Rivalry building for amphibious ships

THE competition to determine which new amphibious ships Australia will buy, and who will build them, is on in earnest. The outcome will determine which ships the next generation of Australian soldiers operate from and which local defence companies retain a stake in the naval shipbuilding industry. Two designs are under consideration for two vessels that will ultimately be christened HMAS Canberra and HMAS Adelaide. French company Armaris has teamed with Australia’s biggest defence company, ADI Limited, to offer the 22,000-tonne Mistral-class ship; Spanish firm Navantia has teamed with Tenix to offer a 27,000-tonne design, the BPE.