MV Sycamore

MV Sycamore docked at HMAS Waterhen in December 2017

The MV Sycamore is a vessel built to support the Royal Australian Navy by Netherlands shipbuilders The Damen Group.[1] She was built in Damen's shipyard in Vietnam.[2][3][4] The ship is operated for the Royal Australian Navy by Teekay Australia

Design

The Sycamore's design is based on that of the Damen OPV 2400 design, a design for a 2400 tonne "Offshore Patrol Vessel". The RAN classes the Sycamore as a "multi-role aircraft training vessel", and she is equipped with a flight deck, allowing a single helicopter to land. "Sycamore" is equipped with a Terma Scanter Radar with a DBHG stabilized antenna and Terma C-Flex for support of the training mission of the vessel.

Sycamore is the first ship to support the Australian Defence Force (ADF) designed from the outset to be able to operate unmanned aerial vehicles. She is fitted with the equipment necessary to operate Boeing Insitu ScanEagle fixed wing and Schiebel Camcopter S-100 rotary wing UAVs.[5]

She is 94 metres (308 ft) long. In 2014, her design called for her to be capable of 23 knots (43 km/h). She has a multi-use space, which can be configured to help cope with disasters.

Sycamore will operate with a crew of 22 personnel, most of whom will be civilian sailors. The ship can accommodate up to 71 ADF personnel overnight.[5]

Operation

The RAN will not own the vessel, they will lease it[1] from the National Australia Bank. The vessel has a civilian crew provided by Teekay Australia. Military personnel will provide the actual training.[6] While Sycamore will primarily be used as an aviation training ship, the vessel will also be used for familiarisation training for new RAN officers, mine warfare and diving support training as well as recovering training torpedoes and missiles and serving as a consort. She will be the RAN's first dedicated training ship since HMAS Jervis Bay was decommissioned in 1994.[5]

Sycamore completed sea trials in April 2017.[7] She arrived at Sydney on 26 June that year. Sycamore entered service with the RAN on 4 August 2017.[8][5]

References

  1. 1 2 "Aussies ship to be built in Vietnam in major contract blow". News.com.au. 2014-07-29. Retrieved 2017-04-23. The 90-metre, 2400-tonne helicopter training vessel will be built at Damen’s Song Cam shipyard in Haiphong City, Vietnam, and will be modelled on the Dutch company’s OPV 2400 platform.
  2. ↑ Richard Tomkins (2017-04-20). "Damen prepares training vessel for Australian navy". United Press International. Retrieved 2017-04-22. Sailing preparations follow the MV Sycamore's successful completion of sea trials and acceptance of the results by representatives of the Australian government, the company announced Thursday.
  3. ↑ "Australian Navy's MV Sycamore MATV completes sea trials". Naval Technology. 2017-04-21. Retrieved 2017-04-22. MV Sycamore will be able to carry out torpedo and mine recovery operations, dive support, Officer Sea Familiarisation, navigation training, target towing and consort duties, in addition to unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) support activities. The vessel has a large storage capacity, allowing it to be mobilised in humanitarian relief operations.
  4. ↑ "Successful sea trials for Australian MATV". Heavy Lift News. 2017-04-19. Retrieved 2017-04-22. However, Damen’s versatile MATV design will enable the Royal Australian Navy to accomplish numerous other secondary tasks also. To this end, the MV Sycamore will be able to undertake torpedo and mine recovery operations, navigation training, dive support, Officer Sea Familiarisation, target towing and consort duties as well as unmanned aerial vehicle support.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Flight Deck at Sea" (PDF). Navy News. Department of Defence. 29 June 2017. p. 8, Helicopter Aircrew Training System supplement. Retrieved 2 July 2017.
  6. ↑ "Defence tenders for MATV in service support". Australian Defence Force. 2017-12-13. Retrieved 2017-04-22. The Damen-built MATV Sycamore, which is about to be launched in Haiphong, Vietnam, will be a civilian registered, aviation-capable, ocean-going vessel for the delivery of military training and other services to the RAN and other Commonwealth agencies.
  7. ↑ "'Sycamore' aviation training vessel completes sea trials". Australian Aviation. 24 April 2017. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
  8. ↑ "MV Sycamore". Royal Australian Navy. Retrieved 8 June 2016.
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