First of 12 patrol boats enters service with Royal Australian Navy

On 21 January HMAS Armidale, first of a class of 12 patrol boats for the Royal Australian Navy, was officially commissioned at a ceremony in Darwin, Australia.

The 56.8m, all-aluminium mono-hull, built by Austal, will now undergo crew evaluation before commencing operational patrols to protect Australia?s borders.

Based in the ports of Darwin and Cairns, the Armidale Class will operate within Australia?s Marine Jurisdictional Zones and on the high seas in latitudes not exceeding 50°, primarily carrying out surveillance, interception, investigation, apprehension and the escort to port of vessels suspected of illegal fisheries, quarantine, customs or immigration offences.

The patrol boats have a top sped in excess of 25 knots, provided by two MTU 16V4000 M70 engines rated at 2,320kW each at 2,000 rpm and driving fixed pitch propellers through ZF 7550A gearboxes. Operating range is 3,000 nautical miles and the design can loiter for up to 60 hours at a speed of 4 to 10 knots.