RFA Largs Bay, a 16,000 tonne landing ship Source: Supplied
Posted on 04/06/2011 9:13:18 PM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
Defence buys "value for money" ship
From: AAP April 06, 2011 12:31PM
Australia is to buy a near-new surplus British navy amphibious landing ship at what appears a bargain $100 million pricetag.
Defence Minister Stephen Smith said Australia had been successful in its bid for RFA Largs Bay, a 16,000 tonne landing ship launched in 2003 and commissioned in 2006.
The ship is set to be decommissioned as a cost saving measure under the UK government's Strategic Defence and Security Review released last October.
Mr Smith said Australia would pay 65 million pounds or $A100 million at the current exchange rate.
He said the book value was around 130 million pounds.
"So we believe it is very good value for money," he told reporters.
The new vessel is expected to arrive by year's end and be in service in early 2012, providing the navy with a much-needed amphibious heavy lift capability.
Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar. .End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar. That follows well-publicised problems with older landing ships HMAS Manoora and HMAS Kanimbla, both ex-US Navy vessels launched in 1970 and acquired by Australia in 1995.
The government announced last month Manoora would be retired but repairs to Kanimbla will proceed, with the vessel back in service in April 2012.
With a major new amphibious capability set to enter service far earlier than expected, defence and the government have yet to decide whether to retire Kanimbla now and save on repair costs.
Mr Smith said the arrival of
(Excerpt) Read more at theaustralian.com.au ...
RFA Largs Bay, a 16,000 tonne landing ship Source: Supplied
What the heck is RFA? Whatever happened to HMS?
RFA (Royal Fleet Auxilary). Similar to the Military Sealift Command (MSC). The MSC ships usually are designated USNS rather than USS.
That’s a big ship! Big enough to increase the entry of asylum seekers ten-fold.
Better the Aussies than the scrapyard I suppose...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.