Canberra Class
The Canberra Class Amphibious Ship project will provide the Australian Defence Force with one of the most capable and sophisticated air-land-sea amphibious deployment systems in the world.
In January 2006 the Government announced that the new ships would be of the Canberra Class and would be named HMAS Canberra and HMAS Adelaide, taking the names of the national and South Australian capitals reflecting Australia’s naval heritage. The first ships to bear these names were British-pattern cruisers which gave service in World War II, HMAS Canberra (I) being lost in the Battle of Savo Island, whilst HMAS Adelaide (I) sank the German blockade-runner Ramses and assisted in the overthrow of the Vichy Government of Noumea. The second generation were US-built Oliver Hazard Perry class guided missile frigates which served from the early 1980s into the 21st Century.
These 27,000 tonne ships, also called LHD's (Landing Helicopter Dock), will be able to land a force of over 2,000 personnel by helicopter and water craft, along with all their weapons, ammunition, vehicles and stores.
The project will replace the Heavy Lift Ship HMAS Tobruk and one of the Amphibious Landing Ships (either HMAS Manoora or HMAS Kanimbla) with two large amphibious ships over the period 2014–2015.
The Canberra Class ships are not just for the defence of Australia and its national interests; they will allow for large scale humanitarian assistance, at home or to our neighbours, on time of natural disaster. Each ship will be able to provide three times the assistance of which HMAS Kanimbla was capable of providing in the wake of the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami.
The total amphibious capability will provide a combined arms battlegroup of more than 2000 personnel, providing landing force, helicopter operations, logistics, command and intelligence as well as other supporting units including:
- space and deck strength sufficient to carry around 100 armoured vehicles, including M1A1 tanks, and 200 other vehicles
- hangar space for at least 12 helicopters and an equal number of landing spots to allow a company sized group to be simultaneously lifted and projected ashore
- 45 days endurance for crew and embarked forces including sustainment, medical, rotary wing and operational maintenance and repair support to these forces while ashore for 10 days
- command and control of the land, sea and air elements of an Amphibious Task Force
- the ability to conduct simultaneous helicopter and watercraft operations in a wide range of environments, and
- a hospital facility comprising two operating theatres, high, medium and low dependency wards, dental, x-ray, pharmacy and administration facilities
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Who is building the ships
A contract was signed between the Commonwealth (DMO) and the Australian shipbuilder Tenix Defence (now BAE Systems Australia Defence) on October 9, 2007.
The Spanish designer and builder Navantia is sub contracted to construct and fit out the hulls at Ferrol and Fene shipyard (Spain) and transport them to the BAE Systems Australia Defence Williamstown dockyard, Victoria.
BAE Systems Australia Defence will construct and fit out the superstructures at Williamstown and integrate them with the hulls. It has subcontracted SAAB Systems Australia to develop the combat system that will have baseline commonality the the ANZAC class ships. The combat system will be responsible for ship situational awareness, planning and execution for self-defence and also responsible for enabling, controlling and monitoring many of the functional capabilities specific to the characteristics of an amphibious ship.
Internal and external communications systems will be supplied by L3 Communications and will be responsible for enabling a large part of the embarked forces capability and a range of air traffic control and watercraft control capabilities.
When will they be in Service?
The first steel cut occurred on 22 September 2008, with the initial release of HMA Ships Canberra (LHD01) and Adelaide (LHD02) anticipated to be completed in 2014 and 2015 respectively.
These vessels, which will be home ported in Sydney, will provide a significant increase in the Australian Defence Force's amphibious capability and be the largest warships the Navy has ever had, displacing approximately 6000 tonnes more than the aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne.
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Ship building milestones
- September 2008
- First steel cut
- July 2012
- LHD 1 hull arrives in Williamstown
- September 2012
- Land-Based Test Site acceptance testing complete
- 2013
- Initial in-service support contract signed
- December 2013 - January 2014
- LHD 1 delivery - acceptance into service
- February 2014
- LHD 2 hull arrives in Williamstown
- July 2015 - August 2015
- LHD 2 delivery - acceptance into service
Ships
| Ship | Pennant | Class | Commissioned |
|---|---|---|---|
| HMAS Adelaide (III) | Canberra Class | ||
| HMAS Canberra (III) | Canberra Class |
