Qatar's Ministry of Defense published a general promotional video on its Twitter profile demonstrating potential capabilities of its armed forces. Especially after this country joined strikes on iran at the beginning of March 2026.
This video shows in particular the launch of an Aster 30 surface-to-air missile for the SAMP/T system, which takes place from the Al-Fulk landing ship equipped with a flight deck and air group of three NH90 helicopters. The combination of launching missiles, for which capability to fight ballistic missiles is declared, from a landing ship with a flight deck may look paradoxical, but it's directly dictated by peculiarities of the Al-Fulk ship, the largest in Qatar's fleet and possibly the world's smallest helicopter carrier. This also carries a certain signal for us.
Read more: Hensoldt Is Done Doing Ukraine's Radar Repairs From Afar, New Local Hub Will Fix, Upgrade, Learn From Front
Italian shipbuilding company Fincantieri built the Al-Fulk ship on Qatar's order. At the customer's request, Italian shipbuilders combined three in one on a single platform, universal landing ship, air defense frigate, as well as command ship. Transfer of Al-Fulk to the customer, Qatar's fleet, took place in December 2024.
To perform air defense frigate functions, Al-Fulk is equipped in the aft section with 16 vertical launchers for placing Aster 30 surface-to-air missiles for SAMP/T. Placement of Aster 15 surface-to-air missiles is also stated, but there's a significant difference in dimensions between these two missile types.
For detecting air targets, Al-Fulk is also equipped with Kronos AESA and Kronos Power Shield radar stations (the latter has stated target detection range up to 1,500 kilometers). In addition, Al-Fulk's armament set also includes a bow 76mm artillery mount.
To perform landing functions, Al-Fulk has a dock chamber for receiving landing craft and corresponding lifting devices. Up to 550 troops can be placed on board with a crew of 140 personnel.
To perform command functions, the ship is equipped with corresponding communications equipment. Al-Fulk's full displacement is 8,800 tons, hull length and width are 143 meters and 21.5 meters respectively, maximum speed is 20 knots, cruising range is 7,000 nautical miles.
Algeria also has a ship similar to Qatar's Al-Fulk in characteristics and armament set, called Kalaat Beni Abbes. It turns out that currently Qatar and Algeria are the only ones in the world with universal landing ships with corresponding armament declared as a means for shooting down ballistic missiles.
A certain signal for Ukraine in this situation lies in the following: if Qatar actively employs its specific Al-Fulk ship for air defense missions in particular, this may also somewhat heat up demand for SAMP/T missiles, which is important for Ukraine as it serves as a European alternative to Patriot.
Read more: UK Ministry of Defence: British Forces Deploy Sky Sabre Unit, Activate ORCUS and Rapid Sentry Systems, Down Iranian Drones Overnight
