SERCO completes landing craft tank testing

Serco Australia has completed an extensive round of tank testing for its provisional landing craft design, delivering next-generation amphibious capabilities for the Australian Defence Force (ADF) for its LAND 8710 Phase 1 program.

Under Project LAND 8710 Phase 1 Defence will select a contractor to design, build and maintain landing craft to enhance ADF’s amphibious capabilities in littoral waters and to enable independent deployment throughout the region.

The tank testing of a 1/16th scale model of Serco’s design was completed at the Australian Maritime College (AMC) in Launceston. The model underwent a rigorous series of speed and performance trials utilising the impressive capabilities of the towing tank at the AMC, a specialist institute of the University of Tasmania.

The AMC tank is the largest facility of its kind in Australia and gives valuable data as to how the vessel will behave under differing load conditions and how it will dynamically perform at sea at various speeds and sea-states. The results of the AMC trials will be fed back into Serco’s design and further refine performance specifications to address ADF requirements.

The staff at AMC are fully independent of Serco’s industry team, allowing the 8710 design team to benefit from unbiased empirical data and feedback. While the current Serco design reflects a mature set of operational criteria it offers inherent flexibility and is scalable to meet specific ADF requirements tailored to meet Australia’s unique operational circumstances.