Damen Picked For Australian Landing Craft Programme

The Royal Australian Navy’s Landing Craft Heavy (LCH) programme will use ships based on the design of Damen Shipyards Group's LST100 vessel.

As per a recent press statement Australia's Albanese Government has picked the 100-metre vessels, which each boast more than a square kilometre of roll-on-roll-off capacity, as its preferred option as it seeks to establish a fleet with an emphasis on littoral manoeuvres and long-range strikes.

Eight LCH ships based on the LST100 design are scheduled to be constructed by Australian shipbuilder Austal at the Henderson Shipyard in Western Australia. The country's wider shipbuilding programme is expected to create more than 3,000 jobs in related industries.

The vessels, along with Landing Craft Medium (LCM) and amphibious vehicles, will support a strategy of denial which includes deploying and sustaining land forces with long-range land and maritime strike capabilities in littoral environments.

The LST100 vessel design has a 3,900-tonne displacement, a maximum draft of less than four metres, and is 16 meters wide. Its capabilities include troop insertion and extraction, logistics movements and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. Construction of the first LCH craft is scheduled to start in 2026.

The finished vessels will be able to deploy more than 500 tonnes of military vehicles and equipment. As per an Australian Defence Force statement it is intended to carry six Abrams Tanks, 11 Redback Infantry Fighting Vehicles or 26 HIMARS missile systems.

• You can read more details on the Australian Government website