Raytheon, BMT, Austal Unveil Australian Independent Littoral Maneuver Vessel Design

Raytheon Australia, BMT and Austal Australia are working together in a bid to deliver the new Australian Independent Littoral Maneuver Vessel, or ILMV, for the Australian Army.

If selected to deliver the Army’s LAND 8710-1A program, Raytheon Australia will lead the team to deliver the BMT-designed vessel, which will be built by Austal at the Henderson shipyard in Western Australia. Thee Australian ILMV is based on a proven design and tailored for the Australian environment, the Australian ILMV.

BMT Senior Business Development Manager, Trevor Dove said, “We are thrilled to be able to offer our customized Australian Independent Littoral Manoeuvre Vessel design, optimizing stability, speed, endurance, fuel, stores and accommodation for independent and in-company operations. Our Australian ILMV is based on BMT’s existing landing craft hull form, a mature design in the running for LAND8710-1A.

“It is ready to be delivered, with growth margins for a future ready Army.” Dove said the vessel had been custom-made specifically for the Australian environment.”

Michael Ward, Raytheon Australia’s managing director, said, “Raytheon Australia knows how complex it is to bring a ship design to life – from training to operational testing and evaluation to sea trials and certifications. Our experience has taught us that this is a complex endeavor, requiring unique expertise that we have invested in developing over the past 22 years of delivering large-scale defense projects on time and to budget,” Ward said.

“From our work to deliver the Hobart class destroyers, and our current evergreening activities on the LAND19 Phase 7B program, we have the relevant expertise, processes, tools and capacity to bring this new class of ships to life for the Australian Army. The Australian ILMV is a resilient and flexible vessel that meets Army’s requirements. It is robust and capable, and future ready with clear growth and upgrade opportunities to ensure our solution supports the Army in Motion as they respond to accelerated warfare,” he said.

“Importantly, we are ready to start work now to meet Army’s timeline and have the experience to work with them to realise the Australian ILMV’s full operational capability,” Ward said.

Austal Limited Chief Executive Officer Paddy Gregg said, “As one of Australia’s largest shipbuilders with an acknowledged world class operation and decades of Australian Defence Force experience, we have an existing workforce that is trusted to deliver on multiple programs from our Henderson shipyard. Our unique ability to do production design in our shipyard will also minimize risk and cost to the LAND 8710-1A program,” said Gregg.

“Our team has a successful track record in delivering ships every three months and this project will be key to providing a continuous shipbuilding program and preserving local jobs in this vital sovereign industry.”