A delegation from the Russian Federation Navy is due to inspect the Spanish Navy's Buque de Proyección Estratégica (BPE - strategic projection ship) on 15 December as Moscow continues its search for a new multipurpose amphibious assault vessel (LHD), according to Navantia.
The 27,100-ton Juan Carlos I is under construction at the state-owned shipbuilder's Ferrol yard, in northwest Spain, and is scheduled for delivery next year.
France has proposed its DCNS-built Mistral-class LHD; the lead ship of this class visited the Russian port of St Petersburg in November, where it carried out several helicopter-landing tests.
Navantia has already received a EUR915 million (USD1.3 billion) export order for two similar ships to its BPE from the Royal Australian Navy, following a competition with DCNS. The keel for the first of these, Canberra , was laid in September and both ships will be completed by BAE Systems in Australia.