 | Fleet Air Arm |
| Fleet Air Arm |
The largest ships ever built for the Royal Australian Navy, the LHDs (Amphibious Assault Ship) are being built as a collaboration between Navantia and BAE Systems - Maritime. The ships' roles are to embark, transport and deploy an embarked Army force along with equipment and aviation units, and carry out/support humanitarian missions.
The first ship, named HMAS Canberra, is due to be commissioned in January 2014 and the second ship, HMAS Adelaide, is planned to commission in June 2015.
The ship is a conventional steel mono hull design with the superstructure located on the starboard side of the flight deck. There are four main decks: the Well Dock and Heavy Vehicle Deck for heavy vehicles and/or cargo; Main Accommodation Deck, including the Primary Casualty Reception Facility; Hangar and Light Vehicle Deck for light weight vehicles and cargo; and the Flight Deck.
Accommodation is provided for 1400 personnel; approximately 400 ship’s company including the watercraft and flight deck crews and 1000 embarked force personnel. The LHD will be jointly crewed with personnel from Navy, Army and the Air Force forming the ship’s company.
The LHD's flight deck is 202.3m long and 32m wide (4750m2), allowing the ship to operate a range of ADF rotary wing aircraft including NRH-90 helicopters, CH-47 Chinooks, Blackhawks, Seahawks and the future Navy combat helicopter.
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