| The Defence White Paper penciled in the replacement of the RAN's 6 LCH's starting in the middile of next decade with a class of six larger, faster, more seworthy landing craft / ships. The Navy magazine has postulated that something akin to the French Batral class Light Ferry Ship would be suitable.
From Wikipedia:
Displacement: 770 t, 1330 t fully loaded
Length: 80 m
Beam: 13 m
Draught: 3 m
Propulsion: 2 diesel SACM Wärtsilä UD 33 V12 M4, 3600 hp (2650 kW), 2 4-bladed propellers
Speed: 16 knots
Range: 4,500 nautical miles (8,330 km) at 13 knots (24 km/h)
Endurance: 15 days without passengers, 10 days with passengers
Boats and landing
craft carried: 2 LCVP, 2 whaleboats, one 10-seat and one 6-seat Zodiac
Complement: 3 officers, 15 petty officers, 26 quarter-masters
Sensors and
processing systems: 1 DECCA 1226 navigation radar Inmarsat system
Armament: 2 × 40 mm anti-air guns, 2 × 12.7 mm machine guns, 2 × 81mm mortars
Aircraft carried: landing point of a 6-tonne helicopter
Interesting, if the RAN are looking at such large ships then why not look outside the square and develop a class of very small (1500-2000t) LPD's with a well dock able to operate a single LCU or LCU(R) and a large helo deck able to operate a Chinook or NH90? |