German shipbuilder Luerssen says it can build small capable warships in Australia for the Royal Australian Navy within five years if the government decides to go down the corvette path.
Luerssen is well established in Australia as builder of the Navy’s Arafura-class Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs).
The company is proposing its C90 corvette for Australia, based on the Multipurpose Modular Patrol Vessels (MMPVs) it is building for the Bulgarian Navy at a yard at Varna on the Black Sea.
The C90 is a 2,300-tonne 90-metre steel-hulled warship, derived from the OPV design but with vastly increased firepower, including a 16 VLS cells, a 76mm main gun, 35mm secondary gun NSM anti-ship missiles and a pair of triple torpedo tubes. Luerssen says the vessel could be equipped with an Australian CEA radar with Saab 9LV combat system.
Whether Australia needs corvettes is likely to be decided by the independent surface warship review which will report back to the government in September.
This review emerged from the Defence Strategic Review, released in April. At the time, Defence Minister Richard Marles noted two main takeaways.
One is that the current surface fleet was crafted at a time when the Navy was acquiring conventionally powered submarines. But it’s now acquiring nuclear submarines, vastly more capable in the anti-submarine warfare role.
The other is a trend in world navies towards operating a larger number of smaller vessels, rather than small numbers of larger exquisitely capable but expensive vessels.
The DSR said the surface fleet should comprise Tier 1 and Tier 2 vessels to provide for increased strike, air defence, presence operations and anti-submarine warfare.
It didn’t define what it means by Tier 1 and Tier 2, though Tier 1 is understood to include the Navy’s three DDGs and eight Anzac frigates. Tier 2 includes combatants around the 2,000-tonne mark.
Many companies offer corvettes and are pitching to the Commonwealth, among them Navantia of Spain and possibly Babcock and TKMS.
Luerssen was quick off the mark, saying it could deliver vessels with capabilities for anti-air warfare, anti-surface warfare and anti-submarine warfare by 2028, two years sooner than anyone else.
It could do that by using its existing Australian supply chain and OPV production facility at Henderson, Western Australia.
The company said this was a one-off opportunity for the Commonwealth to purchase highly capable missile-equipped vessels of the type currently being built for the Bulgarian Navy.
It said pivoting the existing OPV production line at Henderson created exceptionally advantageous circumstances which under the procurement rules allowed Defence to do a fast-track limited tender directly to Luerssen.
Speaking to Australian reporters in Hamburg, Peter Luerssen, Head of the parent company Naval Vessels Lurssen (NVL), said the company had demonstrated that it took Australian industry content very seriously.
“We are above the threshold we needed originally. We have a great experience. We understand how the Commonwealth works and we will be in the position to respond to whatever need the government may have, in my belief, faster than any competitor,” he said.
“We can have the first ship in the water by 2028.”
In line with the DSR call for rationalisation of shipbuilding in Western Australia, Luerssen said it was keen to participate through a yet-to-be-decided arrangement, likely with Australian shipbuilder Austal.
“A joint venture between two companies is not the most efficient way but we are happy to combine in a joint company for efficiency’s sake and we would like to be one of the builders in Australia,” he said.
“We would like to be in a form to be defined involved in being the WA shipbuilder for the Commonwealth.”
He sees a role for the Commonwealth in the business.
“The best way to ensure confidence and trust in the industry is by giving the government a stake in the industry,” he asserted.
Disclaimer: Max Blenkin travelled to Europe as a guest of Luerssen Australia.