Interesting. I thought the project had actually moved back towards the original requirement since the ‘lack of technical maturity’ statement….hence the downselect of those three yards?.

The trajectory after that, probably accurate at-the-time, statement seemed to suggest, as you say, a mildly warmed over Armidale (or similar) to gap fill until something that actually fit 1180 directly could be programmed in. This selection seems to bypass that though it seems?.

The PPB I thought was a curious decision. The Damen design that was eliminated still looks the superior one to me…the Austal design looks quite modest, likely a good one to stand up a steel-working capability for a yard, I’m not so sure that getting Austal additional manufacturing capability should have been the primary selection criteria though!?.

It has been an ever changing project, 2 Governments, 5 Prime Ministers (Kevin Rudd twice) so a lot of changes to keep up with.

While I do believe the Damen to be the best option, the political climate at the moment is fragile, so your guess would be as good as mine or anyone else’s !!

Yes a Damen design has been selected and being built as a helicopter training ship, it will not be a commissioned ship in the RAN, it will be civilian manned and operated. But having said that you would hope/assume that it will have the upper hand.

The Austal decision is purely a political one, I have spoken to many about this, both former serving, current serving, and they are also at a loss 🙁

Talk on this has been pretty quiet at the moment, most attention seems to be on the imminent decision and announcement of the Sea 1000 CEP winner, National Security Council has been meeting over the last few days, and recommendations are said to be going to Cabinet at the moment for final decision.

Cheers