Austal Limited teamed with Raytheon Australia to bid for the upcoming Australian Government tender to build two amphibious ships, which is due to be issued in early 2005. “By combining Austal’s impressive track record of on time, on budget shipbuilding with Raytheon's expertise in electronic systems, we have created a powerful team to build and support the new amphibious vessels, along with considerable potential to bid for other naval contracts in the future,” said Austal’s Managing Director, Mr Bob McKinnon.
The amphibious vessel project has an indicative cost of $1.5 to $2 billion. The preferred tenderer is likely to be identified by late 2005, with in-service delivery planned between 2010 and 2014.