Australia Awards $4B Contract to Austal for 8 Landing Craft Heavy Ships.

The Australian Government announced on February 20, 2026, that Austal Defence Shipbuilding Australia Pty Ltd will build eight Landing Craft Heavy vessels under a roughly AUD 4 billion Strategic Shipbuilding Agreement. The program strengthens Australia’s amphibious lift capacity while expanding Western Australia’s naval industrial base at Henderson.

The Australian Government confirmed on February 20, 2026, that Austal Defence Shipbuilding Australia Pty Ltd has secured an approximately AUD 4 billion contract to construct eight Landing Craft Heavy vessels under the Strategic Shipbuilding Agreement with the Commonwealth. The announcement, delivered by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles alongside Minister for Defence Industry Pat Conroy, marks one of the largest recent naval investments in Western Australia. The contract is scheduled for formal execution at Henderson, with Austal expected to confirm signature in a subsequent ASX filing. The program forms a central pillar of Australia’s amphibious modernization effort and signals a significant expansion of local shipbuilding capacity in Western Australia.
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Artist rendering of Austal Landing Craft Heavy LCH vessel based on Damen LST100 design for the Australian Defence Force. (Picture source: Austal)

The program establishes a long-term amphibious sealift capability built around the Damen LST100 design, adapted to Australian Defence Force requirements. Each LCH will measure approximately 100 m in length with a beam of 16 m and a displacement of about 3,900 to 4,000 t. Construction will take place at Austal’s Henderson shipyard using both company facilities and the Common User Facility, with steel cutting planned for 2026 and final delivery of the eighth vessel targeted for 2038. The 12-year build schedule signals sustained industrial activity rather than a short-cycle procurement.

From an operational standpoint, the LCH fleet is engineered to strengthen the ADF’s littoral maneuver and logistics chain across the Indo-Pacific. Each vessel will be capable of embarking more than 200 troops, as well as heavy armored assets, including up to six M1A2 SEP v3 Abrams MBTs or nine Redback IFVs. This lift capacity significantly enhances the Australian Army’s ability to reposition mechanized forces between northern bases, austere regional ports, and expeditionary shorelines without reliance on developed infrastructure. The shallow-draft LST-derived hull form is optimized for beaching operations and direct roll-on/roll-off discharge, providing tactical flexibility in contested environments.

Defense planners view the LCH as a critical complement to the Canberra-class LHD amphibious assault ships. While the LHDs provide aviation lift, C2 nodes, and joint force integration, the new heavy landing craft will deliver armored punch and sustainment throughput closer to shore. Lessons from recent regional HADR missions and observations of high-intensity conflict have reinforced the need for distributed maritime logistics to reduce vulnerability to precision-strike systems. Although full combat system specifications remain undisclosed, the vessels are expected to incorporate secure communications suites, navigation radars, and self-protection systems suited for high-threat littoral operations.

Austal Limited CEO Paddy Gregg described the award as a defining step in reinforcing sovereign naval construction. He stated that the contract generates a record order book, stabilizes earnings across a geographically diversified portfolio, and provides a long-term demand signal to Australia’s defense supply chain. Gregg noted that while Austal USA has represented a substantial share of defense revenue in recent years, the LCH program rebalances activity toward domestic production and ensures employment continuity for more than a decade.

At the industrial level, the award is expected to expand fabrication capacity, integrate digital ship design, and build skilled workforce pipelines across Western Australia. Thousands of direct and indirect jobs are projected to be created or sustained, spanning hull construction, propulsion integration, electrical systems, and platform outfitting. Austal Defence Australia Executive General Manager Strategic Shipbuilding Gavin Stewart highlighted that the LCH award follows the AUD 1.029 billion Landing Craft Medium contract signed in December 2025. Together, the LCM and LCH programs form the backbone of continuous naval construction under the Strategic Shipbuilding Agreement.

Strategically, the commitment reflects Canberra’s sharpened maritime posture under the Defence Strategic Review, which emphasized enhanced sealift and northern force projection. The LCH fleet will support amphibious assaults, sustain forward-deployed land forces, conduct regional engagement missions, and respond rapidly to HADR events. Their payload profile and endurance are designed to enable sustained shuttle operations between Darwin, Townsville, and remote Pacific locations, strengthening Australia’s operational reach within its primary area of military interest.

In parallel, Austal USA continues construction of up to 12 Landing Craft Utility vessels for the U.S. Navy at its Mobile, Alabama facility, underscoring the company’s dual-hemisphere amphibious shipbuilding footprint. The concurrent Australian and U.S. programs create potential cross-learning in modular production methods, survivability features, and supply chain resilience, reinforcing allied interoperability while preserving sovereign build capability in each nation.

As the contract moves from announcement to execution, attention will shift to detailed design validation, supplier engagement, and schedule management. For the ADF, the eight-vessel LCH fleet represents more than a shipbuilding milestone. It delivers a hardened, armored maritime logistics backbone tailored for the Indo-Pacific security environment. For Henderson and the broader defense industry, it marks a generational industrial commitment extending through 2038.

Written by Alain Servaes – Chief Editor, Army Recognition Group
Alain Servaes is a former infantry non-commissioned officer and the founder of Army Recognition. With over 20 years in defense journalism, he provides expert analysis on military equipment, NATO operations, and the global defense industry.