Israel receives first of two landing ships

INS Nahshon was handed over to the Israeli Navy in Pascagoula on 8 August. (Israel Ministry of Defense)

The Israeli Navy received the first of two landing ships that are being built for it at Pascagoula in the United States, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced on 9 August.

The IDF said the first ship, INS Nahshon , was handed over to the commander of Haifa naval base on the previous day. It is about 95 m long, 20 m wide, and weighs about 2,500 tonnes, the IDF said. It added that the ship will sail to Israel in a few months and is expected to be operational in 2024.

The IDF said the landing ships will strengthen the Israeli Navy's ability to support multizone operations by moving equipment and personnel to near and far operational theatres.

The landing ship construction project began about four years ago and was financed using US military aid funding to Israel, the IDF added.

VT Halter Marine was reported to be building two landing ships for an undisclosed customer at Pascagoula yard before it was bought by Bollinger Shipyards in 2022. Open-source satellite imagery shows two 95 m landing ships were in the water at the yard on 4 February.