The Class Certification Society DNV has granted ‘structural approval in principle’ for the Australian Maritime Alliance’s (AMA) ‘Oboe’ design for the Australian Army’s LAND 8710 Phase 1A Littoral Manoeuvre Vessel – Medium (LMV-M) tender. The ‘Oboe’ is a state-of-the-art amphibious vessel, capable of carrying a diverse range of combat and support vehicles in service with the Australian Army and Allies. In addition to a significantly increasing load-carrying capacity over the LCM-8 vessels they will replace.
Serco Defence Managing Director Clint Thomas AM, CSC, said,”Together as AMA, Serco and Civmec are partnering with the ‘best of breed’, bringing together a powerhouse of Australian defence capability to ensure the Oboe exceeds Army requirements and operational criteria. This design represents the next-generation in amphibious capability for Army, and with a stellar line up of the best Australian Industry has to offer, AMA is set to deliver just that.”
The Oboe offers both an extended range, and generous accommodation facilities, to support long-endurance independent operations. The Oboe’s size, load carry capacity, and structural integrity will allow the Australian Defence Force to confidently deploy and operate these vessels under all environmental conditions, offering the Australian Army an immediate step-change in operational capability and bringing the inherent design flexibility to meet the challenges of the future.
The Australian Maritime Alliance is one of three currently known contenders in Australia’s program to develop a new amphibious vehicle (AV) to replace the Army’s lighter amphibious resupply cargo 5 ton vehicle (LARC-V), and an independent landing craft (ILC) to replace the current landing craft mechanized (LCM-8) vessels. Navantia with its Kodal 75S design, and a team composed of Raytheon Australia, Austal and BMT, have already revealed their designs for the program. Australia launched the tender for the replacement of LARC-V and LCM-8 in February 2021. It plans to invest up to A$800 million to acquire the new fleets of amphibious vehicles and landing craft.
