The Royal Australian Navy’s Canberra class LHDs have been upgraded by Navantia Australia with a forward Advanced Stabilised Glide Slope Indicator (ASGSI).
As OEM for the Canberra class, Navantia Australia worked with the ASGSI system’s OEM AGI Ltd, and Naval Ship Management Australia to deliver the project over a 10 month period. Navantia says the team delivered revisions to 27 LHD baseline engineering drawings, three installation work packs, alignment documentation, test procedures, a detailed design report, designer’s certificate, validation and verification artefacts, design reviews, and all the ILS deliverables.
Much like an airport’s instrument landing system (ILS), the ASGSI provides a stabilised wedge or funnel-shaped light beam to guide an approaching aircraft to a safe landing at night or in low-visibility conditions. The system was certified during a series of first of class flight trials (FOCFT) of the Sikorsky MH-60R ‘Romeo’ Seahawk on HMA Ships Canberra and Adelaide in recent months.
“This integrated effort has been a real credit to Navantia and a good indication to Navy of how well our team is working together,” Navantia Australia managing director Alfonso Garcia-Valdes said in a statement. “The ASGSI system was effectively a ‘call to arms’ from Navy to address a serious capability problem on the LHDs within an aggressive timeframe. I am certain that Navy will appreciate the collective effort of our team even more when Phase 3, the aft ASGSI, is completed and the units are at sea.”
Navantia Australia was recognised as a Design Authority for four classes of Royal Australian Navy (RAN) ships – including the LHDs – by the ADF under a Strategic Agreement Principles document signed in June 2020. The other classes are the three Hobart class DDGs, the two new Supply class AOR, and the 12 LHD landing craft (LLC).