NUSHIP CANBERRA embarks on final trials

The ship departed Williamstown shipyard on 12 August as planned with the trials taking place in both Port Phillip Bay and off the southern coast of New South Wales before returning to Williamstown around the end of August.

 

Final contractor trials involve testing of the combat and communication systems along with some platform systems trials.

 

Director of BAE Systems Maritime, Bill Saltzer, said:  “This is the last major element of a very complex and comprehensive test program to prove the capabilities of the ship and its systems prior to delivery to our customer.

 

“Getting this ship to this stage has been a collaborative effort between BAE Systems and the Defence Materiel Organisation (DMO). Our two project teams have worked closely throughout the project and now we are in the home stretch for the CANBERRA.”

 

Aboard NUSHIP CANBERRA for the final contractor trials are BAE Systems and DMO project personnel along with a number of Royal Australian Navy (RAN) officers and sailors who will crew the ship once delivered, as well as BAE Systems subcontractors Navantia, Saab, L3 and Teekay.

 

The final trials also provide an ideal opportunity for a number of the crew to familiarise themselves with the ship following their training at the BAE Systems facility at Mascot, NSW, in which state-of-the-art simulation technology was developed and utilised to achieve technical competence in a cost-effective environment.

 

As well as demonstrating the ship’s capabilities, the trials will provide the team with valuable feedback regarding the effectiveness of the training program.  The utilisation and extent of virtual training within LHD has been a new approach for the RAN and the feedback received from the crew so far has been very positive.

 

Mr Saltzer said work was also progressing well on NUSHIP CANBERRA’s sister ship, NUSHIP ADELAIDE: “In shipbuilding, there are always lessons learned on the first ship of a new class that can be implemented to achieve higher levels of productivity on the following ship or ships and this is certainly the case with NUSHIP ADELAIDE. The second LHD is coming together rapidly and is on track to be ready to start sea trials in the second quarter of next year.”

 

The 27,000 tonne LHDs are the largest ships ever built for the ADF and will be operated by the RAN. BAE Systems is the Prime Contractor for the project. The main subcontractors are Navantia for the platform design and hull construction in Spain, SAAB as the combat system integrator and L3 for the internal and external communications systems.

G'day - Two For Oz

The hull for the second Australia LHD type amphibious ship was recently launched in Spain, four months ahead of schedule. The hull will be shipped to Australia where it will be fitted out with equipment and machinery.

Five years ago Australia held a competition and selected the Spanish Navantia class LHD design. This is a 27,000 ton ship that is very similar to the U.S. San Antonio class LPD. Both LHDs and LPDs look similar. The main difference is that LHDs are designed more to land troops via helicopter while LPDs put more emphasis on using landing craft. Both classes of ship can carry out helicopter and beach landings.

The Navantia is 230 meters (713 feet long), has a crew of about 140, and can carry 1,100 troops, 100 vehicles, two landing craft, and up to 12 helicopters. There is also a 40 bed hospital. The Navantia's are twice the size of the two amphibious ships Australia is replacing and has a ski-jump flight deck that will enable it to use vertical takeoff warplanes like the Harrier or F-35B. The Australian versions of the Navantia, the 27,800 ton Canberra class, will cost about $1.2 billion each. Australia will receive the first of these LHDs, the Canberra, in two years. The second will enter service a year later.

These two ships will give Australia the ability to quickly send troops to any hot spot in the neighborhood. Australia is often called upon for peacekeeping duties, being the most effective military power in the region. These two LHDs will allow Australia to send troops in sooner, which tends to make the problem less destructive in the long run.

Launch of second Amphibious Ship Landing Helicopter Dock

Second Australian Amphibious Ship Landing Helicopter Dock enters the water at the Navantia shipyard in Spain.

Minister for Defence Stephen Smith and Minister for Defence Materiel Jason Clare today announced the launch of the second Landing Helicopter Dock (LHD) at the Navantia shipyard in Spain.

The launch represented a major milestone in the shipbuilding process and was attended by the Chief of Navy, Vice Admiral Ray Griggs.

Australia is acquiring two amphibious ships for the Australian Defence Force (ADF).

The LHDs are the largest ships ever built for the Royal Australian Navy and will provide the ADF with one of the most capable and sophisticated amphibious deployment systems in the world.

The Canberra Class LHDs are bigger than Australia’s last aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne (II). When completed they will be more than 230 metres long, 27.5 metres high and weigh around 27,500 tonnes. Each ship can carry a combined armed battlegroup of more than 1100 personnel, 100 armoured vehicles and 12 helicopters and features a 40-bed hospital.

Spanish shipbuilder Navantia, as a subcontractor to BAE Systems Australia, has constructed and is fitting out the hulls of both amphibious ships.

The superstructure, combat and communications systems will be consolidated with the hulls in Australia at the BAE Systems shipyard in Williamstown, Victoria.

The arrival of the first amphibious ship hull at BAE’s Williamstown dockyard is expected later this year.

When the hull arrives in Melbourne the complex task of marrying the superstructure, hull, combat system and communications system can commence, in preparation for delivery of the first ship to the Australian Defence Force in 2014.