German shipbuilder Lürssen
has been announced as the
prime contractor for the
design and construction
of 12 new offshore patrol
vessels for the Royal
Australian Navy, a project
worth up to $4 billion.
Minister for Defence,
Marise Payne, said the
OPVs will be a signifi cant
capability leap forward over
the Navy’s current patrol
boat fl eet.
“They are 80m in length.
They are going to be larger
and more capable than
the current Armidale
Class. They will be able to
embark unmanned aerial,
underwater and surface
vehicles and operate larger
sea boats which are essential
to boarding operations,” she
said.
“They will be able
to conduct detection,
identifi cation, interception
and boarding operations all
year round, day and night,
across the very unique
operating environment in
which Australia works,” she
added.
Chief of the Defence
Force, Air Chief Marshal
Mark Binskin, said the PV80
Lürssen is one of the most
capable OPVs in the world
today and would meet all of
the Navy’s needs.
“It will improve our
contribution to maritime
patrol and response, our
constabulary mission
around Australia and across
the vast maritime spaces
that we are accountable for
in this region,” he said. Key
attributes he pointed to
were “the greater range, the
greater endurance, the better
seakeeping, the armament
with a 40-millimetre gun, the
larger sea boats, state-of-the-
art sensors, command-and-
communication systems that
are not only interoperable
with our own ADF assets,
but also with the Australian
Border Force and more
importantly our partner
nations around the region.
“Importantly, this vessel
for us will be more adaptable
and it has growth potential
that the vessels that it is
replacing don’t,” he said.
ASC Shipbuilding in
Adelaide will construct the
fi rst two ships to the Lürssen
design before production
moves to Henderson,
Western Australia where
the Commonwealth has
decided Lürssen will usethe capabilities of Austal
and Civmec to build 10
further OPVs. That part of
the project is subject to the
conclusion of commercial
negotiations, as Austal was
not part of Lürssen’s original
tender offer. Austal had
partnered with rival bidder
Fassmer which it believed
offered a superior design.
Minister for Defence
Industry, Christopher
Pyne, described this as
“an innovative and clever
solution” that used “all the
capabilities that are available
in Henderson”.
The fi rst of the 12 OPVs
will commence production
in the fourth quarter of 2018.
Construction in Western
Australia is scheduled to
begin in 2020.
“Today’s decision is
recognition of the high
performance of ASC
Shipbuilding and the
strong turnaround in its
performance on the Air
Warfare Destroyer program
since 2014,” said ASC chair,
Bruce Carter.
Chief executive offi cer- ASC Shipbuilding, Mark
Lamarre, said he looked
forward to continued
engagement with Lürssen at
the earliest opportunity to
prepare for the project.
Civmec, which was
Lürssen’s nominated
shipbuilding partner in
Western Australia, said it
was delighted to have been
selected to play a key role
in OPV construction. It said
the decision would underpin
its commitment to invest in
the construction of a new
state-of-the-art shipbuilding
facility in Henderson.
“I congratulate Lürssen on
being the chosen designer
and prime contractor for
the project. We look forward
to continuing our working
relationship with them
over the coming months to
offer the Commonwealth
a solution that maximises
the effi ciencies of Civmec’s
proven expertise in
manufacturing integrated
complex steel structures,”
said company chairman,
James Fitzgerald.
“We thank the Australian
Government for this
endorsement of our
shipbuilding capability,
which will ensure Austal’s
ongoing naval shipbuilding
presence for the next decade
and beyond,” said Austal
CEO David Singleton.OPV project awarded to Lürssen
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