Australia’s largest-ever Navy ship, HMAS Canberra, is set to become party of the Australian naval fleet.
The 230 meter-long amphibious landing ship has a price tag of $1.5 billion and is touted by Navy as a game-changing war ship with a humanitarian heart.
“It has a significant capacity to provide humanitarian relief,” Captain Jonathan Satleir told SBS.
“It can do a lot. At this stage of the game we are driving towards is to be able to operate all four of our landing craft and utilise the full capacity that is sitting here on the flight deck.”
Known as a Landing Helicopter Dock, or LHD, the vessel’s hull was built in Spain and was designed for shallow waters.
The Navy said the ship was expected to be able to land a force of more than 2000 personnel by helicopter and water craft, along with all their weapons.
It represented a major escalation in the amphibious lift capability of the Australian Defence Force.
"At this stage of the game we are driving towards is to be able to operate all four of our landing craft and utilise the full capacity that is sitting here on the flight deck."
The 27,000 ton war machine had a crew of 400 but could carry and sustain 1100 fully equipped infantry troops.
It would also do the Army and the Navy’s heavy lifting, able to carry 110 trucks and armoured vehicles up to and including Abrams main battle tanks.
It could house 18 helicopters and up to eight medium lift choppers would be able to operate simultaneously from six landing points on the flight deck.
It would be officially put into service with the Navy and handed over to Navy Chief Vice-Admiral Tim Barrett at Garden Island in Sydney on Friday.
Her sister ship, the Adelaide, was still under construction at the BAE Systems Dockyard at Williamstown, Victoria and was due to be commissioned in 2016.
