Joint Support Ship
A joint support ship (JSS) is a multi-role naval ship capable of launching and supporting "joint" amphibious operations. It also provides sea-lift, underway support, sea-basing and logistics capabilities for combined army and naval missions. Features. JSS's have several common features to support the many roles it can assume for both navies and armies. Below are some examples of these common features: Furthermore, to fulfill its missions a flexible modular design allows for configuration of temporary areas for different purposes as missions require. As such it is basically a combination of an amphibious warfare  ship and auxiliary ships like replenishment oiler, transport ship, and hospital ship in one. German Taktische Konzept Mehrzweckschiff. Proposed ship 196 meters long, 20,000 ton displacement. Canadian Joint Support Ship. In 1999 the Canadian government sought to replace the aging of auxiliary oiler replenishment (AOR) ships through the Afloat Logistic Support Capability (ALSC) program. The replacement program envisioned tanker ships with roll-on/roll-off (RORO) sealift capability. These multi-role ships were envisioned to deploy mobilized forces directly to the beach. In 2004, Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) issued a request for proposal (RFP) for the joint  support ship (JSS) to replace three AOR ships, although one AOR ship was already retired by the time the RFP was released. The RFP capped the bid price at C$1.5 billion (most reports state the cost was C$2.1bn, however C$600 million was reserved for the government's own project costs, and was not included in the RFP bid ceiling price). The RFP called for three multi-role ships capable of refueling ships at sea, providing ship-borne helicopter support, heavy sealift capability, a mobile hospital, a joint force headquarters center, and a strengthened hull for operations in  sea ice.  PWGSC cancelled the program in 2008 after stating all the received bids were above the mandatory budget. The Canadian government restarted the JSS procurement process in the same year. In 2013 Canada selected the replenishment ship design to replace the "Protecteur"-class fleet. The German design provides fuel, provisions, ammunition, and some materiel and medical capabilities, and can land up to two helicopters.  The ships are to be built in Vancouver by Seaspan Shipyards under the National Ship Procurement Strategy (NSPS). Originally to be designated as the "Queenston" class with ship names of HMCS "Queenston" and HMCS "Châteauguay" (named  after battle sites from the War of 1812), in 2017 the Royal Canadian Navy renamed the joint support ships to the former "Protecteur"-class designation, re-using the same ship names HMCS "Protecteur" and HMCS "Preserver". The cost of building the two replenishment ships was set at C$2.3bn with first delivery occurring in 2018. In 2018, the government's own review indicated the total cost was then calculated to be C$3.4bn, with first delivery not likely before 2022 or 2023. As of 2019, delivery of the first vessel was expected to occur in 2023 followed by the second vessel  in 2025. Dutch Joint Support Ship. Since 2015 the Royal Netherlands Navy has HNLMS "Karel Doorman" as their only Joint Support Ship. In 2016 the Dutch and German Ministers of Defence agreed that HNLMS "Karel Doorman" would be shared by both the Royal Netherlands Navy and the German Navy.