1 IMDEX 2025 Digital Banner 01 728x90pxDefence has accepted the first Arafura class Offshore Patrol Vessel NUSHIP Arafura for further test and evaluation ahead of delivery to the Royal Australian Navy. NUSHIP Arafura is the first of class vessel delivered under project SEA 1180, built by Luerssen Australia at the Osborne Naval Shipyard in South Australia.

This project will deliver six Arafura class Offshore Patrol Vessels to Navy, with the first two constructed at Osborne. The remaining four vessels are under construction at Henderson in Western Australia. The Arafura class vessels will be part of a wider Navy Minor War Vessel Fleet supporting civil maritime security and enhanced regional engagement in the Southwest Pacific and maritime Southeast Asia.

Deputy Secretary Naval Shipbuilding and Sustainment Jim McDowell said the delivery of the first Arafura class Offshore Patrol Vessel was an important milestone in the Australian Government’s investment in Naval Shipbuilding and Sustainment. “The delivery of the first of class vessel to Defence highlights Defence’s commitment to working through complex projects to deliver critical capability to our Australian Defence Force, built here in Australia,” Mr McDowell said.

NUSHIP Arafura will now sail to its homeport at HMAS Stirling in Western Australia, before commissioning into the Royal Australian Navy fleet later this year.

The OPVs make up part of a wider Navy Minor War Vessel Fleet providing essential capabilities for the Australian Navy and replacing the Armidale Class and Cape Class Patrol Boats.

Australia’s Nova Systems has played a pivotal role throughout the construction of the new contemporary fleet of OPVs, offering extensive expertise in naval architecture, Test and Evaluation, engineering management, logistics, seaworthiness and acceptance activities. Nova Systems provided oversight of system integration, ensuring that the ships meet the stringent requirements and specifications of NSSG and the Royal Australian Navy.

“Our involvement in this project underscores our commitment to delivering high-quality, reliable capabilities to the Australian Defence Force,” James Luck, Nova Systems Maritime Portfolio Manager, said. “All involved should be proud of their significant contribution to the enhancement of Australia’s naval and shipbuilding capabilities.”

This new modern vessel is one of two OPVs being constructed in South Australia by shipbuilder Luerssen Australia, with an additional four being built at Henderson in Western Australia. The primary role of the OPV is to undertake maritime patrol and response duties, alongside Australian Border Force, and other Australian Defence Force units and regional partners. Nova Systems has been a long-term partner and remains committed to supporting the Arafura Class OPV Program.

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22 COMMENTS

  1. Too little too late – we all know that this Project is a total fiasco. Yet they seem to be slapping themselves on the back claiming they have done a great job.

    Nothing else really to be said.

    • Easily – the parent ships for Brunei have a 57mm main gun and a quadpack of Exocet SSMs. The NSM the RAN is getting are lighter than Exocets so it would be no problem whatsoever. Ask Defence / RAN why they removed these weapons.

  2. Still no explanation to the Australian public about the delay in delivering these ships.
    An excellent basic design but Navy didn’t want them so they got downgraded and then the purchase halved. What a travesty.
    Remember the Bathurst class in WW2? Not every mission needs a tier one vessel.
    These ships need to be armed at least to the level of the Brunei ships (or upsized to a 90 metre vessel like the Bulgarian ships) and the contract for 12 reinstated.
    That won’t happen though as our Navy is run by fools.

    • Correct. Luerrsen put in a proposal to morph the Arafura construction into 2200 tonne corvettes based on the Bulgarian C90 design. These would have have 80% commonality with the Arafura design, 16 Mk41 VLS cells etc. They could have all been built in Henderson using the existing Australian supply chain. I have asked over and over why this offer was ignored but cannot get anyone in Defence, the RAN or the government to answer.

      • Ahhh am I seeing this wrong?
        Had the navy built these vessels with sufficient armament that could have been built out to 12 vessels plus, the. With the 9 Hunters and 3 Hobart you have a proper balanced high low mixed.
        But with those vessels now being under armed and the Hunter program cut right back there is room for the general purpose frigates.
        If this class was properly equipped there is no need for the general frigate program to exist.
        Either way billions more wasted with the tax paying public having no say on how it’s spent.

  3. This is a perfect example of why we need a Coast Guard. The RAN crews can then man the rest of the under manned vessels in the RAN.

    • The RAN can’t find people to man its current ships.
      Where is the manpower for a Coast Guard going to come from?
      All a Coat Guard would do is add yet another layer of bureaucracy and lots more people with lots of braid on their shoulders doing nothing all day.
      Same with the idea of transferring all the patrol boats to the ABF – just shifts the problem of lack of people to somewhere else.
      It’s only going to get worse.
      How they think they are going to keep even half of the 11 GPF’s manned I don’t know

  4. These projects where doomed to failure from the start.The Admirals are fixated on Big Nuclear Submarines. Money not spent on AUKUS is wasted, manpower not trained to sail Nuclear Subs are wasted. They are terrified that any money not spent on that project will lessen their chance to be the big wigs in a Nuclear Navy. None of this is helped by the Navy not having a clear strategy of what they need to do. Other than being a taxi service for the Army no clear strategy seems evident. Buying ships and then figuring out how to use them seems to be how they operate. I always thought that you figure out what you need to do, then get the ships you need to implement it. Instead of requiring Frigates to do constabulary roles The Arafura, armed with a 40mm or 57mm Gun, 50 cal or mini guns , containers for a mix of AS and AA Missiles ( even maybe a ASW ) patrolling the Littoral waters around Australia would allow the the big ships to concentrate on the tasks they were built for .

  5. I wonder if we will ever find out why delivery took so long? Now that NVL Group has divested from the SEA1180, surely somebody at the former Lurssen Australia or NVL Group has an axe to grind?

    Much has been said about up-arming the Arafura OPV to at least the same level as it’s parent the Darusaalam class. Quad-packing the the NSM and installing a new 30-40mm HRoF cannon should be “trivial” but it will need an additional Radar system (not so trivial) in order to search for and track targets.

    However all of this is besides the point as to why even consider up-arming the Arafura? Well… to help fill a capability gap created by poor government decision making. As patrol vessels they should be quite capable and the Bushmaster Typhoon should be more than sufficient.

    As for the future I see the Arafura’s potentially playing two different roles. The first is their intended purpose as large expeditionary OPV, flying the flag and making their presence known with regular port calls in our Indo-Pacific region while doing their typical constabulary duties. The Royal Navy operates their River class OPV’s (very similar capability wise to the Arafura) very successfully in the same fashion.

    The 2nd would be as platforms that can launch and recover uncrewed underwater vehicle’s for hydrographic survey, mine countermeasures and the monitoring of critical undersea infrastructure. All capabilities are either divesting from or lack. The slip ramp at the stern, and large undercover working area under the helipad is perfect for this, not mention any number of systems that could be deployed in containerised form from the helipad itself.

    There is plenty of potential for a bright future for the class after the debacle the project has been so far.

  6. Fantastic! Now we have 1 of a planned 6 (that was suppose to be 20) OPV’s that are in reality simply fisheries patrol vessels. But that’s OK, cause the navy can charter them out or chase the banana prawn season. With the way the Australian navy is planning and building, Australia should have a credible navy in around 30-40 years and no one is going to be able to be credited for it. What a shame.

  7. I’m sure 2 pirates in a very small dingy would fear Arafura’s 25mm gun.

    But, if the pirates toted an RPG7 (up close and low) they might outgun Arafura.

  8. Every time I hear a senior RAN officer speak these days they seek to remind us that Australia is a trading nation, critically dependent on orderly access to sea lanes. What they fail to mention is that every sea journey ends in a port and that a significant portion of Australia will increasingly move in sub-sea cables and pipelines, not ships. Port Hedland alone has an annual export tonnage of around 600 million tonnes.

    It seems that the open production line of the Arafura class was the perfect opportunity to build a fleet of littoral vessels that would contribute to keeping domestic port facilities and channels free from asymmetric threats such as sea mines, drones and UUVs. Alongside a more traditional constabulary role, such a capability could be containerised and based around anti-drone, short-range surface to air defence and roboticised sub-surface vehicles, all of which are presumably deployable on a ship such as the Arafura.

    The fun and games currently going on in the Baltic also point to the need for the RAN to have a capability suited to monitoring and observing critical offshore infrastructure including rigs, pipelines and cables. Again, this hardly needs a full blue water combatant capability, but rather flexibility and low operational costs.

    The decisions around Arafura seem to be a significant missed opportunity.

    • I agree completely. As I have pointed out, Luerssen offered to shift production of the Arafura class to a slightly larger 2200 tonne version with VLS and CEA radar suite that would have made them perfect for the functions you describe. Why this offer was ignored is totally beyond me. The Australian supply chain is in place. CIVMEC could have the first one in the water two years from now and then deliver at 9 month intervals.

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