Fleet Air Arm Association of Australia

RAN Training for LHD Ships

26 July 2011

Sailors will soon begin using software producing 3-D effects to help them train for duties aboard the new Canberra Class LHD ships due to enter RAN service from 2014.

Defence has contracted a private company, KBR in Canberra, to create the interactive, three-dimensional replica of the first LHD scheduled to be delivered in the middle of the decade - HMAS Canberra.

Using the software, up to 100 personnel at any one time can use a 'virtual ship' to participate in simulated exercises and emergency response scenarios from all over the country without having to be in the same location.

Minister for Defence Materiel, Jason Clare, said the LHDs were different to any ship the Navy had ever sailed and the simulation would give sailors a head-start on training to operate the vessels.

"It means our sailors can start learning how to operate these new ships years before they begin operations. Helicopter pilots can land a 'virtual' helicopter and Navy engineers can train on the ship's 'virtual' engines.

"The level of detail is incredible - sailors can even find the bunk they'll sleep in on board," he said.

The hull of the first LHD was launched in February in Spain where it is being constructed by Navantia. This hull will arrive in Melbourne next year for further work to be completed at the Williamstown Shipyard before it becomes operational in late 2014. Australia's second LHD will become operational the following year.

The LHDs will be the largest ships the Navy has ever operated, eclipsing Australia's last aircraft carrier, HMAS Melbourne. Each ship is 230 metres long and can carry a combined armed battlegroup of more than 1000 personnel, 100 armoured vehicles and 12 helicopters. They also include a 40-bed hospital.

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