High Speed Resupply for New Australian Submarines

Work has commented on VIGILANT JHSV 2, the second Fortitude class Joint High Speed Vessel being constructed by Australian company Austral for the US military. The first, Spearhead JHSV-1, was started in July.

The JHSV is adapted from Austral's civilian high speed ferry design. One of the civilian ferries, MV Huakai , is part of the United States National Defense Reserve Fleet and was used to carry equipment and personnel to open Haiti's mail port after the 2010 earthquake.


The JSHV could be used by Australia to resupply the Collins class submarine replacement, allowing fewer, smaller, less expensive submarines to be acquired (such as the Spanish S-80 Class from Navantia).