Innovation
Austal is a true leader in product and process innovation - with proven success in developing new ideas and creating designs, systems and services that provide practical solutions and add value to our customers’ operations.
For more than 27 years, Austal has applied innovative thinking to every aspect of our business. From vessel design and engineering to construction and support services - we innovate through effective, continuous business improvement and a clear focus on our customers’ requirements.
Driven by our highly skilled Design, Research and Development (R&D) and Advanced Ship Building (ASB) teams worldwide, Austal’s successful product and process innovation has seen the development of some of the world’s most advanced commercial and defence vessels, including the iconic Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) and the Expeditionary Fast Transport (formerly the Joint High Speed Vessel); both developed for the US Navy to meet the evolving, ‘multi-mission’ requirements of modern naval operations.
Austal’s innovative trimaran and catamaran designs have changed the way we move on water; with hulls that deliver high performance, outstanding efficiency, greater payload functionality and superior stability. For commercial operators, this has translated to more productive, efficient ships, such as the Benchijigua Express, that deliver class leading comfort for passengers. For navies, these revolutionary designs have allowed unprecedented flexibility, performance and capability.
As a defense prime contractor, Austal is now at the forefront of ‘open architecture’ naval vessel design that allows even greater customization (for various, multiple payloads or mission configurations), multiple warfare systems integration, high performance and efficient operation – from a proven, modular construction process that helps to keep costs down.
Austal’s demonstrated commitment to innovation extends well beyond vessel design - to include shipbuilding and fit-out, systems development and integration and support services.
Aluminium
As the world’s largest aluminum shipbuilder, Austal has an intrinsic understanding of aluminum and its outstanding capabilities as a construction material - and has developed highly specialized, proprietary process to design and construct vessels with optimal strength and minimal weight. Austal’s ‘Finite Element Structural Analysis’ allows the optimal design solution(s) to be developed for customers, based on their operating requirements. The utilization of laser welded and composite aluminum structural panels in construction are just some of the many innovations that highlight Austal's dedication to meeting customer needs and continually advancing its vessels.
Additional Resources:
Information about the use of aluminium in naval applications:
Aluminium - Delivering Speed & Strength In Naval Applications
Systems Development
SeaState - Motion Control and Evaluation
To understand and develop improved seakeeping through enhanced computer controlled motion reduction, Austal led the development of its own motion control system, known as SeaState, in the early 1990s. Austal first developed and implemented the interceptor, and the system now also incorporates sophisticated primary and auxiliary steering systems.
Using sophisticated computer-based modeling systems Austal is able to offer detailed evaluations of a vessel’s seakeeping performance. These tools are used in the development of hull forms with motion characteristics that will suit the intended operation.
MarineLink - Ship Monitoring and Control
Austal's proprietary integrated ship control and monitoring system, ‘MarineLink’, allows extensive, customized real-time and remote monitoring and management of various onboard machinery, equipment, systems and processes.
MarineLink also provides superior data and information management by monitoring all systems required by class and enables effective, immediate, online access to all the vessel’s system user manuals, vessel drawings and other operation documentation.
