Australia pushes ahead on reinstating heavy landing capability with selection of Damen
Australia has ordered Damen LST 100 landing craft. (Image: Damen)
Australia has been without a heavy landing capability since the retirement of the last of eight Balikpapan Landing Craft Heavy (LCH) vessels in 2014. Work on new ships is expected to begin in 2026.
Australia has selected Damen for its Project Land 8710 Phase 2A Littoral Manoeuvre Vessel – Heavy (LMV-H) project, which is an effort to recreate the Australian Army’s amphibious heavy landing capability.
The ships will be based on the Damen LST 100 and the first eight will be built by Austal at its Henderson shipyard south of Fremantle in Western Australia. Work is expected to begin in 2026.
The LMV-H replaces the capability lost with the retirement of the last of eight Balikpapan LCH vessels in 2014.
It supports the Australian government’s increasing emphasis on amphibious operations in littoral areas of the Indo-Pacific, an effort which is also supported by the smaller Land 8710 Phase 1A LMV-M (Medium) requirement. LMV-M will also be built at the Henderson yard.
With a displacement of 3900t, the Damen LST 100 is nearly eight times heavier than the LCHs it is designed to replace and twice as long at 100m with a beam of 16m.
It has a carrying capacity of 500t, nearly four times that of the LCH, with example loads including six M1A2SEP3 Abrams Tanks, 11 AS21 Redback Infantry Fighting Vehicles or 26 HIMARS long-range strike systems. Each vessel will be equipped with self-defence weapons and military communications systems.
It was announced on 23 July that delivery of 18 49m-long LMV-M was being accelerated. The first LMV-M will now be ready by 2026 with the A$2 billion (US$1.3 billion) project set to create 1,100 jobs, according to the Australian government.
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Littoral Manoeuvre Vessel - Heavy (Project Land 8710 Phase 2) [Australia]
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