to prioritize aviation capabilities and lacks a well deck to launch amphibious craft.

In its place, the assault carriers have an extended hangar deck and wider high bay areas, which allow more room for aircraft and aviation fuel. The ships also have two aircraft elevators and additional space for aviation maintenance facilities.

The Tripoli’s flight deck can accommodate up to nine CH-53K King Stallion heavy transport helicopters flown by Marines. In a standard configuration, the Tripoli can carry up to 10 F-35B fighters, 12 Ospreys, and 16 military helicopters.

Amphibious warships typically operate as helicopter carriers designed to support near-shore operations. The America-class vessels, however, were modified with a more durable, heat-resistant flight deck to launch F-35B stealth fighters.

Taking its aviation capabilities even further, the US Navy used the Tripoli to test the “lightning carrier” concept, tasking the amphibious assault ship to function as a full-fledged carrier.

In 2022, the Tripoli departed its homeport in San Diego for the Western Pacific, spending the first few months of its seven-month maiden deployment putting the experimental concept to the test.

The assault carrier carried 20 F-35B stealth fighters on board — the most ever loaded aboard a big-deck warship.

“We refer to the ship as ‘assault carrier 7,’ and ‘assault’ is traditional for an LHD and LHA,” Capt. Joel Lang, then-commander of the Tripoli, told reporters at the time. “Typically, the air combat element is a blend of rotary and tilt-rotor in order to enable that assault force to go ashore. We are proving the tactics and the techniques and the procedures to employ the ‘lightning carrier’ concept.”

Produced by US defense manufacturer Lockheed Martin, the fighter jet has a stealth design to vastly reduce its ability to be tracked by radar and is touted as one of the world’s most advanced fighters. The F-35B variant has a powerful propulsion system that gives it the unique capability of vertical takeoff and landing.

Developed by Rolls-Royce, the lift fan delivers an additional 20,000 pounds of thrust on top of the aircraft’s engine thrust, allowing it to land and take-off like a helicopter.

The F-35B allows Marine aviators to operate aboard smaller flattops and makeshift airstrips, especially on expeditionary missions. With far more advanced capabilities and avionics, the F-35B is set to replace the US military’s only other STOVL fighter jet, the McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier, which is expected to retire by 2027.

While the Navy doesn’t intend on substituting full-fledged carriers with “lightning carriers,” operating smaller flattops bolsters the fleet’s air power — at a much lower cost.

An America-class assault ship costs about $3.4 billion, nearly a quarter of the cost to manufacture a new Gerald R. Ford-class carrier, which costs around $13 billion, though the latter possesses more advanced capabilities and carries over 60 aircraft.

“One day, you can have F-35Bs on the flight deck; the next day, you could have MV-22s, and you can be putting Marines ashore,” Vice Adm. Karl Thomas, then-commander of the US 7th Fleet, said following the concept testing. “And so it just is a very versatile instrument.”

The “lightning carrier” concept could play a larger role in deterring China, which now has the world’s largest navy.

Despite still being in the experimentation phase, Thomas said he believes that an assault carrier carrying 14 F-35Bs is “much more capable” than either of China’s operational aircraft carriers, the Liaoning and Shandong, “both from a sortie-creation perspective as well as just a sheer capability.”

Last December, China unveiled its own massive assault ship, the Sichuan, which can launch fighter jets or drones. The first Yulan-class landing helicopter assault ship has a flight deck as large as three football fields, about as long as the US Navy’s America-class LHAs but 60 feet wider. China, however, does not have a carrier-based stealth fighter yet.

Recognizing the operational flexibility of assault warships, the Navy aims to expand its amphibious fleet to at least 31 vessels — 10 of which must be big-deck LHAs.

Two more America-class LHAs — USS Bougainville and USS Fallujah — are currently being built at HII’s Mississippi shipyard. The fifth-in-class USS Helmand Province was named last May and has yet to start construction.

Last May, HII was awarded a $9.6 billion contract to ramp up construction on the Navy’s amphibious fleet. The deal includes the construction of three San Antonio-class amphibious transport docks and the next America-class big-deck ship.

“Upgrading our fleet with amphibious combat vehicles capable of supporting sea denial and maritime operations will further bolster our ability to support deterrence efforts and respond to contingencies in the Indo-Pacific,” Lt. Gen. Roger B. Turner, commander of III Marine Expeditionary Force, said in a statement.