BMT and DNV partner to meet Australia’s heavy landing craft requirement
BMT has teamed up with DNV to offer Caimen 500 for Australia’s Project Land 8710 Phase 2. (Image: BMT)
Under Project Land 8710 Phase 2, Australia has been seeking to acquire an undisclosed number of Littoral Manoeuvre Vessels to replace the Balikpapan-class. The programme has an estimated value of AU$1.4 billion (US$910 million), with IOC slated for 2032.
UK company BNT has signed an MoU with maritime industry advisor DNV to offer the former’s Caimen 500 landing craft to meet the Australian Army’s Project Land 8710 Phase 2 Landing Craft – Heavy (LC-H) requirement.
Under the procurement, Australia has been seeking to acquire an undisclosed number of large littoral manoeuvre vessels to replace the Balikpapan-class landing ships. According to Australian Defence Force officials, the new vessels could potentially be able to lift three Abrams MBTs or eight Bushmaster IFVs.
DNV will work with BMT to tailor Caimen 500 craft to meet the Australian Army’s future requirements. DNV will identify and manage technical risk, ensuring the validity of changes made to the mature Caimen platform meet the requirements.
The Caimen 500 has been designed to deliver heavy rolling and cargo payload directly to a beach, hard standing or port, and features a full-length cargo deck enabling vehicle roll-on roll-off via stern bow loading/unloading. It can carry a payload of around 200t, measures 75m in length and has a range of 2,000NM.
Shephard Defence Insight estimated the programme had a value of $1.4 billion, with IOC slated for 2032. According to Australia’s "Integrated Investment Program 2024", eight platforms will be procured.
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