Tasmania-based PFG Group has launched the Sentinel 1100, a new variant of its Sentinel range of speedboats at the Indo-Pacific exhibition in Sydney.
This is a slightly smaller variant of the three Sentinel 1250 tactical vessels the company has supplied to the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN). PFG will use the 11-meter-long variant of the 1100 to bid for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) future-generation vessel program.
The Australian Ministry of Defence is expected to issue a call for proposals within a few months for a new project that will replace the RHIB used in the existing tactical vessel role. This includes Special Forces use in the Land 1508 Greyfin project, the SEA 5000 Hunter class frigate and the SEA 1905 Mine Hunter replacement project.
The Sentinel 1100 has a 3.5m beam and can reach top speeds close to 50 knots with the new Hamilton HJX29 sprinkler. PFG received an interest-free loan of nearly US$421,000 (A$600,000) from the Tasmanian government to build on its commercial success and develop products for the military market.
A spokesman for the One-2-Three Group, which designed Sentinel with PFG, said the HDPE material used to build the boat was “revolutionary”. He claims its properties include long life, durability, reduced vibration, low thermal and acoustic characteristics, light weight, non-magnetic, recyclable and “unsinkable”.
HPDE material is manufactured by a German company and is used to build the Sentinel 1100’s deck, console base and engine room, as well as the hull. “Any serious military will be built with this material over the next decade,” the spokesman added.
Tasmanian government funding has been approved to help develop the island’s existing shipbuilding expertise and enable it to participate in the wider market.
PFG is likely to compete with the 9.38 million-long Alpha vessel that Whiskey Project unveiled at the 2019 Pacific Show. Meanwhile, PFG will deliver its first 1250 variant to New Zealand in the second half of 2022, with the other two to follow.
by Tim Fish
