Spanish ship Juan Carlos I ( L61 ) Juan Carlos I is a multi - purpose warship in the Spanish Navy ( " Armada Española " ) . Similar in concept to the American , it has the addition of a ski jump for STOVL operations . The ship will be equipped with the AV - 8B Harrier II attack aircraft and will primarily be used as an aircraft carrier . The vessel is named in honour of Juan Carlos I , the current King of Spain . The new vessel is to play an important role in the fleet , as a platform that not only replaces the " Newport " - class LSTs " Hernán Cortés " and " Pizarro " for supporting the mobility of the Marines and the strategic transport of ground forces , but that can also act as a platform for carrier - based aviation replacing the now withdrawn aircraft carrier " Príncipe de Asturias " . Design . The design for the " Buque de Proyección Estratégica " ( Strategic Projection Vessel ) , as it was initially known , was approved in September 2003 . The vessel has a flight deck of , with a " ski - jump " ramp . The ship ' s flight deck has eight landing spots for Harrier , F - 35 Lightning II or medium - sized helicopters , four spots for heavy helicopters of the CH - 47 Chinook type , and one spot large enough for aircraft of V - 22 Osprey size . The ship can carry up to 30 aircraft in aircraft carrier mode , using the light vehicles bay as an additional storage zone . For the first time in the Spanish Navy , the ship uses diesel - electric propulsion , simultaneously connecting both diesels and the new technology gas turbine powerplant to a pair of azimuthal pods . The complement of the ship is around 900 naval personnel , with equipment and support elements for 1 , 200 soldiers . Multi - functional garage and hangar space on two levels covers , with capacity for 6 , 000 tonnes load on each level . A stern well deck measuring can accommodate four LCM - 1E landing craft which can beach - deliver non - swimming ground vehicles like tanks and four RHIBs , or one Landing Craft Air Cushion plus Assault Amphibious Vehicle s . Construction . Construction of the , 27 , 000 - tonne ship started in May 2005 simultaneously at the Navantia Shipyards in Ferrol , Galicia ( with the cut of the first plate corresponding to Block 320 ) and in Fene , Galicia ( with the cut of the first plate corresponding to Block 330 ) . The ship , that supposes a service load of 3 , 100 , 000 hours of production and 775 , 000 hours of engineering , was launched 10 March 2008 , and was commissioned 30 September 2010 . The original budget was €360 million but the ship cost €462 million ( US $ 600 million ) in the end . Exports . Australia . Following a lengthy design contest that pitted the design against the similar but smaller French , the Prime Minister of Australia announced on 20 June 2007 , that Australia would purchase and build two ships of the same design to become the s . Navantia will be responsible for construction of the ships from the keel to the flight deck in Spain , after which the hulls will be transported to Australia for completion by BAE Systems Australia . Russia . In September 2009 , Russia invited Navantia to take part in the competition to supply Russian Navy with the new generation of amphibious assault ship s to compete against the French " Mistral " - class ships . In January 2011 Russia chose the " Mistral " over the Spanish concept .