Austal secures second Australian Landing Craft Heavy contract

MELBOURNE — Shipbuilder Austal Defence Australia has been selected to build eight Landing Craft Heavy (LCH) vessels for the Australian military under an approximately $4 billion Australian dollar ($2.82 billion) contract, the company announced today.

The contract will see the 100-meter (328 feet) long vessels based on the Dutch Damen LST100 designs built at Henderson’s Common User Facility in western Australia with construction due to commence later this year.

“This contract reflects the growing strength and success of Austal’s Australian operations — and Australian industry — within the national shipbuilding and sustainment enterprise,” Austal Limited CEO Paddy Gregg said in the company announcement.

While the announcement didn’t specify a first delivery date, it noted that the last vessel is scheduled to be delivered in 2038. The 4,000-tonne vessels will each be able to embark 200 soldiers and six M1 Abrams tanks or nine Redback infantry vehicles.   

The latest contract, which comes under Australia’s Project Land 8710 Phase 2 program, comes after an earlier selection by the Australian government for Austal to build medium landing craft at the Henderson Defence Precinct under the first phase of the program.

Australia’s Department of Defence said in a separate announcement that the LCHs, which it says would have a payload of 500 tonnes, would greatly enhance its amphibious capability and humanitarian and disaster relief.

Separately, Austal will be a key company in Australia’s Henderson Defence Precinct adjacent to the existing shipbuilding and engineering facilities, where eight Mogami-class frigates for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) will be built along with contingency docking capabilities for Australia’s future nuclear-powered submarine fleet.

Austal entered into a strategic shipbuilding agreement with the Australian government in August 2025 that seeks to establish a continuous shipbuilding pipeline of work to design, construct, integrate and deliver key programs.  

However, Australian Minister for Defence Industry Pat Conroy warned in a radio interview after today’s announcement that Austal was not a shoo-in to be selected to build the frigates.

“They have to demonstrate a value for money and continued efficiencies and productivity through that continuous naval shipbuilding approach. But they are in a good position if they can deliver on the two landing craft projects.”