The Australian Department of Defence (DoD) has selected Dutch marine company Damen Shipyards Group’s Landing Ship Transport 100 (LST 100) design to address the Australian Army’s littoral operations-focussed Landing Craft Heavy requirement.
“The Damen Shipyards Group’s Landing Ship Transport 100 (LST100) will provide a capability which is essential to the restructure and re-posture of the Army,” the DoD stated, noting that the type will complement the new Landing Craft Medium and amphibious vehicles to deploy and sustain land forces with long-range land and maritime strike capabilities in littoral environments.
According to the DoD, eight Landing Craft Heavy vessels are expected be built by Australian shipbuilder Austal at the Henderson Shipyard in Western Australia. Construction of the first vessel is expected to commence in 2026.
The baseline LST100 vessel design features a 3,900-tonne displacement, and a length of 100 metres. It will be capable of operating with other vessels to undertake a range of tasks including troop insertion and extraction, logistics movements and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.
The DoD added that the LST100 will be capable of carrying more than 500 tonnes of military vehicles and equipment such as six Abrams Tanks,11 Redback Infantry Fighting Vehicles or 26 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) – and will be equipped with self-defence weapons systems and Australian military communications.
“Importantly, these vessels will be built in Australia, from Australian steel,” said Minister for Defence Industry and Capability Delivery, Pat Conroy This not only underscores the Albanese Government’s commitment to keep Australians safe but also to a safer future made in Australia.
The DoD earlier selected Birdon Group as preferred designer for the Project Land 8710 Phase 1 programme, which seeks to deliver 18 new 60 m-long Littoral Manoeuvre Vessel-Medium (LMV-M) crafts that will replace the Australian Army’s ageing Landing Craft Medium 8 (LCM 8) crafts from 2026.
Birdon’s LMV-M design will be manufactured under a Heads of Agreement (HOA) between the DoD and local shipbuilder Austal that aims to establish a Strategic Shipbuilding Agreement (SSA) to boost shipbuilding activity in Henderson, Western Australia.
by Jr Ng
