US Marines use Australian-designed stern landing vessel to inform medium amphibious ship requirements

The U.S. Marine Corps is using the Australian-designed, 73-meter Matilda 1 stern landing vessel under a three-year charter based in Darwin to test littoral logistics and shore access. Built in Indonesia to a SeaTransport design, it can carry substantial cargo and land stern-first where fixed port facilities are unavailable; Australian Army teams are also due to embark for several weeks. The Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory will use the trials to refine tactics and inform the U.S. Navy's future medium landing ship design. The charter is an experimental use of an existing vessel, not an order for a production class.