Apr 29, 20201 min
Updated: Jun 16, 2020
Dr Robbin Laird, The Coming of the Australian Arafura Class Offshore Patrol Vessel: A Case Study of Building a New Platform for the Australian Fifth Generation Force, The Williams Foundation, April 2020
The Arafura Class Offshore Patrol Vessel is the first of the new build platforms.
It provides the template with regard to the entire reset of how the Australians are seeking to build out their integrated distributed force.
The contours of the new template are in place and can be identified and this report provides an initial identification and assessment of the new approach.
The new build OPV is not just a new platform; it is the spearhead of a new approach. And that approach as well as the OPV template is the focus of this report.
The Williams Foundation research fellow, Dr Robbin Laird, has opened the aperture on the debate around an integrated 5th generation ADF with an insightful examination into the development of the Navy’s new Offshore Patrol Vessel. Conceived not simply as a replacement platform but as an adaptable and integrated capability within a joint force, Dr Laird presents the OPV program as a model for future capability development. This report compliments his previous work on 5th Generation air power Concepts within the ADF.
VADM Tim Barrett AO, CSC, RAN (Retd), Former Chief of Navy and Williams Foundation Director
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