Austal wins contract to build Australia's new heavy landing craft

A computer-generated visualisation of the 100 m LCH that will be constructed by Austal, based on the Damen LCT100 design. (Austal)

Austal has been awarded the contract to build eight landing craft heavy (LCH) vessels for the Australian Department of Defence (DoD), the company announced on 20 February.

The vessels, each measuring about 100 m in length and based on the Damen LST100 design, will be constructed at Austal's facilities, and at the state-owned engineering hub known as the common user facility in Henderson, Western Australia.

According to Austal's announcement, work under the approximately AUD4 billion (USD2.81 billion) contract is due to begin in 2026, with the final craft scheduled for delivery in 2038.

The LCH contract follows the award of an AUD1.029 billion landing craft medium (LCM) contract to Austal in December 2025.

Both programmes come under the ambit of Australia's Project Land 8710, which seeks to enhance the Australian Defence Force's amphibious assault and logistical capabilities.

The LCH vessels will provide lift for armoured vehicles including up to six M1A2 SEP v3 Abrams main battle tanks or nine Redback infantry fighting vehicles, in addition to more than 200 embarked soldiers.

For more, please see:

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