Austal Australia is teaming with local defence industry leaders BMT and Raytheon Australia to deliver the new Australian Independent Littoral Manoeuvre Vessel, or ILMV, for the Australian Army.

Based on a proven design and carefully tailored for the Australian environment, the Australian ILMV is a world class, future ready capability and sovereign solution aligned with the Army’s new and complex littoral manoeuvre requirements.

If selected to deliver the Army’s LAND 8710-1A program, Raytheon Australia will lead the team to deliver the BMT-designed vessel, which will be built by Austal at the Henderson shipyard in Western Australia.

Austal Limited Chief Executive Officer Paddy Gregg said the highly experienced WA-based shipyard team has the capability and capacity to deliver this specific class of ships.

“As one of Australia’s largest shipbuilders with an acknowledged world class operation and decades of Australian Defence Force experience, we have an existing workforce that is trusted to deliver on multiple programs from our Henderson shipyard. Our unique ability to do production design in our shipyard will also minimise risk and cost to the LAND 8710-1A program,” said Gregg.

“Our team has a successful track record in delivering ships every three months and this project will be key to providing a continuous ship building program and preserving local jobs in this vital sovereign industry.”

Michael Ward, Raytheon Australia’s managing director, said his team, in collaboration with Austal and BMT, is ready to deliver a fielded and safe littoral manoeuvre capability to the Australian Army.

“Raytheon Australia knows how complex it is to bring a ship design to life – from training to operational testing and evaluation to sea trials and certifications. Our experience has taught us that this is a complex endeavour, requiring unique expertise that we have invested in developing over the past 22 years of delivering large-scale defence projects on time and to budget,” Ward said.

“From our work to deliver the Hobart class destroyers, and our current evergreening activities on the LAND19 Phase 7B program, we have the relevant expertise, processes, tools and capacity to bring this new class of ships to life for the Australian Army. The Australian ILMV is a resilient and flexible vessel that meets Army’s requirements. It is robust and capable, and future ready with clear growth and upgrade opportunities to ensure our solution supports the Army in Motion as they respond to accelerated warfare,” he said.

“Importantly, we are ready to start work now to meet Army’s timeline and have the experience to work with them to realise the Australian ILMV’s full operational capability” Ward said.

BMT Senior Business Development Manager, Trevor Dove said the vessel had been custom-made specifically for the Australian environment.

“We are thrilled to be able to offer our customised Australian Independent Littoral Manoeuvre Vessel design, optimising stability, speed, endurance, fuel, stores and accommodation for independent and in-company operations. Our Australian ILMV is based on BMT’s existing landing craft hull form, a mature design in the running for LAND8710-1A,” Dove said.

“It is ready to be delivered, with growth margins for a future ready Army.” Dove said the vessel had been custom-made specifically for the Australian environment.

“Our partnership with Raytheon Australia and Austal brings the experience and pedigree capable of delivering a low-risk solution designed specifically for current and future Australian Army Littoral Manoeuvre requirements.”