Page 15 - Australian Defence Magazine July-August 2021

JULY-AUGUST 2021 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
LAND FORCES 2021 15
TEAMS LINE UP FOR ARMY LITTORAL TRANSPORT PROGRAM
Defence’s $800 million Land 8710 Phase 1 (Littoral Manoeuvre – Light) program attracted some attention during Land Forces 2021, with an announcement of intent by WA-based shipbuilder Austal and a teaming agreement between Navantia Australia and Rheinmetall Defence Australia both making news on day one of the event.
NIGEL PITTAWAY | MELBOURNE
LAND 8710/1 was formally announced in February by former Defence Minister Linda Reynolds and will oversee local construction of new vessels to replace Army’s current LCM-8 (Landing Craft Mechanised) and an amphibious vehi- cle to replace the 5-ton LARC-V (Light- er Amphibious Resupply Cargo) fleets from 2026.
Austal CEO Paddy Gregg said his company will team for the bid, but won’t select a partner (or partners) until a formal Request for Tender (RFT) is an- nounced and the Commonwealth’s re- quirements are fully understood.
“We’re doing a lot of concept work to understand what’s technically possible and then we will align that with what the customer wants to deliver the best possible product we can,” Gregg said.
“And in doing that, we will partner with the people who have the most expe- rience in the areas the customer tells us they are looking for.”
Gregg added that Austal’s proposal will include construction of the ves- sels in its Henderson facility, following on from work currently undertaken to deliver Guardian and Enhanced Cape- class patrol boats to the Navy and Aus- tralia’s Pacifi partners.
“We want to do that for two reasons,
one to win the work and deliver capabil-
ity for the ADF, but second, we would really like to develop a product that is capable of export,” he said.
“It’s a great opportunity for Australia, a great opportunity for Austal, and a great opportunity for Australian business- es to get their product, their components on vessels that will hopefully be used around the world.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between
ABOVE: LCM-8 and a LARC land on the beach to deliver supplies and equipment at Mallacoota, Victoria.
Navantia and Rheinmetall will see the two companies collaborating on the design of a “fast, formidable and fu- ture-proof ” amphibious vehicle.
“When we were considering partners for the Land 8710 program, Rheinmetall was the obvious choice,” acting di- rector of Navantia Australia Alfonso García-Valdés said. “Their land-based expertise married with our in-depth maritime experience, will bring the best of Australia’s engi- neers together to develop this new capability for Australia.”
In October 2019, BMT announced it will offer its Cai- men 90 landing craft for the program.
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