Australian Department of Defence, Spanish ship builder Navantia is rapidly progressing the construction of its new generation amphibious ship that will be considered by the Federal Government as part of the $2 billion Amphibious Ships project.
Defence Minister Robert Hill visited Navantia's shipyards at Ferrol and Fene on the north-west coast of Spain today.
Senator Hill said he was pleased with the good progress being made building the first Spanish amphibious ship, which is on track to be considered as one of two design options to provide the Australian Defence Force with a new world class capability to deploy land forces on operations.
Last month the Federal Government approved the first stage of the project and committed $29.8 million towards the Design and Development Phase.
Navantia is now working on defining the requirements for the ships, incorporating the necessary Australian environmental, safety and technical requirements.
“The new ships will provide a major capability boost for the Navy and it was good to see first hand the work that is taking place on the build project and in developing the design option for Australia's new amphibious ships,” Senator Hill said.
“Next year Australian shipbuilders will be invited to tender for either or both of two designs, which includes the Spanish Navantia BPE ship and the French Armaris Mistral ship.
“The 27,000-tonne Spanish ship has a greater carrying capacity than the 22,000-tonne French Armaris ship. Unlike the Spanish ship, the French ship has already been built and is undertaking its final tests with the French Navy.
“The ship builder will be chosen following a thorough financial and technical comparison between Australian bids and overseas build options.
“The two new amphibious ships to be built for the ADF will be used on missions such as combat operations, regional disaster relief, humanitarian aid, peacekeeping and peace monitoring, and assistance to policing or military operations.
“The preference is for each ship to be able to transport up to 1000 personnel, have six helicopter landing spots and provision for a mix of troop lift and armed reconnaissance helicopters. It will also be able to transport up to 150 vehicles including the new M1A1 Abrams tanks and armoured vehicles and will also be equipped with medical facilities, including two operating theatres.
“The Government's preference is to see the ships built in Australia, however Australian industry will need to demonstrate it can deliver the project at a competitive price.”
Senator Hill said it was also good to be able to speak to Navantia about its existing F100 ship design option for Australia's new $6 billion Air Warfare Destroyer projects.
“The F100 is the existing off-the-shelf design option that the Government will compare with the evolved design being developed by Gibbs & Cox as part of the next phase of the project,” Senator Hill said.
“The Amphibious ships and the AWDs represent a quantum leap in the force projection and air warfare capabilities of the ADF.”
During Senator Hill's visit to Spain he will also meet with Spanish Defence Minister Jose Bono Martinez to further strengthen Australia's Defence relationship with Spain and to discuss future Defence projects. The Minister will also discuss operations in Afghanistan and the role Spanish and Australian troops will play in the future.
He will also visit the EADS CASA production facility near Madrid to inspect progress on the new A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) aircraft.
The Government has approved the purchase of five MRTT tankers, the first of which will be delivered to Australia in 2008.
A key component of the MRTT will be the refuelling boom, which will enable the in-air refuelling of future RAAF aircraft such as the Wedgetail AEW&C and the Joint Strike Fighter.
“I am pleased to see that engineering testing and ground testing of the boom system is proceeding exactly to schedule,” Senator Hill said.
“The next step is full flight trials aboard a modified A310 Airbus, prior to commencement of work on the first RAAF aircraft in mid 2006.”
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