Italian Navy landing helicopter dock Trieste to replace Giuseppe Garibaldi.

The new 33,000 tons Italian Landing helicopter dock (LHD) Trieste has arrived in the Gulf of La Spezia on January 7, 2020, to continue her fitting-out in preparation for her commissioning in 2022.

Italian Landing helicopter dock (Picture source: Twitter account: John Currin)

Trieste (L9890) is a landing helicopter dock (LHD) of the Italian Navy. It is expected to replace the Giuseppe Garibaldi around 2022.

The ship will be equipped with heavy and medium helicopters (EH101 and NH90 respectively) and Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II aircraft. It will have a floodable well deck below the hangar level able to accommodate amphibious landing vessels such as LCM (new Cantieri Navali Vittoria LCM23 type), LCAC, and newer L-CAT (Landing Catamaran) vessels. It also can carry Ariete MBT, B1 Centauro tank destroyers, and up to 600 soldiers. Its base will be in Taranto.

The unit is being built at Fincantieri's Castellamare di Stabia facility near Naples. The first cut was 12 January 2017 and completed construction of the hull on 25 May 2019, while the official delivery to the Italian Navy will be around the first half of 2022. It is the largest Italian military ship built after the Second World War.

It will be the largest vessel of the Italian Navy along with Cavour.