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USMC MV-22 Osprey Landed Aboard Royal Netherlands Navy JSS Karel Doorman

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Naval Forces News - USA, Netherlands
 
 
 
USMC MV-22 Osprey Landed Aboard Royal Netherlands Navy JSS Karel Doorman
 
By Lance Cpl. Fatmeh Saad
MARINE CORPS AIR STATION NEW RIVER, N.C. -- Spirits ran high aboard the Karel Doorman, a warship with the Royal Netherlands Navy, as U.S. Marines with Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 261 made the first MV-22 Osprey landing aboard a Dutch ship during an interoperability test conducted near Marine Corps Air Station New River, North Carolina, June 12.
     
An MV-22 Osprey with Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 261 prepares to land onto the Karel Doorman, a Dutch warship, during an interoperability test near Marine Corps Air Station New River, N.C., June 12, 2015. The unit worked jointly with the Royal Netherlands Navy to perform the first MV-22 Osprey carrier landing aboard a Dutch warship and strengthened the existing partnership between the two countries. Picture: USMC
An MV-22 Osprey with Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 261 prepares to land onto the Karel Doorman, a Dutch warship, during an interoperability test near Marine Corps Air Station New River, N.C., June 12, 2015. The unit worked jointly with the Royal Netherlands Navy to perform the first MV-22 Osprey carrier landing aboard a Dutch warship and strengthened the existing partnership between the two countries. Picture: USMC
     
“What we normally do is support the forces ashore,” said Capt. Peter van den Berg, the commanding officer of the warship. To better support ground forces, the amphibious unit recognizes it needs aircraft support, said van den Berg.

“That’s why the Netherlands Navy is very interested in cooperating and integrating with the U.S. Marine Corps and operating the Osprey from our decks,” said van den Berg. “The Osprey is capable of doing large airlifts at a time, instead of a smaller helicopter – an Osprey can take much more personnel back to shore.”

The landing was the first of its kind and tested the interoperability of the two military entities, as well as the Dutch’s ability to host the American aircraft aboard their ships through carrier landings.
     
An MV-22 Osprey with Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 261 prepares to land onto the Karel Doorman, a Dutch warship, during an interoperability test near Marine Corps Air Station New River, N.C., June 12, 2015. The unit worked jointly with the Royal Netherlands Navy to perform the first MV-22 Osprey carrier landing aboard a Dutch warship and strengthened the existing partnership between the two countries. Picture: USMC
An MV-22 Osprey with Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 261 on the deck of the Karel Doorman, a Dutch warship, during an interoperability test near Marine Corps Air Station New River, N.C., June 12, 2015. The unit worked jointly with the Royal Netherlands Navy to perform the first MV-22 Osprey carrier landing aboard a Dutch warship and strengthened the existing partnership between the two countries. Picture: USMC
     
“The majority of people live within 300 nautical miles of the ocean,” said Capt. Matthew Thompson, a Marine with VMM-261 and the pilot and operations officer for the exercise. “With that in mind, the true Marine aspect of ‘from the sea, to the shore,” is increasingly important. Being able to land on a ship, or sea base from a ship, and move people, things, to the shore is increasingly important.”

The test included five landings aboard the warship along with a refuel check to test the Osprey’s ability to receive fuel from the Dutch warship.

“[This test] supports the mission of the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing because when units from 2nd MAW move forward, they sometimes work in concert with coalition partners and that may include the Dutch one day,” said Thompson.

Thompson said building a stronger relationship and testing the units’ ability to integrate was the central focus of the carrier landings.

“The MV-22 Osprey provides commanders with unprecedented agility and operational reach,” said Thompson.

The U.S military has a long-standing history working with their Dutch counterparts, a partnership both units expressed an interest in deepening.

“Having the knowledge that we learned today can help us when we move forward, if we ever work with the Dutch, which I think is a very real possibility … especially when we saw the amount of compatibility that we have from a simple exercise like today,” said Thompson.
     
MARINE CORPS AIR STATION NEW RIVER, N.C. -- Spirits ran high aboard the Karel Doorman, a warship with the Royal Netherlands Navy, as U.S. Marines with Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 261 made the first MV-22 Osprey landing aboard a Dutch ship during an interoperability test conducted near Marine Corps Air Station New River, North Carolina, June 12.
JSS Karel Doorman during trials conducting an underway replenishment with the frigate F803 Tromp. Picture: Royal Netherlands Navy
     
About Karel Doorman
The Karel Doorman replaces two supply ships, the HNLMS Zuiderkruis (decommissioned in 2012) and the HNLMS Amsterdam (to be decommissioned this year). The new vessel was largely built at Damen’s shipyard in Romania, but has been fitted out in Vlissingen.

The ship has a cargo deck area of 1730 square meters to house combat and transport equipment (including tanks Leopard 2A6), a vast hangar for the permanent home of six helicopters, NH90 helicopters and two CH-47 Chinook, a flight deck with two runways for heavy helicopters, as well as significant volume for cargo and fuel - 7700 cubic meters of fuel oil, 1,000 cubic meters of aviation fuel, 450 tons of water and 400 tons of ammunition and other goods, with the possibilities to transfer them while underway at sea (at a rate of 680 cubic meters of liquid per hour).

It is fitted with an integrated mast I-Mast 400, a Sea Master 400 radar and a Sea Watcher 100 by Thales Nederland. Armament consists of two seven-barreled 30mm anti-aircraft gun systems Goalkeeper by Rheinmetall and six remote-controlled turret units - two Oto Melara Marlin WS 30 mm cannons and four Oto Melara Hitrole NT with 12.7-mm machine guns