Australia issues OPV RfT
Australia's planned build of 12 OPVs with the Sea 1180 programme gathering momentum after a request for tender (RfT) was issued to three companies on 30 November.
Design contenders had already been narrowed down to a European trio in April via a competitive evaluation process – Dutch shipbuilder Damen and the German pair of Lurssen and Fassmer – although the shipbuilding will be done in Adelaide.
Construction is scheduled to commence in South Australia in 2018, before transferring to Western Australia in 2020 after construction of the Sea 5000 Future Frigates begins in Adelaide.
The three shortlisted companies will team
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