Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri has delivered the Al Fulk (L141) Landing Platform Dock to the Qatari Emiri Navy.
Based on the Algerian LPD Kalaat Beni Abbes (L474) LPD, Al Fulk was built for the Qatari Emiri Navy by Fincantieri and could carry helicopters and small landing craft.
According to Qatar's needs, Al Fulk will have a secondary ballistic missile defence role with 16 Sylver A50 VLS that can fire Aster-30 long-range air defence missiles and Kronos Power Shield L-Band AESA radar. Long-range air defence capability is unusual for an LPD, but this isn't the only case in the Qatari Emiri Navy.
Fincantieri's other important shipbuilding project for the Qatari Navy is the Al Zubarah-class corvettes with four ships delivered. Like Al Fulk, Al Zubarah carries 16 Sylver A50 VLS cells for Aster-30 radar and Kronos Grand Naval AESA Radar for long-range air defence, which is also uncharacteristic of a corvette.
However, when Qatar's small area and its proximity to a geopolitically heated region are considered, starting defence from the sea with multiple platforms capable of ballistic missile defence is an advantageous choice.
A similar case can be observed with Israel's Sa'ar 5 and Sa'ar 6 class corvettes, which are loaded with an out-of-ordinary number of air defence missiles.
