Birdon was selected by the Australian Defence Force to design and construct a fleet of 16 Regional Patrol Craft, including trailers.
The vessels are integral to the Regional Force Surveillance Unit (RFSU) and Border Protection Force operations.
With these vessels, the army has the capability to operate in blue, brown, riverine, and brackish waters supporting smaller watercraft up to 12 nautical miles offshore.
The vessels are also suitable for the harsh Australian coastline having been designed and built to insert, extract and support foot patrols and provide parent craft aid to other vessels in remote areas.
The vessels have been built in accordance with the Lloyd’s Register classification at Birdon’s accredited, all weather, aluminium fabrication facility in Port Macquarie.
The Regional Patrol Craft (RPC) are 8.2 metres in length with a beam of 2.8 metres. The vessels are powered by a 355 hp Cummins engine driving a Hamilton Water Jet, which can propel a fully laden RPC to speeds of 25 knots. Each vessel has the capacity to carry a full patrol plus crew.
