Indo-Pacific 2022: Australian Army demands capable landing craft
Raytheon Australia, Austal and BMT are offering their Independent Littoral Manoeuvre Vessel to the Australian Army. (Raytheon Australia)
Australia has very stringent requirements for new medium landing craft, and four domestic contenders have emerged.
On 19 December 2021, Australia launched an RfT for the Littoral Manoeuvre Vessel - Medium (LMV-M) requirement under Project Land 8710 Phase 1A. At Indo-Pacific 2022 in Sydney, Shephard talked to four contenders intending to respond to this tender for ship-to-shore movement by the deadline of 14 June.
The competitors are Birdon; Navantia Australia teamed with UGL; Raytheon Australia with Austal and BMT; and Serco working with Civmec.
The government mandated that the steel-hulled LMV-Ms be built in Henderson, Western Australia, while Trevor Dove, BMT’s Senior BD Manager, described the Australian requirements as ‘advanced’, similar to what the US might field,
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