LCH replacement

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glenhowells
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LCH replacement

Post by glenhowells »

Is there any news on the replacements for the LCH's or has that been scuppered ?

Cheers Glen
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MikeJames
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Re: LCH replacement

Post by MikeJames »

Nothing in the White Paper, but in the greater scheme of things it is a relatively minor capability so that could change in the future.

The capabilities of Adelaide, Canberra and Choules make the traditional LCH role a little redundant.

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sjbatche
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Re: LCH replacement

Post by sjbatche »

It seems that there is no replacement on the horizon for the LCH.

The Defence White Paper of 2012 had identified the replacement of the LCH under JP2048 Phase 5.

JP2048 Phase 5 was to acquire six new Heavy Landing Craft with improved ocean going capabilities able to transport armoured vehicles, trucks, stores and people. It was to provide a capability to conduct independent small scale regional amphibious operations or support the LHD as part of an Amphibious Task Group.

The original plan called for a Year-of-Decision between FY2017-18 to FY2020-21 with an
Initial Operating Capability in FY2022-23 to FY2023-24.

The 2016 White Paper seems to have changed that plan with no reference to a project to replace the LCH.

For those interested in what the ADF has in the pipeline over the next few years I would recommend having a browse through the Department of Defence 2016 Integrated Investment Program. This is an easy to read document that shows the state of play of current and proposed ADF capability out to about 2035. The public version of this document can be downloaded -
http://www.defence.gov.au/whitepaper/Do ... rogram.pdf
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MikeJames
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Re: LCH replacement

Post by MikeJames »

The attitude to the LCH within Defence is "Lets see how we go with the new LHDs, combined with Choules before we worry about that"

The ship to shore capabilities of the embarked landing craft on Adelaide and Canberra (four LCM-1E each), plus the single LCU Mark 10, the LCM-8 or two LCVPs carried by Choules, together with Choules embarked Mexeflotes are seen as probably adequate for the RAN for the next decade or more.

One of the key issues the RAN always had with the LCHs was their very slow speed of advance, at 10 knots they weren't able to keep up with even Tobruk's 17-18 knots, something that any sort of seaway adversely affected. This had serious issues for any sort of operation that required them to actually go somewhere 'interesting' (read into an active conflict zone), pretty much assuring that the LCHs became a protected species (not to be shot at)

The RAN, if they do go down the path of a LCH requirement, wants something with a sustained speed of at 20 knots, beaching capability being a secondary consideration.

Mike
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