Canberra-class landing helicopter dock

An artist's impression of Canberra and Adelaide conducting an amphibious operation An artist's impression of Canberra and Adelaide conducting an amphibious operation
Class overview
Builders	Navantia, Ferrol, Spain and Tenix Defence, Victoria (Australia)
Operators	Royal Australian Navy
Preceded by	HMAS Tobruk, Kanimbla class
Succeeded by	N/A
Built	2008–2014 (est.)
In commission	2013–?
Planned	2
Completed	0
General characteristics
Type	Landing Helicopter Dock
Displacement	27,851 tonnes (30,700 tons) maximum
Length	230.8 m (760 ft)
Beam	32.0 m (105 ft)
Draught	7.18 m (23.5 ft)
Draft	7.18 m (23.5 ft)
Propulsion	1 x GE LM 2500 (17.4 MW) Combined diesel and gas turbine (CODAG), 2 x 7.2 MW diesels, 2 x 11 MW pods
Speed	Stated as 20.5 kts (maximum)
Range	8000 nm at 15 kt, 9250 nm at 12 kt
Endurance	50 days before requiring replenishment
Boats & landing craft carried	4 x LCM
Capacity	830 lane metres (3290 m2) Heavy vehicle deck: 1410 m2 Light vehicle deck: 1889 m2 Helo hangar capacity: 990 m2
Troops	978 (+ 146 additional)
Complement	243 core (+ 36 additional)
Sensors and processing systems	Giraffe AMB radar, Saab 9LV combat system
Electronic warfare & decoys	TBA
Armament	4 x 25mm Rafael Stabilized Deck Guns (Naval Bushmaster M242)
Aircraft carried	Between 16 and 24 helicopters
Aviation facilities	Flight deck with 13 degree ski-jump, 6 in-line deck landing spots and permanent deck parking space for 6 extra aircraft.

The Canberra class Landing Helicopter Dock are new amphibious assault ships being developed for the Royal Australian Navy. The Australian Government has approved a AU$3 billion project to build two LHDs, which will have air support, amphibious assault, transport and command centre roles. They are planned to replace in turn HMAS Tobruk and one of the RAN's two current Kanimbla class vessels.

Program overview

The Australian government's requirements include the capacity to transport up to 1,000 troops and 150 vehicles, including the new M1A1 Abrams tank in service with the Australian Army, have six helicopter spots on a full length flight deck for a mix of both transport and battlefield support helicopters, and a fully equipped hospital. On 20 January 2006, it was announced that the two ships would be named Canberra and Adelaide.

In August 2005, the government chose two designs to participate in a run off. The first was a modified version of the French Mistral class which was proposed by the French company Armaris. The second design was based on the Spanish Buque de Proyección Estratégica design and was proposed by the Spanish company Navantia. The Navantia design was larger, at approximately 27,000 tonnes gross displacement, but the first unit for the Spanish Navy had only just started construction, making it an unknown quantity in terms of capability. By contrast, the French design was smaller, at approximately 24,000 tonnes, but had entered service with the French Navy.

In June 2007, the Australian Minister for Defence announced that Tenix Defence was the preferred tenderer for the construction of the two large amphibious landing ships at a cost of $3 billion.[1] The ships are due to enter service from 2013. Tenix had proposed to build the Navantia design in partnership with the Spanish company.

The Australian Government stated that around 25 percent of the value of the project would involve work in Australia. This would be largely limited to construction of the superstructures of the two ships in Tenix's shipyard in Williamstown, Victoria, with some systems work done in South Australia. Consolidation of the two ships and systems integration would occur in Williamstown. To allow work to be done at Williamstown, financial support has been provided by the State Government of Victoria "to prepare the Williamstown shipyard to participate in future projects such as AWD module construction and the large amphibious ships project. The Government is also supporting a skills training program for these projects."[2]

Indicative specifications

The Canberra class ships will be the largest warships ever operated by the Royal Australian Navy and will displace up to 7,000 tonnes more than the RAN's last aircraft carrier, HMAS Melbourne. Each of the ships will be able to carry an infantry battalion.

Comparative statistics

	Mistral class variant	BPE variant	Kanimbla class	HMAS Tobruk	HMAS Melbourne (II) (aircraft carrier)
Displacement (tonnes)	24,000	27,000	8,500	5,800	20,000
Range (NM)	11,000	9,000	14,000	8,000	12,000
Crew	177	240	210	145	1070-1355
Troops	1000	1000	450	300	n/a
Vehicles (sq metres)	1000	2000	700	330	n/a
Helicopters	16 (6 spots)	16 (6 spots)	4 (3 spots)	0 (3 spots)	Up to 26 aircraft
Airplanes	n/a	Up tp 30 V/STOL aircraft	n/a	n/a	Up to 26 aircraft
Landing craft	4 LCM	4 LCM	2 LCM-8	2 LCM-8	n/a

Source: Borgu (2004) A Capability of First Resort? page 6.

Aviation capability

Australian Army S-70 Blackhawk transport helicopters operating from a U.S. Wasp class amphibious assault ship

The Canberra class ships will provide the Australian Defence Force with greatly increased naval aviation capabilities, with each ship carrying up to 24 Army and Navy helicopters. These aircraft will include Army and Navy MRH-90 transport helicopters, Army Tiger helicopter gunships and Navy S-70B Seahawk anti-submarine helicopters. Although the ships will be fitted with a ski-ramp and could be certified to operate STOVL aircraft, they will not be fitted with the radar needed to operate fixed-wing aircraft.

While the tender released for the Canberra class did not specify that the ships needed to be capable of operating STOVL fixed wing aircraft, it has been proposed that such a capacity be included in the final design. In 2004 a review by the Australian Parliament's Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade recommended that the Australian government should consider purchasing a small number of F-35B Lightning II‎ for the Fleet Air Arm to operate from the Canberra class ships. In March 2008 the RAN was reported to have requested that the government purchase a third Canberra class ship and VTOL aircraft. The same report states that the government was unlikely to approve this request, however.

File:RAN F-35.JPG

Artist's impression of an F-35 in RAN colours

The Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade's recommendation was made on the grounds that STOVL aircraft would provide deployed Australian forces with air defence and close air support. Despite the slight reduction in range and payload of STOVL F-35B compared to CTOL F-35A (and C) aircraft, they are inherently flexible in terms of operation, and can provide organic close air support right at the edge of the Field of Battle Area, which land based aircraft cannot do. An order of F-35Bs for the Canberra-class could form part of the planned order of up to 100 F-35s for the Royal Australian Air Force. The Navantia design has a ski-jump included in its initial design, and is designed to operate and sustain a mixed jet and helicopter carrier air group of up to 36 aircraft for the Spanish Navy.

Armament

The Canberra class ships will be each armed with four RAFAEL Typhoon 25 mm remote weapons systems placed at the ships' corners. These weapons will be used to defend against asymmetric threats such as small boats. It is unusual for large warships such as the Canberra class to not be armed with anti-aircraft missiles and close-in weapon systems for protection against missiles. The RAN believes that the new Hobart class destroyers and Royal Australian Air Force aircraft will be sufficient to protect the Canberras from attack, however.

See also

• Procurement programme of the Royal Australian Navy
• Victorian Defence Industry
• Wasp class amphibious assault ship

References

• Borgu, Aldo (2004). "Capability of First Resort? Australia's Future Amphibious Requirement". Australian Strategic Policy Institute. Retrieved 2007-12-17. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
• Gillis, Kim (2007). "Interview. Landing Helicopter Dock Project - Canberra Class". DefenceToday. 6 (3): Pg 28–29. ISSN 1447-0446. {{cite journal}}: |pages= has extra text (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |month= (help)
• "Amphibious Ships". Sempaphore: Newsletter of the Seapower Centre Australia, Issue 14, October 2007. Seapower Centre - Australia. 2007. Retrieved 2008-03-29.

External links

• Report by Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade
• Defence Materiel Organisation JP 2048 Phase 4a and 4b - Amphibious Ships
• Defense Industry Daily Australia Issues Official Tender for A$ 2.0B Large Amphibious Ships Program
• Official ADI large amphibious ship proposal website
• Tenix/Navantia LHD Proposal (successful bid)