AMA joins forces with IMC for Australian Army’s LAND 8710

Australian Maritime Alliance (AMA), a joint venture between Serco and Civmec, has teamed up with IMC Naval Architects to deliver a state-of-the-art solution for the Australian Army’s LAND 8710 Phase 1A program.

For the project, AMA is offering a littoral manoeuvre vessel-medium (LMV-M) design, ‘Oboe’, with IMC’s complementary capabilities.

According to the alliance, the addition of IMC as an Australian naval architecture and marine engineering consultant brings a wide portfolio of local skills, experience and expertise reinforcing AMA’s sovereign proposal.

Said to represent a step-change in amphibious operations capability for the Army, the Oboe features a through-deck design, allowing for more flexible load/offload options and rapid ramp-to-ramp marriages with amphibious and sealift ships.

The design offers seakeeping and load carrying capabilities, with Oboe’s three-deck design allowing the crew accommodation and engineering spaces to benefit from large dedicated full-width compartments, and brings over 200 square metres of useable vehicle deck to facilitate mixed load configurations.

Serco Defence’s managing director, Clint Thomas, said the AMA is maximising Australian industry skills for the complex project for Army, ensuring shipbuilding expertise remains in-country long-term.

This summer, the class certification society DNV granted structural approval in principle (AiP) for the AMA’s design for the Australian Army’s LAND 8710 phase 1A LMV-M tender.