Navantia has launched the twelfth and last LLC fast landing craft being built for the Royal Australian Navy.
The design of these ships is based in the fast landing crafts built also by Navantia for the Spanish Navy between 2006 and 2008.
The contract for the construction of the series of 12 LLC was signed in September 2011 and the works have been executed in the Bay of Cádiz. The landing crafts are destined to operate with the ALHD 'Canberra' and ALHD 'Adelaide', strategic projection ships, similar to LHD 'Juan Carlos I', also built by Navantia in cooperation with BAE Systems. It is scheduled for all the ships to be delivered by the end of 2015.
The ships are 23.30 metres long, 6.40 metres wide and have a depth of 2.80 metres. They are powered by two 809kW diesel engines, which turn two waterjet propellers. reaching speeds of over 20 knots, their range is around 165 nautical miles.
The vessels can load an Abrams vehicle, several Army vehicles, fusiliers' company or 7.0-metre container truck.
Navantia has opened a subsidiary, Navantia Australia, in order to cooperate with the Australian Government in future options for its Navy.
