Page 36 - Australian Defence Magazine Oct 2020

36 DEFENCE IN THE NORTH SUSTAINMENT
OCTOBER 2020 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
PATROL BOAT
SUSTAINMENT
IN AUSTRALIA’S
NORTH
The Royal Australian Navy’s (RAN) Armidale and Cape class patrol boat fleets bear the brunt of the high operational tempo demanded by Operations Resolute and Sovereign Borders, with a presence required 24 hours a day, seven days a week, all year round.
NIGEL PITTAWAY | MELBOURNE
SUSTAINING the fleets in Darwin and Cairns presents its own challenges, when metal structures can be too hot to touch when the sun is shining, and maintenance activities are often hampered by heavy rains in the wet season. As well as the operational tempo and climate, distance is also a contributing factor to these challenges, both in terms of attracting and retaining vital skills and in providing rapid response to urgent spare part requirements.
It is therefore a credit to both the Commonwealth and to Defence industry that availability levels of the ageing fleet of 13 Armidale Class Patrol Boats (ACPBs) in particular has never been higher, running at around 92 per cent, and the current availability is around 213 days per year per boat. Al- though the two much newer Cape Class Patrol Boats (CCPBs) have temporarily been hampered by corrosion issues, their availability is currently around 81 per cent for the last six months and, largely because they run a two-crew (port and starboard) system, the CCPBs are able to deliver additional sea days and therefore maximise utilisation of the platforms.
To learn more about how Australia’s patrol boat fleets are being sustained in Australia’s north, ADM recently spoke to former sustainment manager of the Patrol Boat System Program Office (SPO) and now director Governance and Performance, Specialist Ships Executive, Brad Hopkins.
AUSTRALIA’S PATROL BOAT FLEET
Built by Austal in Western Australia, the Aluminium-hulled Armidale Class Patrol Boat entered service with the Navy in 2005 and today the 13 remaining vessels (one was lost in a fire during maintenance in Brisbane in 2014) shoulder the majority of Operation Resolute and Sovereign Borders tasks. Twelve vessels are homeported at HMAS Coonawarra
in Darwin and the 13th boat, HMAS Wollongong, is home- ported in Cairns, alongside two newer Cape Class vessels.
Two Austal Cape Class patrol boats were ordered for De- fence in 2015 to supplement the ACPB fleet, which was at the time severely impacted by poor availability and the loss of HMAS Bundaberg in the 2014 fire. The two ADF vessels, ADV Cape Fourcroy and Cape Inscription, are essentially identical to the eight Cape Class patrol boats operated by the Australian Border Force (ABF) and are homeported in Cairns.
The Cape Class is an evolution of the earlier Armidale design, displacing 430 tonnes compared with 380 tonnes but, despite being a metre shorter, actually boast a larger internal volume. Much of the machinery is similar to both vessels, but the Cape Class boats have a Caterpillar diesel engine in lieu of the MTU unit of the Armidale design. While the newer vessels have provision for the fitment of the Bushmaster 25mm gun fitted to the Armidale, they do not have the weapon installed at the present time.
Both classes of vessel will be replaced commencing early next decade by 12 Lürssen-designed Arafura Class Off- shore Patrol Vessels (OPVs) now under construction under Sea 1180, but in order to de-risk the transition a further six Cape Class vessels will be delivered in the meantime.
The Cape Class vessels are an enhanced version of the two ADF and eight ABF vessels now in service and referred to as ‘E-Capes’. The six units will be constructed by Austal