Guardian-class patrol boat

Guardian-class patrol boat
Three Guardian-class patrol boats at the Austal shipyard in Henderson, Western Australia
Class overview
NameGuardian class
BuildersAustal
Operators
13 nations (list)
Preceded byPacific class
Cost30 million Samoan tālā[1] (which was A$15.88 million on 2021-08-05)
Built2018–present
Planned23
Active14 (30 June 2022)
Lost1
General characteristics
TypePatrol boat
Length39.5 m (129 ft 7 in)
Beam8 m (26 ft 3 in)
Draft2.5 m (8 ft 2 in)
Propulsion2 × Caterpillar 3516C diesels, 2 shafts
Speed20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Range3,000 nautical miles (5,600 km; 3,500 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement23
Armament
  • Australia shipped the vessels complete, except for weapons.
  • 12.7 mm (0.50 in) machine guns (Solomon Islands)

The Guardian-class patrol boats are a class of small patrol vessels designed and built in Australia and provided to small South Pacific Ocean countries as part of the Australian Government's Pacific Maritime Security Program.[2][3][4]

The class is designed to be updated replacements for the Pacific Forum-class patrol boats provided to its allies from 1987 to 1997.[2][5][6][7][8][9] Australia provided twenty-two Pacific Forum vessels to twelve nations. They were designed to use commercial off the shelf components, to make them easier to maintain for the small nations that would operate them. Australia stood ready to help with training and maintenance, during the duration of the program, because Australia's external security issues were eased if it could count on its sovereign neighbours having resources to police their own external security.

Austal was commissioned to build 19 Guardian-class boats in 2016.[10][11] Austal's contract allows it to market the design to additional customers.[12] Subsequently, an additional three vessels were ordered. Two for Timor-Leste, and one new replacement vessel for the Samoan Nafanua II, which was damaged beyond repair on 5 August 2021.[13] The last vessels are scheduled for delivery in late 2023.

Austal delivered HMPNGS Ted Diro to the Papua New Guinea Defence Force on 30 November 2018.[14] Her engines broke down in October 2019, and she had to be towed to Australia for repairs.[15]

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  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference Nafanua_III_Order_Confirmation was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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