Serco tests amphibious ship design

Serco Australia has completed tank testing for its provisional landing craft design to meet a federal government call for a replacement of its amphibious vessel fleet.

A 1/16th scale model of Serco’s design (pictured) underwent extensive testing involving speed and performance trials in the towing tank at Australian Maritime College (AMC) in Launceston.

The AMC tank is the largest in Australia, with data on how the vessel will behave under differing load conditions and perform at sea at various speeds and sea-states to be fed back into the design process.

Serco’s design is named Oboe 1 in honour of amphibious operations undertaken by the Australian Army during WW2, and is the result of an Australian-international design collaboration.

The government’s $800 million LAND 8710 (Phase 1) program will replace the army’s LARC-V Amphibious Resupply vehicle and the larger Independent Landing Craft (ILC) vessels.

A consortium of Navantia Australia and Rheinmetall Defence Australia and Perth shipbuilder Austal are also bidding for the contract.

Over the past decade, Serco has delivered more than a dozen large vessels for naval service under the Fleet Marine Services Contract.

Pictures: Serco Australia

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