Luerssen Australia announced it has appointed a new project director, David Miller, for the Arafura Class Offshore Patrol Vessel Program. Prior to joining Luerssen Australia, Miller worked closely on a number of Defence projects, including the design and build of the ANZAC Class Frigates and the re-design of a commercial tanker into HMAS Sirius.
Miller has also been involved in the design, structural remediation and in-service support of many other vessel types in Australia. Most recently, Miller has been consulting within the Defence sector and previously served as the Executive General Manager – Defence at Serco Asia Pacific.
Luerssen Australia Chief Executive Officer, Jens Nielsen, is delighted with the new appointment who will report to him. “We are very pleased to have David on board with us at Luerssen Australia. He brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the Program and we are looking forward to working together to deliver formidable vessels for the Royal Australian Navy,” said Mr. Nielsen.
David Miller said he is excited to be joining the team. “I am happy to join Luerssen Australia as the new Project Director, particularly with some key milestones coming up. I look forward to working closely with the team as well as Defence to deliver a successful program.”
Luerssen Australia is employing Australian workers, in Australian shipyards, using Australian steel to provide the Royal Australian Navy the vessels it needs in the future to fight and win.
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it’s such a tragedy that the 19th Century thinking of the powers that be in the R.A.N. are determined to see that these ships are never permitted to be used to their full potential.
Totally agree. At a RIMPAC exercise two of the Brunei parent ships conducted a coordinated Exocet attack on a surface target. The RAN? At the moment all that they have are two .50 cal machine guns per ship.
Are the Brunei vessels capable of any better speed than what we’re getting?
I assume not. The propulsion system is the same with 2 MTU diesels. That gives good speed/range performance.
David Miller may just have accepted a poisoned chalice
Perhaps – but Dave has a huge amount of experience with Australian naval programs.
Kym, could the Arafura class be heavily modified to be floating missile arsenal ship? With a 36 cell vls taking the place of the heli deck? I see the debate about the hunter class being under armed (presumably due to a lack of vls). Could cheap arsenal ships be a force multiplier?
There are any number of ways of greatly increasing the firepower of an Arafura. One of many interesting ideas is to place a C-Dome system on its very large rear deck, giving the ship a medium-range air defence capability.
These ships at 1600 tonnes are crying out to be weaponised – and we could be cranking them out at 9 month intervals.
Spot on