Federal Defence Industries Minister Pat Conway is today in Perth to announce a $2 billion project to build a fleet of army vessels in Henderson had been brought forward.
The project, due to deliver its first vessel in 2026, will include the construction of 26 significant landing craft for the Australian Army (18 medium and eight heavy) and is expected to generate 1100 jobs.
A concept design of army’s new landing craft medium vessel.
“We are bringing these projects forward, we are accelerating them to acknowledge the strategic circumstances that we face. We are bringing forward delivery of landing craft medium by two years, we will begin construction next year, with the first one to be delivered in 2026,” Conway said.
The vessels will be built at Austal Ship’s maritime precinct in Henderson, with WA’s Defence Minister Paul Papalia claiming the area will become a continuous ship building site.
“This is a huge announcement not just for WA but for the nation, for the first time we are going to have continuous shop building in Western Australia, that means generations of jobs. People can grow up knowing that if they want they can enter an industry that can employ them for their entire careers,” he said.
Today’s announcement of the army vessels project comes on the eve of the Indian Ocean Defence and Security Conference, which, for the first time, will host all three AUKUS admirals from the US, UK and Australia.