ADBR November-December Issue

DEFENCE | INDUSTRY | INTEGRATED

PEREGRINE JOINT FORCE EW

NOV-DEC 2019 Volume 38 No. 05

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Contents

Volume 38 No. 5 NOV-DEC 2019

FEATURES & ANALYSIS

44

16

AAPC AWARDS

18

SKY GUARDIAN - AIR 7003

20 BIG BUY - F-35 Lot buy agreed 22

FINAL FFG - HMAS Melbourne

24

ELEPHANT WALK - KC-30A & C-17A

26

PACIFIC 2019 WRAP

34

PEREGRINE - EW Support

42

JOINT FORCE EW Explained

44 SOVEREIGN STRIKE Lessons from Op El Dorado Canyon 50 FUTURE WEDGETAIL - AIR 5077

34

56

BIG AMBITIONS - AIR 6500

58

JOINT DATA - Datalink Explained

60 OPEN SOURCE INTELLIGENCE 64

THE GREAT EQUALISER - GBAD

66

SUB SYSTEMS Attack class combat system

72

CURRAWONG - JP2072

REGULARS 4

Initial Point - Editorial

6

Battlespace - News

74

On Target - Williams Foundation

COVER

DEFENCE | INDUSTRY | INTEGRATED

Our exclusive in-depth look at the RAAF’s new MC-55A Peregrine EW support aircraft.

PEREGRINE

L3HARRIS

JOINT FORCE EW

NOV-DEC 2019

ADBR is published by: Felix Defence 7 Finlay Rd Eumundi QLD 4562 adbr.com.au adbr@felix.net.au +61 (0)2 6232 7474 Twitter: @DefenceBusiness Facebook: @ADBRonline

Managing Editor Andrew McLaughlin andrew@adbr.com.au

Publisher John Conway john.conway@felixdefence.com

Senior Contributor Max Blenkin

Art Director Daniel Frawley

Contributors this issue Dougal Robertson, John Conway, Brian Weston

Sub Editor Bruce McLaughlin

NOV-DEC 2019 Volume 38 No. 05

Felix Advantage 2019. All material published in Australian Defence Business Review is copyright and may not be used without the express permission of the publisher.

ISSN 1033-2898

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4

INITIAL POINT

Initial Point

ENABLING CAPABILITY ANDREW McLAUGHLIN

R

egular readers of ADBR will have noticed an increased emphasis on joint and enabling capabilities in recent issues, specifically electronic and information warfare, intelligence, and, in this issue, data links.

In our May-June issue we featured an in-depth interview with the Chief of Joint Capabilities (CJC), AIRMSHL Warren McDonald, and in this issue I speak about Joint Force Electronic Warfare with JCG’s Director General Information Warfare, BRIG Stephen Beaumont.

The ADF’s increasing willingness to discuss these previously hard-to-define capabilities suggests two things; 1 – they are increasingly open to establishing two-way engagements with Industry and allies to develop these domains, and, 2 – they are keen to demonstrate the tangible progress and noteworthy achievements they are making in these joint domains.

Not least of these is the ADF’s rapidly growing ability to process EW mission data, and in the programmatic and enterprise-approach to managing new capabilities such as the RAAF’s new MC-55A Peregrine which we feature from page 34 of this issue.

JCG is clearly a vibrant and extremely busy organisation. It and the three services are clearly well-aware that ISREW will be done very differently in the future – it has to be, as current systems and processes will just not be able to manage the amount and the fidelity of the data that will soon be flowing.

Those who know ‘Macca’ are well aware of the energy and ‘big picture’ thinking he brings to any leadership role he has held, and he has surrounded himself with like-minded leaders and staff who can and must deliver on these lofty ambitions.

ADBRTV

Apart from the great engagement provided by record attendance and exhibitors, one of the most rewarding outcomes for ADBR at the PACIFIC 2019 maritime exposition was the debut of ADBRTV on our new video-on-demand channel and app. If you haven’t seen it yet, please check it out at adbr.uscreen.io, abdr.com.au, or download the ADBRTV app from the Apple Store.

ADBRTV has helped develop our resurgent brand into a true multi-platform, multi-media

Defence publication, delivering local and regionally-relevant capability-driven content to a growing global audience.

Publisher John Conway and I were very pleased with, and grateful for the great engagement we had with Industry, both small and large companies alike at PACIFIC, and we were proud to host interviews and round-table discussions with executives from nearly 20 organisations during the show.

And prior to PACIFIC, I travelled to Adelaide to conduct several video interviews with senior members of the AWD Alliance for ADBRTV’s Seminar Series, and then to Sydney to meet the commanding officer and crew of NUSHIP Sydney.

Throughout the stand up of ADBRTV, we have been ably supported by Michael Fardell and the incredibly professional team at Screencraft Productions. Aside from the quality of the production of ADBRTV, Screencraft has also produced an outstanding video for the AWD Alliance including incredible footage taken during Sydney ’s builder’s trials which can also be seen on our website.

As we settle into a new battle rhythm and finalise our forward production plans, we are planning to conduct a more formal launch of ADBRTV in the new year, and look forward to having an even bigger presence at LAND FORCES 2020, at Avalon in 2021, and possibly at other trade events in between.

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FORCE PROTECTION IS OUR MISSION.

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Battlespace DEFENCE NE WS ROUNDUP

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DEFENCE

NG awarded IBCS contract, demos systems integration

Northrop Grumman has been awarded a US$60.6m (A$89m) contract by the US Army for continued work on the Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD) Battle Command System (IBCS) program.

The new contract provides for ongoing support for engineering, logistics, integration, test and evaluation, training and program management as the IBCS program advances through the design and development phase. The work will support an IBCS Limited User Test (LUT) which will start in second quarter 2020, and leads into an expected Milestone C decision expected in third quarter of 2020.

“In partnership with our Army customer, we have demonstrated through numerous tests and exercises that IBCS performs exceptionally well in realistic and increasingly complex operational environments,” Northrop Grumman’s vice president and general manager, missile defense and protective systems, Dan Verwiel said in a statement. “IBCS

is mature and well positioned for both the LUT and a successful Milestone C decision.”

IBCS is the cornerstone of the Army’s IAMD modernisation program, and will possibly be an element of a Northrop Grumman proposal for Australia’s AIR 6500 project. The company says the ability of IBCS to network all available sensors and interceptors enhances battlefield survivability by providing redundancy, cyber resiliency and eliminating vectors of attack.

The system’s networkability was demonstrated in November with the successful demonstration of the ability to integrate MBDA’s Common Anti-air Modular Missile (CAMM) family and the Saab Giraffe radar system family into IBCS. CAMM and Giraffe are the first non-US missile and sensor systems to be demonstrated with IBCS. Northrop Grumman says the three companies demonstrated rapid and functional integration during simulated threat scenarios including simultaneous engagements. Simulated air targets were fed to the Giraffe radar emulator, which passed

the radar information to IBCS to assess and track threats.

It says IBCS operators planned and executed engagements based on that data using the CAMM missile emulators which engaged multiple threats simultaneously.

IBCS then closed the loop by displaying the outgoing missiles detected and reported by the Giraffe emulators. The event successfully demonstrated both Distributed Fire Direction and Advanced Integrated Fire Control engagements.

“Building on lessons learned from the CAMM family integration, we were able to integrate the Giraffe radar onto the IBCS network even more rapidly and cost effectively, continuing to demonstrate the dynamic and flexible nature of IBCS’s open architecture in adding capabilities when and as needed,” Northrop Grumman’s director of international battle management, Bill Lamb said in a statement.

“Together we are creating a revolutionary IAMD enterprise that maximizes the combat potential of all sensors and weapons across all domains and fills gaps in today’s air defense capabilities.”

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RAAF P-8A returns from Persian Gulf deployment

The deployment of an RAAF P-8A Poseidon maritime ISR aircraft to the Middle East has concluded.

The aircraft was deployed under the International Maritime Security Construct (IMSC) in September in response to the June shoot-down of a US Navy RQ-4A Global Hawk UAS by Iran, and subsequent Iranian attacks on commercial shipping near the Straits of Hormuz.

“Over the last month, the P-8A Poseidon aircraft has provided valuable maritime surveillance and reconnaissance to support the coalition partners in the IMSC,” Defence Minister Senator Linda Reynolds said in a November 24 statement. “It is now time for the Poseidon to return home, having played a key role in supporting freedom of navigation and the free flow of shipping, which is crucial to regional security and stability.”

During the deployment, the aircraft completed 12 missions and flew for about 100 hours.

Also deployed to Australia’s main operating base at Al Minhad AB in UAE was an E-7A Wedgetail, a C-130J Hercules, a KC-30A MRTT, and a visiting C-17A Globemaster III.

Australia and Japan to forge closer defence ties

Defence Minister Senator Linda Reynolds has announced Australia and Japan will forge closer defence ties following a visit to Tokyo for bilateral discussions with her Japanese equivalent, Mr Kono Taro.

In a November 20 ministerial release Senator Reynolds said, as IndoPacific security dynamics became more challenging, the strategic logic underpinning Japan-Australia cooperation was only getting stronger. To this end, elements from both countries will participate in large scale multi-national and bilateral exercises, and will increase personnel exchanges, joint space and cyber policy, and defence science technology.

The exercises will include a new bilateral fighter jet exercise called BUSHIDO GUARDIAN in Japan, while Japan will participate in the biennial Exercise TALISMAN SABER in Queensland. The Japan Air Self Defence Force will also participate in the biennial Exercise PITCH BLACK in the Northern Territory.

Exchange postings will include an Australian Army liaison officer in

the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force to further enhance cooperation and deepen interoperability, while a program will be established to exchange defence scientists and engineers between Japan`s Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Agency, and Australia`s Defence Science and Technology (DST) Group.

No compensation for lost RAAF Growler

Chief of Air Force AIRMSHL Mel Hupfeld and CASG’s Head of Aerospace Systems Division (HASD) AVM Greg Hoffman have told a Senate Estimates hearing on November 29 that Australia will not receive any compensation for an RAAF EA-18G Growler which was destroyed on takeoff from Nellis AFB in Nevada in January 2018.

The aircraft was departing Nellis AFB at the start of a Red Flag familiarisation mission on January 27 2018 when a high pressure turbine disk in one of its engines fractured and disintegrated, and the engine and rear fuselage caught fire.

Despite approaching takeoff speed, the crew was able to keep the aircraft on the ground. It came to rest just off Nellis’s eastern runway, and the crew safely evacuated the aircraft. Nellis fire crews were quickly on the scene, but the aircraft was later declared a write-off due to the extensive fire and structural damage around the rear fuselage and landing gear.

Reports indicate the disk had broken into three major pieces, one of which went sideways through the other engine and landed on an adjoining aircraft parking ramp, one went upwards and destroyed the starboard vertical stabiliser, and one went down and damaged the runway.

The Growler was nearly new with less than 200 hours on it. Despite being so early in the fleet’s service life, it is unlikely the RAAF will seek to replace the aircraft, and it will likely be considered part of an acceptable rate of attrition which would have been a factor when the original order for 12 EA-18Gs was placed.

At the time of the confirmation of the write-off, Defence said it “is exploring options for the recovery of economic losses resulting from the incident”. The RAAF had hoped it would receive some compensation for the loss of the aircraft from engine manufacturer General Electric, from prime contractor Boeing, or from the US Navy as the foreign military sales (FMS) authority.

US approves sale of J-CREW to Australia

7

The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) notified Congress on November 20 of the State Department’s approval of the possible sale of up to 850 Northrop Grumman Joint Counter Radio-Controlled Improvised Explosive Device Electronic Warfare Increment 1 Block 1 (JCREW I1B1) systems and related equipment to Australia.

The sale, potentially valued at US$245m (A$361m) will comprise up to 533 vehicle-mounted and 317 dismounted systems, spares and repair parts, support and test equipment, publications and technical documentation, software, training, and technical and logistics support services.

The DSCA notification was subsequently confirmed by Defence Minister Senator Linda Reynolds. In a November 24 statement, she said the Commonwealth would start the acquisition of J-CREW through Stage 1 of the Project LAND 154 Phase 4 Joint Counter Improvised Explosive Device Capability requirement.

“Australian forces have used countermeasure systems against the persistent threat of IED attacks in Iraq and Afghanistan, and this new technology will only improve their ability to save and protect lives on operations around the world,” Minister Reynolds said.

Stage 1 is valued at A$88 million, and will comprise 80 mounted and 115 dismounted systems which will enter service from 2022/23.

NORTHROP GRUMMAN

BATTLESPACE ADBR DEFENCE NEWS ROUNDUP

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Schiebel S-100 integrated with LHD, launches certification effort

The French Armament General Directorate (DGA) has announced that the Schiebel S-100 Camcopter has been successfully fully integrated with its Mistral class LHD, Dixmude, the first such integration of an unmanned rotary-winged UAS in Europe.

A Schiebel statement says the French Navy carried out modifications to the vessel earlier in 2019 after a two-year operational testing phase which ensured the interoperability between the vessel and the UAS. “We’re extremely proud of the fact that we are the first rotary wing UAS being operational and connected to an amphibious helicopter carrier in Europe,” Chairman of the Schiebel Group, Hans Georg Schiebel said in a statement. “It is an honour to be working with the DGA, Naval Group and French Navy.”

The S-100 is currently being trialled by the RAN and Australian Army to inform those services on their SEA 129 Phase 5 and LAND 129 Phase 4 requirements, while Schiebel Pacific recently established an office and signed an MoU with Air Affairs at Nowra to support future S-100 opportunities in the region.

Schiebel has also announced a capability upgrade program (CUP) for the S-100 that will provide it with the ability to meet civil aviation standards for the safe operation of the air vehicle in controlled airspace.

“Since launch, our Camcopter S-100 has steadily and continuously evolved,” Schiebel told an operator’s conference in

CEA

October. “As the market leader for Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL) UAS we’re looking back at more than 20 years of experience and continued development.

Given today’s market demands and the ever changing airworthiness requirements, it was a logical step for us to launch our CUP.“ Head of the French Navy UAV Unit, Alexandre Durget added, “The User Conference offers a unique opportunity to exchange experiences with other users and to hear about Schiebel’s plans. It goes to show that the company really listens to their customers and to the market’s needs.

“The workshops are an excellent platform to update our knowledge and to network with other customers. The CUP is a forwardthinking and innovative project and I am very much looking forward to the outcome.”

The certification process will be conducted in conjunction with the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).

Defence orders CEA radars for NASAMS

The Commonwealth has signed a $137 million contract with CEA Technologies for the provision of short and medium-range surface-to-air phased array radars for the LAND 19 Phase 7B short-range air defence (SHORAD) missile project.

To be integrated with the Enhanced NASAMS system being provided by Raytheon Australia and KONGSBERG, the CEATAC and CEAOPS radars will be mounted on Australian Army Thales Hawkei PMVs and trailers, and Rheinmetall HX77 vehicles respectively. The radars will be supplied to Raytheon Australia as Government Furnished Equipment (GFE) for integration with the Enhanced NASAMS. “This air defence capability combines world leading Australian radar technology with a highly effective air defence system that will protect our service men and women from future airborne threats,” Defence Minister Linda Reynolds said in a statement.

“I congratulate CEA for adapting these radars from those already in service with the Royal Australian Navy, confirming its reputation as an agile, innovative company and a key strategic partner for Defence.”

Minister for Defence Industry Melissa Price added, “Integration of these radars into existing air defence technology is a significant step in establishing Australian industry as a leading exporter of defence technology. This contract with CEA will support 45 jobs in Canberra and Adelaide and demonstrates the company’s ongoing success after securing a $90 million loan through the Morrison Government’s Defence Export Facility.”

Boeing tests Loyal Wingman tech

Boeing Defence Australia has announced it has successfully demonstrated its Advanced Teaming System (ATS) concept through the use of sub-scale jet-powered drones.

The demonstration is a key milestone in the company’s development of the ATS Loyal Wingman for the RAAF through Air Force Minor Program DEF 6014 Phase 1, for which Boeing will deliver three full scale air vehicles and associated systems.

While Boeing has drawn upon its decades of unmanned systems expertise through its US parent, it has also developed many of the technologies in use on the ATS program locally.

The sub-scale jets can reach speeds of up to 180kts, and Boeing says the demonstration showed the jets were able to safely communicate and coordinate with each other.

Boeing’s announcement coincides with one by the QLD state government which will invest an initial $14.5 million in the development of an unmanned systems test facility at the western Queensland town of Cloncurry.

The facility will initially comprise a hangar, operations room, surveillance radar and communications equipment, and is expected to be able to support unmanned systems up to 150kg in weight.

“Our government was the first in Australia to launch a drone strategy, and now we’re well on the way to becoming the nation’s drone technology capital,” State development minister and minister responsible for the Queensland Drone Strategy Cameron Dick said.

Boeing Defence Australia is expected to be the first tenant of the new facility.

Possible NZ C-130J sale approved

The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) has notified Congress of the State Department’s approval of the possible sale of five Lockheed Martin C-130J-30 Hercules transports to New Zealand.

The sale, first flagged in June 2019

by NZ Defence Minister Ron Mark and subsequently laid out in the New Zealand Defence Capability Plan, will see the RNZAF replace its five aging C-130Hs in service with the C-130Js. The DSCA notification states the sale is valued at US$1.4bn (NZ$2.19bn), and includes four spare Rolls Royce AE2100D3 engines, navigation systems,

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BATTLESPACE ADBR DEFENCE NEWS ROUNDUP

DEFENCE

communications including MIDS/Link 16 terminals, self-protection systems including the AN/AAQ-24(V)N LAIRCM system, and various support, spares, training and sustainment packages.

New Zealand will now negotiate the sale with the USAF through a foreign military sales (FMS) arrangement.

BAE & Army demonstrate autonomous M113s

BAE Systems Australia and the Australian Army have successfully tested and demonstrated two M113 AS4 APCs modified for optionally manned operations.

The two vehicles were converted by BAE Systems with new hardware and software to demonstrate autonomous technologies, and the battlefield simulation at the Majura Training Site near Canberra was observed

by Chief of Army LTGEN Rick Burr.

“This project highlights our commitment to leading the development of new technologies and collaborating across industry and academia to advance autonomous capabilities,” BAE Systems Australia CEO Gabby Costigan said in a statement. “Autonomous technologies will support soldier responsiveness in

an accelerating warfare environment increasing their ability to outpace, outmanoeuvre and out-think conventional and unconventional threats.”

The vehicles will also be used as test technologies developed by the Commonwealth’s Trusted Autonomous Systems Defence Cooperative Research Centre (TAS-DCRC) which was announced in 2017 under the Next Generation Technologies Fund to deliver trusted, reliable and effective autonomous systems.

RAN’s Canberra class LHDs achieve FOC

The Navy’s two Canberra class landing helicopter dock (LHD) vessels have achieved the final operational capability (FOC) milestone.

Defence Minister Senator Linda Reynolds said on November 12 that HMA Ships Canberra and Adelaide were now fully ready to be deployed on amphibious operations such as humanitarian assistance and disaster relief and amphibious warfare.

“The Australian Defence Force’s amphibious capability is an integral part of Australia’s strategic posture and this milestone is another step in Navy’s roadmap

to delivering amphibious excellence,” she said in a statement.

Navy Chief VADM Michael Noonan said the Navy was closer to achieving a resilient, sustained and integrated force as outlined in the Plan Pelorus strategy for 2022. “As we transition to a more technologically advanced Navy, our goal is to be capable of conducting sustained combat operations as part of a Joint Force,” he said.

The 230-metre long, 27,500 tonne Canberra class are the Navy’s largest ever vessels, providing the ADF with a capability for amphibious operations which has not existed since the end of World War 2. Each ship has the ability to transport more than 1,000 troops and 110 vehicles, and to support six helicopters and four amphibious landing craft.

Plan Pelorus sets out the Navy’s vision as a service fully ready to conduct sustained combat operations as part of the joint force by 2022. That means a full workforce, with vessels fully crewed at sea and staffed ashore, able to train for future demand, and prepared for continued growth.

Measures designed to attract and retain personnel appear to be working, with the government announcing last week that Navy had grown by more than 1,000 in two years.

ADBR.COM.AU

Scott Carpendale new MD of Boeing Defence Australia Boeing has appointed Scott Carpendale to the position of vice president and managing director of Boeing Defence Australia. He succeeds Darren Edwards who passed away on 22 September.

Mr Carpendale comes to the role from his position as director of Boeing Defence Australia’s Commercial Derivative Aircraft business where he led all E-7A Airborne Early Warning & Control programs. He has been with the company for 17 years in senior leadership roles in Australia and the US, including in supply chain management, engineering, operations, program management, and strategic customer relationships.

“Scott is an astute and highly capable business leader who has earned the trust and respect of his global peers, colleagues and customers during his nearly two decades with Boeing,” vice president of Boeing’s International Government and Defense organisation, Torbjorn ‘Turbo’ Sjogren said in a statement.

“His extensive experience across Boeing’s operations, his deep understanding of the Australian and global defence environments, and his ability to forge strong relationships with customers means he is the best person to lead Boeing Defence Australia as that team continues to execute and grow the business.

“We are grateful to Darren Edwards for his exceptional leadership that helped transform Boeing Defence Australia. He was a man of tremendous integrity who achieved great things for our company.

He remains greatly missed by his Boeing colleagues around the world.”

NG awarded ADF tactical data link contract

Northrop Grumman has been awarded a contract by the ADF Tactical Data Link Authority (ADFTA) to deliver tactical data link (TDL) systems and training as part of the development of the ADF’s Joint Data Network.

ADFTA ensures TDL-functionality to achieve single, joint and combined TDL

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interoperability for the ADF through the provision of specialist TDL engineering and technical support in the form of the policy, engineering, implementation and interoperability assurance, test and compliance, operational and training services.

“Northrop Grumman has extensive experience in networking and tactical data links across multi-domain forces, and a robust capability roadmap that will deliver increasingly enhanced data link technology in the years ahead,” Chris Deeble, chief executive Northrop Grumman Australia said in a statement.

“The Northrop Grumman engineers that delivered the F-35 Multifunction Advanced Data Link and communications, navigation and identification technologies will now be developing the ADF’s future TDL technology.”

Northrop Grumman says the technology at the core of the advanced multi-TDL system provides vital connectivity between legacy 4th generation platforms and advanced 5th generation platforms, as well as future data links and networks. This

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BATTLESPACE ADBR DEFENCE NEWS ROUNDUP

is critical as forces seek to maximise the long term value of existing platforms and systems by making certain that they can interoperate with emergent 5th generation capabilities.

As a leading global systems integrator and data link provider, Northrop Grumman’s experience includes the software and hardware of individual communication systems; and the architectures, implementation and scalability of TDL systems and services.

Awarded earlier this year, the threeyear contract advances the long-term relationship between Northrop Grumman and ADFTA. Northrop Grumman successfully demonstrated its Gulfstream IV-mounted airborne gateway capability at Exercise Jericho Dawn in March 2016. The Airborne Gateway is an development of the USAF’s Battlefield Airborne Communications Node (BACN), a system which provides secure data links between 4th and 5th generation combat and ISR systems.

HMAS Brisbane demonstrates CEC in US trials

In a first for the Royal Australian Navy and the United States Navy, Guided Missile Destroyer HMAS Brisbane has completed a live missile engagement using guidance data from a US vessel using their Cooperative Engagement Capability (CEC).

Defence Minister Linda Reynolds said these trials which were held in waters off the US west coast in September and October marked a ground-breaking milestone for Australia.

AIRBUS

“This missile firing demonstrates the very highest levels of interoperability between our navies,” she said. “It reaffirms the game changing technology that the Aegis combat system brings to our Navy and the advanced capability of the Australian-built Hobart class destroyers.

“By conducting these trials in the US, our Navy is able to access the world’s best expertise, instrumented ranges and analysis capabilities to provide confidence in how the ship will perform in combat.”

CEC is a significant capability delivered by the Aegis combat system. It allows similarly equipped vessels to cooperate in attacking targets, with one vessel providing targeting data and another firing its missile.

In this case the remote sensor data came from USS Stockdale, an Aegis-equipped Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyer.

DEFENCE

HMAS Brisbane (DDG 41) is the second of three Hobart class guided missile destroyers to undertake combat systems ship qualifications trials (CSSQT) on the US Navy range off the California coast. That involves a full workout of the Aegis combat system and SPY-1D radar, with firing of live missiles against drone targets.

The last of the three Hobart class DDGs, NUSHIP Sydney was launched in May last year, and recently completed builders sea trials prior to being handed over to the RAN in February and commissioned next May.

Airbus reveals LOUT UCAS demonstrator

Airbus has revealed a closely-guarded secret project, a 12-metre wingspan stealth technology demonstrator.

Dubbed LOUT – low observable UAV testbed – the aircraft is diamond-shaped and, so far, hasn’t flown. Airbus officials were very coy about when or whether it will ever fly, but the technologies developed for the flat grey painted four-tonne aircraft with few features visible beyond its distinctive shape, are expected to flow into future Airbus projects.

In a November media reveal conducted at the Airbus facility at Manching in southern Germany, LOUT was revealed atop a stand within the giant anechoic chamber where it’s been tested for radio frequency and infrared signatures.

“I am convinced that we are at the cutting edge of low-observables, and we at Airbus and Germany can make a significant contribution to the next generation fighter and carrier,” project head Mario Hertzog told visiting media.

The LOUT is the result of a project launched in 2010 and funded by Airbus and

ADBR.COM.AU

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the German Ministry of Defence, with the work being performed at Manching and Bremen.

Airbus said they adopted a “’skunk works’ approach” to LOUT’s development, a reference to the secretive Lockheed Martin advanced projects development division where the first practical stealth aircraft - the F-117A Nighthawk - was developed.

The LOUT project appears to have started with first principles, evaluating different configurations in 2D and 3D, including some with a more than passing resemblance to the F-117, but also to Northrop Grumman’s X-47A Pegasus UCAV demonstrator.

The current design is optimised to be least observable to a ground-based air defence system, using what Airbus says was a holistic approach to signature reduction in the radio frequency, infrared, acoustic and visible spectrum.

That used a combination of design, radar absorbent structures and low observable coatings. The engine outlet is a flat nozzle on the aircraft’s upper surface, and while air intakes were not visible on the demonstrator, renderings show two intakes on the upper surface behind the cockpit canopy.

Should it ever be weaponised, weapons would be carried internally. Airbus says this would be a subsonic aircraft powered by a conventional but unspecified jet engine.

So just how stealthy is LOUT? In the all-important RF spectrum used by search and targeting radars, Airbus acknowledges significant signature reduction in the VHF through to Ka bands.

Mr Hertzog said they had also achieved signature reduction in the lower frequency, long wavelength HF band. Emerging HF radar systems can in theory see low observable aircraft configured to be least visible to radars with shorter wavelengths.

Karem & Bell reveal FARA offerings

Karem has revealed concept art of its radical proposal for the US Army’s Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) part of its wider Future Vertical Lift program.

Dubbed the AR-40, the design has a low-set composite coaxial main rotor and a swivelling pusher propeller/tail rotor at the end of the boom, high set wings to provide extra lift and to carry external stores, and a two-seat side-by-side cockpit. Karen has teamed with Northrop Grumman and Raytheon for its AR-40 proposal.

“We think optimal-speed tiltrotors are the best way to do VTOL [vertical takeoff and landing] with good forward airspeed and efficiency,” Karem FARA program manager

KAREM

BELL

Thomas Berger told Vertical magazine.

“That said, the Army has a very particular requirement that FARA fit into a 40-foot space. One big rotor hub of 40 feet is better that two small rotors of sub-20 feet. Long story short, the tiltrotor just doesn’t fit into the 40-foot box.”

Karem’s announcement comes about six week after Bell revealed its own FARA offering. Named the Bell 360 Invictus, the futuristic looking concept loosely resembles the low-observable Boeing-Sikorsky RAH-66 Comanche helicopter which was cancelled in 2004 after a protracted and troubled development, but is actually built around the running gear, dynamic components and flight control system of Bell’s new 525 Relentless civil helicopter program.

The machine will have a top speed exceeding 185 knots, and its 135nm combat radius, and manoeuvrability is enhanced by the addition of a lift-sharing wing.

FARA is intended to replace the capability vacated by the 2014 retirement of the OH-58D Kiowa Warrior, and will provide

a high-speed armed scout capability.

Karem’s concept is up again the Sikorsky S-97-based Raider X, the Bell Invictus helicopter, the AVX/L3 Compound Coaxial Helicopter (CCH), and an as-yet unrevealed Boeing Phantom Works design.

In April 2019 the US Army selected five teams to submit detailed designs for FARA – AVX and L3 with a coaxial and pusher prop hybrid design; Sikorsky with a development of its S-97 Raider coaxial prototype; Boeing with as-yet unrevealed design reportedly based on its AH-64E Apache with a pusher tail rotor; the Karem lead team; and Bell.

The US Army is expected to shortlist its FARA bids to two contenders in March 2020, after which prototypes of two of each will be manufactured and tested.

Anecdotally, there is considerable military and industry interest in Australia in the US Army’s FARA and wider FVL programs. This will likely grow as it aligns its capabilities with those of the US when it comes time to acquire new battlefield and armed reconnaissance helicopters in the 2030s.

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16

AAPC 2019 AWARDS

A US T R A L A S I A N AV I AT IO N P R E S S C L UB AWA R D S

Triple celebration at AAPC Awards

A

DBR Managing Editor Andrew McLaughlin has been recognised as the Australasian Aviation Press Club (AAPC) 2019 Aviation Journalist of the Year for the second year running.

It was a night of triple celebration for McLaughlin at the 2019 AAPC awards night held in Sydney on November 29. He also took out the Boeing Defence Story of the Year for his ‘Luke Days’ feature article published in the Nov-Dec 2018 issue of ADBR, and the GE Technical Story of the Year for his ‘Building Data’ feature article published in the Jan-Feb 2019 issue of ADBR. The judges said McLaughlin was a deserving back-to-back winner in 2019 for his in-depth, wellresearched and well-written submissions across the defence sector over the past year.

Freelance aviation author and ADBR contributor Owen Zupp was one of five finalists for Aviation Journalist of the Year, while Aviation Week Senior Air Transport Editor Adrian Schofield was named runner-up.

Zupp also featured in two other categories: it was a clean sweep for ADBR in the Boeing Defence Story of the Year, with Zupp’s ‘HATS Off’ story which appeared

in the Nov-Dec 2018 issue judged runner-up, while he was also runner-up in the Airbus Aviation Feature Story of the Year category for his story, ‘Frozen in Time’ which appeared in Australian Aviation magazine.

ADBR contributor photographers also cleaned up in the Singapore Airlines Photographer of the Year category, with Mark Jessop taking the award for the second year running, and Seth Jaworski named runner up.

(ABOVE) Andrew McLaughlin with Rakesh Raicar of Cathay Pacific, and Caroline Warnes of Airservices.

(BELOW, L-R) Kirrily & Owen Zupp, John & Ali Conway, Andrew & Jacqueline McLaughlin, and ADBR subeditor Bruce McLaughlin.

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18

AIR 7003

AIR 7003

SKY GUARDIAN Certified MQ-9B Sky Guardian selected for Project AIR 7003 Phase 1

BY ANDREW McLAUGHLIN

T

he Commonwealth announced on November 28 the selection of the General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) MQ-9B Sky Guardian as its preferred version of the Predator B to meet the RAAF’s Project AIR 7003 Phase 1 requirement for an armed medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) remotely piloted aircraft system (RPAS).

The Sky Guardian was previously marketed as the Certified Predator-B, and forms the basis of the Protector RG Mk1 system being acquired for the UK’s Royal Air Force. The ADF selected the certified Sky Guardian over the similar GA-ASI MQ-9A Reaper Block 5 model which is common to that currently being acquired by the USAF. “Cutting-edge technology of this kind, with advanced sensors and systems, would complement advanced aircraft such as the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and ensure that the ADF maintains state-ofthe-art capability,” Defence Minister Senator Linda Reynolds said in a statement.

The Sky Guardian will be certified so that it may operate in controlled airspace, an important capability for remotely piloted vehicles in proximity to civil air traffic. To this end, GA-ASI is developing a ‘detect-and-avoid’ radar for the UK’s Protector program which will also be incorporated onto the Sky Guardian. The Reaper does not have a detectand-avoid sensor, and is not intended to be certified.

The long-awaited announcement comes more than a year after the November 2018 Gate 1 announcement for AIR 7003, where the Sky Guardian and the Reaper were shortlisted. The Gate 1 announcement itself came more than two years after Gate 0, and more than 18 months after the originally

planned 2017 Avalon Airshow Gate 1 announcement was cancelled at the last moment following intense lobbying and a renewed effort by Israeli Aircraft Industries (IAI) to pitch its rival Heron TP system.

No indication of in-service, initial operational capability (IOC) or final operational capability (FOC) timelines were given in the latest announcement, nor was the number of systems to be acquired mentioned. The 2016 Defence White Paper and Integrated Investment Plan (IIP) indicated between 12 and 16 systems would be acquired.

The IIP also notes that new facilities at the Shoalwater Bay Training Area in Queensland will support the introduction of the armed UAS, while new fixed facilities will be built at RAAF Base Townsville to support the capability.

ADF air vehicle operators have been training and operating on exchange with USAF operational Reaper units at Creech AFB and Holloman AFB in the US since February 2015.

The RAAF retired its first unmanned system – the IAI Heron I – in 2017. The RAAF leased three Herons from Canadian company MDA in late 2009 under Project Nankeen to meet an urgent operational requirement to provide surveillance support to Australian and coalition troops in Afghanistan.

With Australia winding down its presence in Afghanistan in 2014 Defence elected to extend the lease on two Herons for operations in Australia, initially for a further six years at a cost of $120 million. But Defence

‘Cutting-edge technology of this kind, with advanced sensors and systems... ensure that the ADF maintains state-of-the-art capability.’

XXXXXXX

An artst’s rendering of the MQ-9B Sky Guardian in RAAF markings. GA-ASI

subsequently negotiated an early cancellation of that lease.

Between January 2010 and November 2014 RAAF Herons flew over 27,100 hours in support of operations in Afghanistan, while between April 2015 and June 2017 the two Herons based in Australia flew a further 710 hours. The two Australian-based Herons were mostly flown from Woomera in South Australia, but operated from RAAF Base Amberley, and from Rockhampton Airport during Exercise Talisman Sabre 2015.

Because the Heron I didn’t have a sense-andavoid sensor, special operating regulations had to be established for the duration of the exercise.

To this end, an agreement was signed by the RAAF’s Surveillance and Response Group (SRG) and Airservices Australia to set out procedures for Airservices and the RAAF to work within to allow the Heron to be safely flown in civil airspace without any significant impact on civil air traffic.

The armed MALE capability will be co-located at RAAF Edinburgh near Adelaide with other key ADF ISR assets such as the P-8A Poseidon, the Project AIR 7000 Phase 1B MQ-4C Triton high-altitude longendurance (HALE) maritime ISR, the AIR 555 MC55A Peregrine electronic warfare support aircraft, and the AIR 3503 Distributed Ground Station (DGSAUS) intelligence unit which is responsible for the analysis of data collected from various RAAF and ADF ISR platforms.

But while the ground control segment, support and sustainment force, and training facilities will be located at Edinburgh, it is yet to be determined whether the MQ-9B air vehicles will actually be based at Edinburgh or, more likely, at a remote location such as Woomera.

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The ministerial statement said the next phase of the project will ‘focus on developing the MQ9B acquisition proposal, which is scheduled for government consideration in 2021-22’. Quite what this statement means is unclear – it could be the definition of what sensors, weapons and other systems the RAAF’s Sky Guardian will carry, or it could be the progression to contract signature with GA-ASI…or both.

The UK’s Protector RG Mk1 will feature sensors and communications systems of European origin so that it may better integrate with other systems in service in that region. Australia will likely have a requirement for its Sky Guardians to integrate sensors and other systems that are more interoperable with those operated by the US and other Indo-Pacific regional partners.

To this end, GA-ASI has assembled a comprehensive group of Australian industry members to not only sustain the system in service, but to develop and integrate Australian-specific capabilities for the system.

“Local companies that provide a range of innovative sensor, communication, manufacturing and life-cycle support capabilities will have the opportunity to showcase their capabilities throughout this development process,” Minister for Defence Industry Melissa Price said in the November 28 statement. “Australian defence industries are world-class and are extremely wellplaced to be involved in projects like this.”

Announced in 2017, ‘Team Reaper’ comprises GA-ASI, Cobham, CAE Australia, Raytheon Australia, Flight Data Systems, TAE Aerospace, Rockwell Collins, Ultra Electronics Australia, Airspeed, and Quickstep Holdings Ltd.

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F-35 CONTRACT

BIG BUY F-35 CONTRACT

Pentagon and Lockheed Martin agree on low-rate multi-year F-35 buy

T

BY ANDREW McLAUGHLIN

he US Department of Defense reached a US$34bn (A$50bn) agreement with Lockheed Martin in October for 478 F-35 Lightning II JSFs over three production lots.

The deal was reached in late October, and covers a total 351 F-35As, 86 F-35Bs, and 41 F-35Cs for operators including the USAF, US Navy, USMC, Norway, Italy, and Australia. Of that total, 291 F-35s are for the US services, 127 for JSF program partner nations, and 60 for foreign military sales (FMS) customers.

The multi-year agreement covers production Lots 12, 13 and 14. Despite the large numbers, these production lots are still considered to be low-rate initial production (LRIP), as the JSF program is yet to receive the all-important Milestone C approval to progress to multi-year full-rate production.

Australia will receive 15 aircraft from each of the three production lots for a total of 45 F-35As, and these will be delivered from 2020 to 2022. These aircraft will add to the 18 RAAF F-35As already in service at Luke AFB in Arizona, and at RAAF Williamtown. The RAAF’s final nine F-35As of 72 currently on order are scheduled to be delivered in 2022/23 from Lot 15 which is yet to be negotiated.

Due to the complex nature of US contracting which includes government furnished equipment (GFE) and the prior commitment of funding for long-lead production items such as titanium and other components, many of the Lot 12 aircraft are already in advanced stages of production, The RAAF will have 13 and it is difficult to F-35As in-country by the end of 2019. DEFENCE ascertain the final unit cost of the aircraft.

But US undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, Ellen Lord said the program had reached its target price of ‘less than US$80m’ for the F-35A. “We will reach a unit recurring flyaway cost-per-aircraft target of $80 million for a US Air Force F-35A price, by Lot 13 — which is one lot earlier than planned,” she said in an October

29 statement, adding that it was, “a significant milestone for the department.”

JSF program executive LtGen Eric Fick added, “With this award we see from a production perspective the most dramatic rate increases in the production line are now behind us. This dramatic production rate increase has proven to be challenging for the supply chain, but the comparatively minor quantity changes across Lots 12 through 14 should give it some breathing room as we move forward.”

Because Australia is a partner nation on the JSF program and the RAAF’s aircraft are identical to USAF F-35As, its prices will be the same as those paid by the USAF. According to a Lockheed Martin statement, the prices for each aircraft in each lot (and the A$ equivalent at the end of Nov 2019) are as follows: • Lot 12: F-35A US$82.4m (A$122m), F-35B US$108m (A$159.5m), F-35C $US103.1m (A$152.3m) • Lot 13: F-35A US$79.2m (A$117m), F-35B US$104.8m (A$155m), F-35C $US98.1m (A$145m) • Lot 14: F-35A US$77.9m (A$115.1m), F-35B US$101.3m (A$149.7m), F-35C $US94.4m (A$139.5m) Taking these figures into account, Australia’s 45 F-35As from these three Lots should cost US$3.592bn (A$5.31bn).

“Driving down cost is critical to the success of this program,” LtGen Fick added. “I am excited that the F-35 Joint Program Office and Lockheed Martin have agreed on this landmark three-lot deal.

This agreement achieves an average 12.7 percent cost reduction across all three variants.

This $34 billion agreement is a truly historic milestone for the F-35 enterprise.”

As this issue of ADBR goes to press, the RAAF is preparing the massive logistical undertaking to ferry two new and five of the Luke AFBbased F-35As from the US to Australia before Christmas, to join the six jets already based at RAAF Williamtown.

This will leave just five RAAF jets based at Luke with the 61st Fighter Squadron international schoolhouse.

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22

HMAS MELBOURNE

FINAL FFG VIRES ACQUIRIT EUNDO – STRENGTH BY GOING

The RAN decommissions HMAS Melbourne, the last of its Perry/Adelaide class FFGs

BY ANDREW McLAUGHLIN & MAX BLENKIN

T

he last of the Royal Australian Navy’s Oliver Hazard Perry/Adelaide class guided missile frigates, HMAS Melbourne was paid off at a ceremony at Sydney’s Garden Island Naval Base on October 26.

The ceremony was conducted after the vessel returned from her final cruise, a circumnavigation of Australia, on September 27.

As with the retirement of any vessel of distinguished service, this was an occasion of some sadness for her past and current crew. “It’s like having 200 deaths in your family, simultaneously,” Melbourne’s 18th and last commanding officer, CMDR Marcus Buttler said in a statement. “It’s an amazing experience, I’m really proud of these guys.

“There are thousands of people who have called this ship home over the past 27 years and most of our people don’t know a time in the Navy without HMAS Melbourne and the FFGs in the Fleet,” CMDR Buttler said. “I am so proud of the men and women of HMAS Melbourne for sustaining a high tempo at sea right to the end and contributing to her outstanding legacy.”

“It is also a sad day as we see the end of almost forty years of the Adelaide class frigate which has been one of the most effective maritime warfighting platforms ever built,” In all, the RAN operated six of the Adelaide class FFGs, in their time Australia’s most capable warships and, with the distinctive sharply raked bow and lowset superstructure, the most recognisable.

The Perry/Adelaide class FFGs replaced the RAN’s River class destroyer escorts, six of which were built in Australia between 1959 and 1968 and which were based on the UK’s Type 12M Rothesay and 12I Leander class frigates. The FFGs were the first RAN ships to be powered by gas turbines.

The US-designed Oliver Hazard Perry-class FFGs were initially designed as low capability ships intended to conduct escort and general purpose missions as the lower tier of the of the US Navy’s ‘high-low fleet plan’ to augment that service’s larger Spruance class DDGs. Fifty one of the total 71 FFGs constructed served with the US Navy, and while the USN has now

replaced them with the Freedom and Independence class Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), some continue in service with the Navies of Taiwan, Spain, Greece, Poland and other nations The Adelaide class was a derivation of the Perry class, of which. Four of the Australian vessels were built in the US at Todd Pacific Shipyard in Seattle with the first, HMAS Adelaide commissioned in 1980 and retired in 2008 to become a dive wreck.

The last two vessels, HMAS Newcastle which was decommissioned in July 2019, and HMAS Melbourne were built in Australia at the AMECON yard, now BAE Systems in Williamstown Victoria.

HMAS Melbourne (FFG 05) was laid down in July 1985, launched in May 1989 and commissioned in February 1992. In her busy career, she has conducted multiple deployments to the Persian Gulf and Middle East region, as well as to Timor Leste.

Following the retirement of the RAN’s three Charles F Adams/Perth class guided missile destroyers in 2001, the FFGs served as the principal air warfare warship. Originally equipped with a single Mark 13 missile launcher able to fire the SM-2 missile, four of the six vessels underwent a major upgrade in the 2000s under the four-phased Project SEA 1390 FFG Upgrade Project (FFG-UP).

The upgrade provided a comprehensive upgrade to their weapons, sensors and combat systems.

New weapons included newer RGM-84 Harpoon Block II anti-ship missiles and the RIM-66 SM-2

HMAS Melbourne sails into Sydney Harbour for the last time flying her white paying off pennant. DEFENCE HMAS Melbourne’s final Commanding Officer, CMDR Marcus Buttler presents Commander Australian Fleet RADM Jonathan Mead with the ship’s Australian White Ensign. DEFENCE

HMAS MELBOURNE

Block IIIA medium-range anti-aircraft missiles employed, plus the challenging installation of the Mk 41 vertical launch system on the forecastle able to employ up to 32 shorter-range Evolved Sea Sparrow (ESSM) anti-air missiles.

New sensors included an upgrade of the AN/ SPS-49v4 air surveillance radar to the AN/SPS49Av1MPU standard, a new AN/SPS-55 surface search and navigation radar, an upgrade to the Mk92 Fire Control System from MOD 2 to the MOD 12 standard, the addition of a passive Radamec 2500 electro-optical targeting system (EOTS), a multi-sensor Radar Integrated Automatic Detect and Track System (RIADT), and the replacement of the original AN/SQS-56 and MULLOKA sonar systems with the Thompson (Thales) Spherion set common to the then-new ANZAC class frigates.

But the upgrade was not without its problems, blowing out in cost by nearly 50 per cent and being delayed by four years. The original contract signed in November 1998 called for the sixth vessel to be re-delivered in 2005, but despite the reduction from six to four vessels, the fourth wasn’t accepted into service and SEA 1390 wasn’t removed from the government’s projects of concern list until late 2009. The other two vessels, HMA Ships Canberra and Adelaide were both decommissioned by 2008.

When Melbourne arrived in Sydney for the last time in September, RAN Fleet Commander, RADM Jonathan Mead, said the ship had given 27 years of distinguished service to Australia’s maritime operations. “HMAS Melbourne deployed on operations across the globe including to the Middle East eight times, earning battle honours for her service in East Timor and the Persian Gulf,” he said.

“The Adelaide class guided missile frigates have formed the backbone of our Navy operations for decades and Melbourne has played a vital role, sailing more than 900,000 nautical miles since her commissioning in 1992.”

CMDR Buttler said Melbourne recently completed a four month deployment through north Asia, including conducting international maritime surveillance operations to enforce United Nations Security Council Resolution sanctions against North Korea.

“HMAS Melbourne has been deployed overseas for most of 2018 and 2019, showing what her ship’s company of hardworking Navy personnel can do, and although today is bittersweet I am also very proud,” he said..”

The FFG’s air defence mission has been assumed by the Hobart class DDGs, of which all three vessels are now in the water and the lead vessel, HMAS Hobart has just returned form its first oeprational cruise.

The government has yet to announce the fate of Melbourne and sister ship Newcastle, both of which remain tied up at Garden Island in Sydney.

There had been reports that both Poland and Greece were interested in acquiring the vessels, and most recently it was reported a Chilean delegation had also visited Sydney to inspect both vessels..

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HMAS MELBOURNE Ship

Rotation No

Year

Operation

HMAS Melbourne (III)

61

2015/2016

Operation MANITOU

HMAS Melbourne (III)

56

2013/2014

Operation SLIPPER

HMAS Melbourne (III)

52

2012

Operation SLIPPER

HMAS Melbourne (III)

48

2010/2011

Operation SLIPPER

HMAS Melbourne (III)

29

2003/2004

Operation CATALYST

HMAS Melbourne (III)

21

2002

Operation SLIPPER

HMAS Melbourne (III)

13

1999

Operation DAMASK

HMAS Melbourne (III)

12

1996

Operation DAMASK

Laid Down Launched Commissioned Decommissioned

12 July 1985 5 May 1989 15 February 1992 26 October 2019

Dimensions & Displacement Displacement 4,267 tonnes Length 138.1 metres Beam 13.7 metres Draught 4.5 metres Performance Speed Range

29 knots 4,500 nautical miles

Complement Crew 199 Propulsion Machinery 2 GE LM 2500 gas turbines 2 auxiliary electric retractable propulsors Armament Missiles Harpoon Block 2 Standard SM-2 Block IIIA Mark 41 VLS launcher Mark 13 launcher Guns 1 x OTO Melara 3 in (76 mm)/62 US Mk 75 1 x 20 mm Mk 15 Vulcan Phalanx antimissile system 6 x 12.7 mm MGs 2 x Rafael Mini-Typhoon 12.7 mm remote-controlled guns (for selected deployments) Torpedoes 6 x Mk 32 (2 triple) tubes

Physical Countermeasures 4 x Loral Hycor SRBOC Mk 36 or TERMA SKWS 2 x Rafael long-range chaff rocket launchers LESCUT torpedo countermeasures Electronic Countermeasures Elbit EA-2118 jammer Rafael C-Pearl Radars Raytheon SPS-49A(V)1 ISC Cardion SPS-55 Lockheed SPG-60 Sperry Mk 92 Mod 12 Sonars Thales Spherion (TMS 4131) Petrel (TMS 5424) mine avoidance Albatros (TMS 4350) towed-array torpedo warning system Combat Data Systems ADACS, OE-2 SATCOM, Link 11, Link 16 Weapon Control Systems Sperry Mk 92 Mod 12 gun and missile control Radamec 2500 optronic director with TV, laser and IR imager Helicopters 2 x Sikorsky S-70B-2 Seahawks or 1 x Seahawk and 1 x Squirrel Awards Inherited Battle Honours RABAUL 1914 NORTH SEA 1915-18 MALAYSIA 1964-66 Battle Honours EAST TIMOR 1999-2000 PERSIAN GULF 2001-03 MIDDLE EAST 2003-2014

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ELEPHANT WALK

‘ELEPHANT WALK’ The RAAF’s 33SQN and 36SQN based at Amberley west of Brisbane showed off the ADF’s impressive heavy airlift capabilities in late November, generating a five ship Airbus KC-30A MRTT ‘elephant walk’, and having all eight of their C-17As on the ramp simultaneously for the first time.

The RAAF now operates seven KC-30As following the delivery of two former Qantas A330-200s in 2018 and 2019, one of which has been configured with a VIP interior for long-range high-ranking government missions. One of the KC30s was unavailable due to being in deep maintenance, while the other is currently

deployed to the Middle East to support coalition operations in that region.

The C-17s have been busy in recent months supporting overseas and domestic deployments and exercises, so the opportunity to photograph all eight aircraft at home on their new ramp was a rare one.

IMAGES BY ADF PHOTOGRAPHERS

ELEPHANT WALK

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26

PACIFIC 2019

Record attendee and exhibitor numbers mark a successful PACIFIC 2019 International Maritime Exposition

T

WORDS BY MAX BLENKIN & ANDREW McLAUGHLIN, PHOTOS BY SETH JAWORSKI

he PACIFIC 2019 International Maritime Exposition was held in Sydney from October 8-10, 2019, and has again broken attendance and exhibitor records.

Organiser AMDA Foundation says 21,241 attendees visited the show, an increase of 27 per cent over the 2017 event. Similarly, 657 companies from 22 countries exhibited at the show, a 20 per cent increase over 2017, while 182 industry, government, defence and scientific delegations from 49 nations also visited.

In conjunction with the exposition, 48 major conferences, symposia and forums were conducted.

“The data confirms that this was the biggest PACIFIC International Maritime Exposition in the event’s 20 year history,” PACIFIC 2019 CEO Ian Honnery said in a statement. “But the value of the event goes beyond mere numbers. PACIFIC 2019 took Australia to the world by bringing the world to Australia.”

The next PACIFIC 2021 International Maritime Exposition will be held from August 18-20, 2021 at Sydney’s International Convention Centre.

NAVY RELEASES NEW DEFENCE INDUSTRY ENGAGEMENT STRATEGY

The Royal Australian Navy has released its new Industry Engagement Strategy, with Navy chief VADM Mike Noonan declaring the status quo was no longer acceptable.

At a launch of the policy on the first morning of PACIFIC 2019, VADM Noonan said the timelines for major programs were tight and the Australian public expected Navy to deliver on current and future capability needs.

He said the alternative was business as usual and this new strategy was about thinking differently, acting differently and communicating and behaving differently.

“We have a world class capable lethal navy and I need cutting edge technology in all aspects of the Australian shipbuilding industry,” VADM Noonan

said. “The strategy challenges Navy, industry and academia to innovate, to make a difference. It’s about making a difference to protecting Australian and our national interests. It’s about finding better ways to achieve outcomes through people, processes and technology.”

VADM Noonan said the strategy would fundamentally improve how Navy engaged with Industry. “We are focused on working with you. We will make our needs clear to Industry, so it is best positions to develop, deliver and support Navy’s capabilities. We will be receptive to your advice and we will not accept the status quo. We will move forward and I am asking you to move forward with us. We are in this together.”

The strategy sets four key pillars for future industry engagement – direction, dialog, delivery and innovation. VADM Noonan said this started immediately, with his staff being directed to get out and talk to the many small and large businesses exhibiting at PACIFIC 2019.

Defence Industry Minister Melissa Price said since the government breathed fresh air into Defence and the Australian defence industry, we were really seeing tremendous bang for our buck.

“New small Australian businesses have been

Chief of Navy VADM Mike Noonan announces the release of Navy’s Industry Engagement Strategy at PACIFIC 2019.

PACIFIC 2019

Defence Industry Minister Melissa Price and NSW Minister for Jobs, Investment, Tourism and Western Sydney Stuart Ayres sign the Whiskey Alpha special forces boat at its launch.

created and new job opportunities have opened up for many Australians,” she said. “Manufacturing in Australia is alive and well with defence industry proving itself as a pillar for developing new and cutting edge solutions for our defence force. Not only have we changed how our defence industry thinks, we have also changed the way that Defence thinks.”

NEW SPECIAL FORCES BOAT LAUNCHED

‘We have used our experience on the water to bring to life safety innovations...’

As small boats go, Whiskey Alpha is about as tactical as you can get – a nine-metre watercraft with capacity for 12 crew and special forces operators, armed with an EOS remote weapon station and minigun.

Unveiled on October 8 at PACIFIC 2019, Whiskey Alpha is being pitched to special forces under Project Greyfin, as well as to other operators such as state police.

Whiskey Alpha is the product of Sydney firm The Whiskey Project which is run by a two ADF veterans, and is billed as the next generation of tactical watercraft.

“We have used our experience on the water to bring to life safety innovations, whilst looking at ways we can improve operational outcomes by increasing the versatility of these boats,” said Darren Schuback, company managing director and a former Navy clearance diver.

“Taking an operator-first approach to the design of Whiskey Alpha, we believe it will significantly improve the performance of personnel on the water and provide a real advantage in tactical situations, whilst supporting Australia’s sovereign capability with a new global benchmark for tactical watercraft.”

The Whiskey Project was officially launched

by Defence Industry Minister Melissa Price who said this was a great day for small businesses in the Australian defence industry. “Our $200 billion investment in the record build-up of our sovereign capability has opened the door to so many companies looking to get involved in Australia’s defence industry.”

Under Project Greyfin, the government is boosting special forces capability with a $3 billion investment in new equipment over 20 years.

Mr Schuback said it is impossible to control every element of a tactical situation. “But we can significantly improve our key watercraft assets to

27

ensure operators arrive on task in optimum physical condition,” he said.

“Our advanced tactical boats integrate worldleading technologies that provide operational advantages and improve human performance, reducing the risk of injury and fatigue for our maritime personnel whilst increasing their safety and comfort.”

NSW Minister for Jobs, Investment, Tourism and Western Sydney Stuart Ayres said it was great to see a NSW company like The Whiskey Project developing smart, innovative technology for our highly trained professional soldiers.

“It’s vital our special forces have access to cutting edge technology like the next generation tactical watercraft,” he said. “The NSW Government will always get behind small companies that seek to deliver smart, specialised equipment to meet that need. Defence NSW assists NSW SMEs to access federal and state government programs to participate in trade events like PACIFIC, and target global supply chain and capability development initiatives.”

PRIMES SIGN ONTO STRATEGIC WORKFORCE PLAN

The heads of seven major Australian defence companies and organisations have signed on to an unprecedented collaboration to ensure shipbuilding projects have the workers they need.

Through the Naval Shipbuilding Industry Strategic Workforce Plan – signed at PACIFIC 2019 on October 8 – industry partners will embark on a four step planning model to deliver the required industry workforce. The plan starts with defining workforce requirements and the priority short, medium and long-term skills.

Step two is analysing training needs and supply.

Step three is designing a workforce program which includes buying in the needed skills or upskilling, while step four is delivery for each priority skill area.

The plan has been implemented following ongoing collaboration between the Naval Shipbuilding College and six naval shipbuilding primes – ASC, BAE Systems Australia/ASC Shipbuilding, Lockheed Martin Australia, Luerssen Australia, Naval Group Australia, and SAAB Australia.

Naval Shipbuilding College Chief Executive Ian Irving said it was ground-breaking to see this level of cooperation. “I have not seen this in the 30 years I have been involved in this sector,” Irving said.

Defence Industry Minister Melissa Price said this was a who’s who of shipbuilding in Australia.

“Our government is committing $90 billion to our national shipbuilding enterprise and it is great to see so many people interested in making sure we have the skillsets we need,” she said.

Naval Group Australia chief executive officer John Davis said the defence shipbuilding primes needed a workforce which at its peak would be more than 5,000 direct employees. “When we look at the sustainment and the flow on into the supply chain the real number of people who will be engaged in these programs is much much higher,” he said. “Ensuring we have this workforce with the right skills at the right time to be able to deliver the program is what this is all about.

28

PACIFIC 2019

“We recognise the important role that we have to shape this workforce of the future and that is why we have come together with the NSC to do the architectural work to transform the educational system to support the development of this workforce.”

Mr Davis said he had not seen this kind of collaboration any time during his career, and that showed how important it was. He said companies were not just looking for workers to start the program. “We have to sustain this workforce for decades to come so we really are creating the generational skills and capability for Australia.”

NAVAL GROUP TO OFFER MCM VESSELS FOR SEA 1905

With Australia looking to acquire two new advanced minehunters under the Project SEA 1905 Maritime Mine Countermeasures (MCM) requirement, Naval Group is set to pitch the same capability it has developed with company ECA for Belgium and the Netherlands.

Each of these countries is acquiring six new vessels to replace two older minehunters, along with the mine hunting toolbox – a system of unmanned surface vessels and towed and autonomous submersibles.

Naval Group head of marketing for surface vessels Herve Boy said mines posed a real threat.

“It’s not just former mines from the Second World War,” he told ADBR at PACIFIC 2019. “This program is based on ECA’s and Naval Group’s experience in mine warfare and the cooperation between these two companies on this topic.”

The parent vessel is an 82-metre, 2,800-tonne ship able to steam for long distances and deploy a range of capabilities including a pair of INSPECTOR unmanned surface vessels from which can be launched autonomous underwater vessels to search for mines. Any mines detected can be destroyed by an autonomous ‘kamikaze’ underwater vessel.

During the election campaign, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the Navy would acquire two new advanced minehunters under SEA 1905, plus a new hydrographic vessel under the Project SEA 2400 Hydrographic Data Collection Capability program.

Mr Boy said Naval Group needed to know the actual Australian requirement. “So far there is no requirement somewhere else,” he said. “But if there is a requirement in Australia, for example, we will be ready to answer it on the basis of this program.”

Construction of the first ship for Belgium will start in France in 2021, with the first vessel delivered in 2024 and subsequent deliveries every six months.

Each vessel incorporates a Launch and Recovery System (LARS) for ECA Group’s INSPECTOR 125 unmanned surface vehicles which can be launched in sea conditions up to sea-state four.

Embarked drones include the A18-M autonomous underwater vehicle, T18-M towed sonars and Mine Identification and Destruction Systems (MIDS) composed of SEASCAN and KSTER-C remotely operated vehicles (ROV).

All these drones can be operated autonomously from the USV INSPECTOR 125.

FLINDERS UNI & ASC TO ESTABLISH DIGITAL LABORATORY

Flinders University and ASC Shipbuilding are to establish a digital test laboratory to try out the technologies to be used in construction with the RAN’s nine new Hunter class frigates.

The lab will form part of Flinders University’s advanced manufacturing research facilities based at the Tonsley Innovation District in South Australia.

In the laboratory, researchers, ASC Shipbuilding and suppliers will be developing and testing the technologies that future shipyard workers will use at the new digital shipyard, currently under construction within the Osborne Naval Shipyard precinct.

ASC Shipbuilding managing director Craig Lockhart said that applying digital technology in a shipbuilding facility will require a fundamental shift in how the industry has traditionally operated.

“We are establishing a world-leading shipyard right here in Australia – it will mean autonomous ground delivery vehicles, paperless work orders, robots, laser scanning and projection, virtual reality and part and tool tracking, just to name a few technologies,” he said.

“We are so pleased to partner with some of Australia’s leading researchers at Flinders University to help us create an efficient, safe and productive shipyard which provides long term careers for future workers that are exciting, challenging and rewarding.”

Flinders University Vice-Chancellor Professor Colin Stirling said Flinders was applying its research leadership in Industry 4.0 to contribute to faster, safer production and enhanced economic growth.

“Our expertise in industrial transformation will bring tangible benefits to the frigate project, one of the biggest defence investments in the nation’s history,” Prof Stirling said. “Industry 4.0 is vital part of the digital transformation underway in manufacturing and this new research partnership with ASC Shipbuilding will help to solve the real world challenges faced in a modern shipyard.

“Flinders is delighted to be ASC Shipbuilding’s partner of choice in this important defence research initiative that will be pivotal to economic growth and workforce development in South Australia.”

The Hunter class frigate is derived from the UK’s Type 26 Global Combat Ship, and will be the first wholly digitally-designed warship to be made in Australia. Prototyping begins next year, testing and refining all processes, systems, tools, facilities and workforce competencies. Construction on the first frigate starts in 2022.

‘We are establishing a worldleading shipyard right here in Australia...’

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PACIFIC 2019

NAVAL GROUP LAUNCHES NEW AUSTRALIAN SUBSIDIARY

Shipbuilder Naval Group has launched a new Australian subsidiary called Naval Group Pacific and to be headquartered in Sydney. The company said the creation of the new entity highlighted its longterm commitment to Australian defence industry.

Naval Group Pacific subsidiary will operate separately from the Adelaide-based Naval Group Australia, currently committed to the SEA 1000 future submarine program.

Naval Group said it would it would focus on strengthening Australia’s broader defence capabilities through sales, program management and sustainment of the Naval Group’s existing portfolio of advanced technology products, systems and services and through the building of partnerships with the Australian industry. It will oversee the company’s business development activities in Australia and New Zealand, and will also develop a research and development centre in Australia.

“Naval Group Pacific will rely on a long-term partnership culture and leverage the dynamic R&D policy of its parent company to solve some of the local defence industry’s most critical challenges,” said Naval Group chief executive officer and chairman Hervé Guillou.

“Naval Group Pacific will make Australia a global research and development Centre of Excellence for Naval Group, with a policy to privilege co-operation, gathering industry, academia and government to develop new maritime defence technologies.”

LOCKHEED & SAAB TO WORK ON HUNTER COMBAT SYSTEM

Once the nine new Hunter class frigates are in the water, Australia will possess 12 Aegis warships, the largest fleet of Aegis-equipped vessels outside of the US Navy.

At PACIFIC 2017, even before announcing that the BAE Systems’ Global Combat Ship was the preferred design for the Navy’s future anti-submarine warfare frigates, the government announced the new ships would be equipped with the Lockheed Martin Aegis combat system.

Following hull selection, Lockheed Martin and Saab were selected to perform the integration of Aegis into the new ships, in conjunction with an Australian tactical interface by Saab.

“They (the government) recognised that the Aegis weapon system is the most potent combat management system essentially in the world today for high end warfare,” Rob Milligan, Lockheed Martin’s head of Australian surface ship programs told ADBR. “The Hunter class primary focus is antisubmarine warfare. If you don’t have an air warfare capability, your ASW frigate will end up on the bottom of the ocean.”

Mr Milligan said the combat system architecture was being developed now. Aegis will use the Australian CEAFAR radar as its primary sensor, and will deal with on-water and above water threats and weapons, while the Australian tactical interface will deal with below water threats.

The Hunter vessels will be equipped with the latest Aegis Baseline 9, while the DDGs were fitted

with the older Aegis Baseline 8.1. That’s because Baseline 8 was what was available when Australia placed its order more than a decade ago.

Under Project SEA 4000 Phase 6, the DDGs will be upgraded to Baseline 9, a significant capability enhancement. And should the government decide, Baseline 9 would permit an anti-ballistic missile capability, using SM-3 or SM-6 missiles. With that upgrade, the plan is to standardise the Aegis and Australian tactical interface across all 12 vessels, simplifying sustainment and training.

“We understand the Australian government will look to standardise those two combat systems across Hunter and Hobart,” Milligan said. “You will have 12 of the same. Your logistics tail is significantly reduced.”

Neale Prescott, Lockheed Martin Australia business development manager, said Defence was approaching those from a program perspective.

“They want to try and align these classes of ships, with Aegis at its core. Navy is going to have a combat capability that is really consistent, in terms of their weapons, their training and fighting performance of those ships.”

LOCKHEED MARTIN SIGNS WITH SAFRAN FOR SUB SYSTEMS DESIGN

Submarine combat system integrator Lockheed Martin Australia has signed a deal with Safran Electronics and Defense Australasia for design of key components of Australia’s 12 new Attack class submarines.

In an October 8 ministerial release, Defence Minister Linda Reynolds and Defence Industry Minister Melissa Price said the agreement would support the operation and sustainment of the Attack class while maximising the involvement of Australian industry.

“It is the first major equipment design subcontract awarded by Lockheed Martin Australia as the combat system integrator for the Attack class,” the statement reads. “This includes the design of the optronics search and attack, navigation radar, and navigation data distribution subsystems. These are vital components of the combat system suite and builds on work Safran already conducts in Australia in the defence and civilian sectors.”

Lockheed Martin Australia was selected as the combat system integrator for the 12 submarines being acquired under Project SEA 1000. The complex combat system links the submarine sensors and weapons and is forecast to cost about one-fifth of the projected $50 billion total project cost. (see feature story on Page 66).

The Ministers said during the design phase Safran will engage Australian suppliers Acacia Systems and Thomas Global Systems to provide

‘...the Aegis weapon system is the most potent combat management system in the world today.’

PACIFIC 2019V

‘...we understand the importance of early combat system planning, architecting, integrating and testing.’

design services, and that in the future, Safran will establish a local capability for the production, integration and support of these sub-systems in Sydney.

RAYTHEON AUST TO PROVIDE NAVAL COMBAT SYSTEM SUPPORT

Raytheon Australia has signed an agreement with Defence to provide naval surface ship combat system engineering support services for up to six years.

Raytheon Australia managing director Michael Ward said the Government and Defence were to be commended for their forward-looking decision to engage a combat system engineering partner to reduce risks for future surface ship programs.

“As the combat systems integrator for the Air Warfare Destroyer (AWD) program, Raytheon Australia has more than 15 years of expertise in this field,” he said. “Having lived the full evolution of Australia’s first truly sovereign shipbuilding program through AWD, we understand the importance of early combat system planning, architecting, integrating and testing.

“This early engagement is particularly critical in reducing the risks for large-scale programs such as surface ships – as proven by the first-time success of the AWD combat system.”

Mr Ward said Raytheon looked forward to working alongside Defence to apply its unique combat system knowledge to benefit the Government as they deliver the capabilities outlined in the Naval Shipbuilding Plan over the coming decades.

Defence Minister Linda Reynolds said, under the deed of the standing offer Raytheon would provide combat system engineering support services to the Royal Australian Navy for up to six years following a new agreement with Defence.

“Under this new agreement, Raytheon Australia will support Defence’s upgrades to surface ship combat systems by providing engineering and logistics services,” she said. “This will capitalise on existing knowledge, skills, systems and processes developed by Raytheon Australia through the Hobart class destroyer acquisition program, while continuing to support our Navy with the world’s best combat systems technology.

“This is part of our Government’s plan to develop a long-term sustainable Australian Combat Management System industry, which is key to the national Naval Shipbuilding Plan.”

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PENTEN PITCHES ALTOCRYPT SECURE MOBILITY SOLUTIONS TO NAVY

Canberra-based cyber security company Penten has broadened the utility of its AltoCrypt secure mobility communications range of devices by offering them as an alternative to secure cabling for naval vessels and shore facilities.

Penten already provides secure mobility solutions to Defence and other National Security departments in Australia and UK, by enabling staff to work anywhere anytime, with access to classified material when and where they need it.

“Our aim is to help protect those who protect us,” Penten’s Director Defence and Intelligence, Josh Bolton said in a statement. “We want to provide the best solutions to allow Defence to do important work while offering the flexibility of a modern workplace, whether that be aboard a ship or ashore.

“Our products are currently being used in Australia and the UK and represent an opportunity for digital evolution within Australia’s Government sector. It’s time to move ahead with the latest technology.”

Penten says its Australian-designed and developed AltoCrypt range of secure mobility solutions have been developed to meet the threats and needs of the Defence and National Security agencies. Led by the AltoCrypt Stik, the unique design enables users to access Wi-Fi to roam cable free, collaborate and have access to their sensitive data.

The AltoCrypt pBox enables users to stay connected by allowing a phone to be taken into a secure environment. The portable container prevents the device from eavesdropping or using the camera.

US NAVY DEPLOYS TRITON TO GUAM, AUSTRALIA IS WATCHING

The US Navy has deployed the first MQ-4C Triton unmanned maritime surveillance aircraft to Guam to conduct early operational capability (EOC) testing and operations in the northern Pacific, a key milestone both for the US and Australian programs.

Australia is set to buy six of the Northrop Grumman Triton high altitude maritime surveillance aircraft, and will be closely watching how they perform operationally. The US Navy’s EOC was a key milestone for the RAAF to proceed with its Triton acquisition.

“We will be able to leverage lessons learned from the US Navy and that will be important as we start to look towards the Australian rollout,” Northrop Grumman Australia’s new Triton program director, Jake Campbell told ADBR at PACIFIC 2019.

The 2016 Defence White Paper proposed acquisition of seven Tritons, although the government subsequently reduced that to six.

So far only two have been funded, along with the all-important ground stations, and facilities at the main operating base in Adelaide and the forward operating base at Tindal in the Northern Territory.

The first aircraft will be delivered in 2023.

Campbell said Northrop Grumman signed the deed of agreement for Australian industry content at the Avalon Airshow earlier this year.

“To date we have let five contracts to Australian

32

PACIFIC 2019

industry associated with the program, but we are certainly not resting on our laurels,” he said. “We are looking to generating as much Australian industry content as we can into this program.

“What will help is the bulk purchase of the next lot of aeroplanes, he added. “That will provide a little more program certainty which for Australian industry will help with the business case. We look forward to a government decision.”

Most recently, Northrop Grumman signed a deal with Queensland firm Ferra for some Triton chassis components, while earlier, Victorian firm AME was contracting for some cabling work. Significantly, Triton components produced in Australia aren’t just for Australian aircraft – they are for every aircraft to be produced. The US Navy program of record is for 70 aircraft, 68 for operational service and two for ongoing trials.

For Northrop Grumman Australia, Triton is one of their flagship programs. “It is indicative of the change for Northrop Grumman and looking to grow Northrop Grumman in Australia to become ultimately a prime systems integrator,” Campbell said.

ASC TO TRAIN NAVAL GROUP APPRENTICES

Naval Group has signed a deal for their first new apprentices to undertake their training with ASC. Under the agreement, the first three apprentices start in January 2020. It will be followed by two annual intakes, with the program running out to 2025. By that time Naval Group hopes to have grown its workforce to around 1,000 and started work on the first of the new SEA 1000 Attack class submarines, and be able to train their own apprentices.

ASC is currently conducting Collins class submarine sustainment work in Adelaide. The new apprentices will train in metal fabrication, with apprenticeships running for four years.

Naval Group Australia chief executive officer John Davis said ASC and Naval Group signed a framework earlier this year, aimed at establishing a long-term collaboration to support the objectives of the submarine enterprise in Australia.

“The conversation about collaboration between Naval Group and ASC goes back to 2016,” he said at PACIFIC 2019 on October 10. “I am really very pleased and very proud to announce our really significant initiatives under this framework which relates to training. The next generation of submarine builders is a key part of the success of the future submarine program.

“At the same time we also need to ensure we sustain the Collins as a front-line capable submarine,” he added. “That really means protecting and growing our respective workforces over the next few decades.”

Mr Davis said this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the apprentices who would gain the benefit of the experience of ASC in Australia and Naval Group in France. “They will work with the best welders in Australia today,” he said.

“We hope this is just the start of this apprentice framework.”

ASC chief executive officer Stuart Whiley said the young people who undertook these

apprenticeships would gain world class training and go on to careers in shipbuilding. “They gain an opportunity to work with some of the best trades people and submarine experts in Australia if not the world,” he said.

“I have always maintained, given ASC’s experience that it is well positioned to act as a seedbed for the development of the future shipbuilding workforce required for the government’s commitment to building s sustainable shipbuilding industry.”

GOVT AWARDS SYPAQ $3.5M FOR HYBRID UAS

The Federal Government has awarded Melbourne firm Sypaq Systems a $3.5 million contract to develop an unmanned aerial system (UAS) with potential future applications for the Royal Australian Navy.

Defence Industry Minister Melissa Price announced the Defence Innovation Hub contract with Sypaq Systems at PACIFIC 2019 on October 9.

Under this contract, Sypaq – founded in 1992 – will develop a small UAS with a hybrid power delivery system and the capacity to operate effectively in harsh environmental conditions such as at sea.

Minister Price congratulated Sypaq on their innovative solution and said the technology would enhance situational awareness for maritime operations.

“If successful, this UAS would be capable of operating from ships at sea and performing a range of surveillance and reconnaissance operations,” she said. “Sypaq Systems, an engineering and systems integration company, is an example of an Australian business that is exploring leading technology to help the Australian Defence Force meet its current and future challenges.

“Through the Defence Innovation Hub, we are investing approximately $640 million in Australian industry to develop innovative technology with a Defence application.

In March Sypaq was awarded a $1 million contract to develop a small UAS capable of delivering supplies to soldiers in the field.

‘...given ASC’s experience that it is well positioned to act as a seedbed for the development of the future shipbuilding workforce...’

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34

MC-55A PEREGRINE

PEREGRINE MC-55A

MC-55A PEREGRINE

35

L3 HARRIS CONCEPT ART

The ADF’s ambitious efforts to build a worldclass joint force electronic warfare capability will soon be bolstered by the high-flying Peregrine

BY ANDREW McLAUGHLIN

36

MC-55A PEREGRINE

T

he RAAF’s MC-55A Peregrine electronic warfare support system project will soon hit a key milestone, with the delivery of the fourth and final ‘green’ Gulfstream G550 airframe to the US Air Force for modification under the Peregrine program.

Three aircraft are already at Greenville and are being prepared to receive the all-important sensors, mission systems and other modifications. After that, a comprehensive test campaign will follow prior to deliveries to the RAAF commencing in early 2023.

PROJECT PEREGRINE

MC-55A will initially be a unique designation for the RAAF’s missionised G550s, whereas other operators use variations of the US Department of Defense’s C-37 designation, or just retain the G550.

The aircraft are delivered from Gulfstream’s Savannah, Georgia factory to Greenville with most of the external modifications already completed during manufacture. Gulfstream has a long history of producing missionised versions of its high-flying and long-ranging business jets, and the G550 in particular has been modified more than most.

While there had been some rumours in 2015 that a new G550-based EW capability was being considered for the RAAF, the first official confirmation of the project came in the 2016 Defence White Paper (DWP) and supporting Integrated Investment Plan (IIP).

‘From the early 2020s, Defence will acquire up to five long-range electronic warfare support aircraft based on the Gulfstream G550 airframe with additional and modified systems,’ the IIP reads. ‘This capability will substantially enhance electronic warfare support to naval, air and land forces for operations in electromagnetic environments manipulated by hostile forces, with the operating cost, range and endurance benefits of a commercial airframe.

‘The aircraft will be acquired in two tranches and incrementally upgraded to maintain commonality with the United States-developed systems for long-term supportability and to maintain interoperability.’

Shortly after, then Defence Minister Senator Marise Payne revealed the MC-55A designation for the first time in her keynote address to the March 2016 Airpower Conference in Canberra.

But curiously, any reference to this has been omitted from the official online transcript of her speech.

In a June 2017 notification, the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) advised Congress that the US State Department had approved a ‘possible foreign military sale (FMS) to Australia for Gulfstream G550 aircraft modified to integrate Airborne Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance, and Electronic Warfare (AISREW) mission systems.’

The notification added that Australia had requested ‘up to five G550’ aircraft, and that the then estimated US$1.3bn (A$1.92bn) package

included the mission systems, GPS capabilities, secure communications, aircraft defensive systems, aircraft modification and integration, flight test and certification, and associated ground systems.

The package also included spares, US Govt and contractor engineering services, logistics, and program support.

‘The proposed sale supports and complements the ongoing efforts of Australia to modernize its electronic warfare capability and increases interoperability between the USAF and the RAAF,’ the notification added.

The next public release of information about the project came in July 2018 when the US DoD awarded L3 Technologies a US$83m (A$122m) contract for the upgrade of the first two G550s for the RAAF. The contract announcement also named the USAF’s 645th Aeronautical Systems Group, also known as ‘Big Safari’, based at Wright-Patterson AFB in Ohio as the contracting authority. Big Safari has extensive experience with the design and development of airborne electronic intelligence (ELINT) capabilities in a classified environment.

In March 2019, the Commonwealth formally announced that four MC-55As would be acquired for A$2.46bn.

Former Defence Minister Christopher Pyne and then Minister for Defence Industry Senator Linda Reynolds announced the acquisition of the aircraft in a March 18 joint statement which confirmed the aircraft will be based at RAAF Edinburgh near Adelaide alongside RAAF Surveillance & Response Group (SRG) P-8A Poseidon, MQ-4C Triton and MQ-9 Predator/Reaper intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) systems.

“The Peregrine is a new airborne electronic warfare capability that will be integrated into Defence’s joint warfighting networks, providing a critical link between platforms, including the F-35A

‘...the first official confirmation of the project came in the 2016 DWP and supporting IIP.’

Many of the MC-55A’s sensor fairings and apertures have already been developed for other G550 special mission aircraft such as the EC-37 Compass Call II. GULFSTREAM

MC-55A PEREGRINE

The US Navy’s EC-37B range-control aircraft features sensors in the same elongated nose and fuselage cheek fairings as the G550 CAEW. US NAVY

Joint Strike Fighter, E-7A Wedgetail, EA-18G Growler, Navy’s surface combatants and amphibious assault ships and ground assets to support the warfighter,” former Minister Pyne said in the statement.

“This capability and the people who operate it will bring Air Force a step closer to becoming a fully networked fifth-generation force and further exploit the joint combat multiplier effects on exercises and operations.”

In a company statement, then L3 Technologies chairman, CEO and president Christopher Kubasik said, “Our mission solution and electronic warfare capabilities are highly sought after by our allies.

As business jets are increasingly utilised for EW purposes, we have invested in miniaturising our capabilities to deliver new resources for our customers. Australia is a very important market for L3, and we look forward to a long and productive partnership with the RAAF and the local supplier base in support of the Peregrine program.”

In the same statement, L3 ISR Systems business segment president Jeff Miller added, “This capability will greatly strengthen the RAAF’s goal to becoming a fully networked fifth-generation force and considerably enhance their global effect on peacekeeping and humanitarian operations.

It will serve as a critical link between air, land and sea assets to provide airborne electronic warfare support to Commonwealth and allied warfighters in complex operating environments.”

GULFSTREAM G550

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The Gulfstream G550 is the extended range and roomier follow-on from the GV and G450 long-range large cabin business jets which preceded it.

Originally dubbed the GV-SP, the G550 was first certified by the FAA in August 2003, and was replaced in business jet production in 2019 by the G600 which features a larger cabin and more modern cockpit. In total – and somewhat appropriately – nearly 550 G550s have been manufactured.

This total includes about 10 C-37 military/VIP transports, and about 20 G550 special mission aircraft equipped with airborne early warning, command and control, high altitude research, and electronic warfare support systems. Because of its popularity, flexibility and proven capabilities, the G550 special mission catalogue remains available while there is still demand.

The G550 bizjet offers sparkling performance, and the various special mission versions have been developed to closely match it. Its two Rolls-Royce BR 710-C4-11 engines each produce 15,400lbf of thrust giving the 90,000lb aircraft a maximum speed of M.89 and a cruise altitude of about 50,000ft. Maximum range is quoted as 6,750nm (12,500km), equating to about 14 hours endurance at an economical cruise speed. The same engines or derivatives of them power the Boeing 717 airliner, Bombardier Global Express business jet, and the larger Gulfstream G650ER, and have been proposed to re-engine the B-52H.

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MC-55A PEREGRINE

MC-55A CONFIGURATION

Despite most of the MC-55A’s external ‘lumps and bumps’ and other apertures having already been integrated with various other special mission G550s built to date, the RAAF’s jets will have a unique combination of these. The most notable external features will be a forward fuselage underside ‘canoe’ fairing, an upper fuselage antenna ‘farm’, a bulbous rear tail cone fairing which houses an integrated electro-optical infrared (EO/IR) turret, and an antenna fairing on the top of the vertical stabiliser.

What the MC-55A won’t feature is the large fuselage side ‘cheek’ fairings used by the conformal airborne early warning (CAEW) version of the G550 as operated by Italy, Singapore and Israel, and on the US Navy’s NC-37B range control aircraft.

For some special mission applications including that of the MC-55A, the G550’s two BR 710 engines are each fitted with a 240kW generator which runs off a shaft into the engine and is faired into the underside of the nacelle. These provide additional electrical and cooling power to the sensitive mission systems and sensor arrays.

Even in special mission form, the baseline G550’s performance is a key capability; its cruise and maximum speeds allows it to keep pace with fast jet strike and air combat packages. Its operating altitude gives its sensors a huge field of regard, while its unrefuelled endurance allows it to cover most of Western Pacific or Eastern Indian Oceans from Darwin with plenty of time on station. No G550s have been converted for air-to-air refuelling.

But while the G550 shines in performance compared to other commercial derivatives, it has a much smaller cabin than even the 737 which has spawned the E-7A Wedgetail and P-8A Poseidon.

At 47.2m3, the G550’s cabin is almost one-quarter the size of the 184m3 cabin 737-700/BBJ upon which the E-7A Wedgetail is based, and smaller again than the 224m3 737-800 which forms the basis of the P-8A Poseidon.

While no interior configuration details of the MC55A have been released, an IAI graphic shows Israeli CAEW G550s have six large screen forward and rear-facing mission consoles in three rows of two each with an aisle in between, and a small galley and lavatory module.

BIG SAFARI

Big Safari sits under the 303rd Aeronautical Systems Wing (303 ASW) of the US Air Force Materiel Command, and has a long history of developing and supporting US and allied ISR capabilities.

Its mission statement reads, ‘The Big Safari acquisition and sustainment system employs the necessary flexibility to respond to highpriority, dynamic operational requirements for programs that involve a limited number of systems that require a rapid response to changes in the operational environment throughout the life of the system.

‘Big Safari focuses on acquiring, fielding, and sustaining key operational capabilities that otherwise would not be achievable or supportable in the required timeframe. Events and processes are tailored to meet the user’s operational and schedule needs.’

In a 2010 address to the Air Force Association, then Secretary of the Air Force Michael B Donley said, “Big Safari has long been an alternative acquisition source for certain high priority, rapidreaction, urgent Combatant Commander needs... unmatched culture of responsiveness...which continues to evolve and adapt in our current operational environment.”

Big Safari isn’t subject to much of the same public scrutiny of its contracting and acquisition activities as other US DoD organisations. But much of this scrutiny undoubtedly takes place behind closed doors, as much of its activity is conducted under the US DoD’s huge covert ‘black’ budget which, at an estimated US$50bn (A$73bn) a year, is almost double that of Australia’s entire annual defence budget.

Despite its low profile, Big Safari has the capabilities to manage projects end-to-end, including contracting, financial management, program management, engineering, test and

‘Despite its low profile, Big Safari has the capabilities to manage projects end-toend...’

Big Safari was reportedly involved in regenerating and converting two former NASA WB-57F Canberras to carry the Battlefield Airborne Communications Node (BACN) payload.

MC-55A PEREGRINE

The EC-130H Compass Call electronic warfare (TOP) and MC-12W electronic intelligence (ABOVE) systems were both developed by Big Safari and L3 for the USAF and US Army respectively.

USAF

evaluation, operations, maintenance, and sustainment. It is believed to manage more than 40 separate programs for multiple customers. As such, it enjoys a degree of flexibility and agility that other programs can only dream about.

“The US Air Force and Big Safari are great to work with,” the RAAF’s Director of ISREW, GPCAPT Jason Lind told ADBR. “This acquisition is an FMS project, and Big Safari is a very sophisticated engineering organisation.”

Some of its better-known programs include the RC-135 series of aircraft systems, including the RC135V/W Rivet Joint, RC-135S Cobra Ball, and WC-135W Constant Phoenix systems. Although all based on the same 1950s-vintage C-135 airframe and, being externally visually similar, these distinctive systems have been continuously upgraded and enhanced by L3, and are key US national strategic ISR assets.

Other programs that Big Safari has been involved in include the L3 MC-12W Liberty ISR system based on the King Air 350/350ER airframe, the early rapid

39

development program to weaponise the GA-ASI MQ-1A Predator with Hellfire AGMs following the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, the EC-130H Compass Call electronic warfare derivative of the Hercules, and the current BAE Systems EC-37B Compass Call II ‘Cross Deck Initiative’ program which is also to be based on the G550.

Big Safari has also been involved with the acquisition and systems integration of the USAF’s fleet of light commercial-derivative aircraft which provide discreet transport and ISR support to special forces command operations. These include Dornier 328-based C-146 Wolfhound and its Do328Jet or ‘DoJet’ development, the Pilatus PC12-based U-28A, the PZL M-28, and various other types such as CASA/ Airbus C-295s, Bombardier Dash-8s, and King Airs/C12s.

Older programs include the development of the Ryan BQM-34 Firefly and AQM-34 Lightning Bug surveillance and ELINT drones in the 1960s, and the management of the resurrection of three SR-71A Blackbirds for the USAF from 1994 before that program was permanently shut down in 1999.

The organisation is also rumoured to have played a role in the effort to rapidly integrate the battlefield airborne communications node (BACN) payload onto two mothballed NASA WB-57F Canberras for a rapid deployment to Kandahar in 2011 prior to BACN entering service on its intended E-11 (Global Express) and EQ-4 Global Hawk platforms.

Big Safari is also reportedly closely aligned with the secretive Sierra Nevada Corporation on the development of ISR platforms and systems used in counter-insurgency and anti-drug operations in Central and South America, and facilitated the development of the armed and armoured AT802U Archangel version of the rugged Air Tractor agricultural aircraft.

Most relevant to the MC-55A is the L3 RC-135V/W Rivet Joint system operated by the USAF, and by the Royal Air Force as the Airseeker. Rivet Joint is

40

MC-55A PEREGRINE

a highly-capable electronic intelligence (ELINT) system capable of recording and classifying emissions from multiple communications, radar, and other systems across a broad spectrum, and many of the systems developed for that program by L3 and other contractors including BAE Systems will likely be leveraged for the Peregrine.

CAPABILITY

Details of the MC-55’s mission or capabilities understandably remain closely-held, but the ELINT/ ISREW mission is not a new one for the RAAF. It was well known within the wider Australian defence community that the RAAF had operated two AP-3C Orions and at least one C-130H Hercules in an ISREW role for nearly two decades under the three-phased Project Peacemate.

But apart from a few spurious Parliamentary Hansard references from the early 2000s, there is little on the record about the existence of these aircraft let alone their capabilities. Interestingly, it was only after the last of the ‘regular’ maritime patrol AP-3Cs were retired in late 2018 did your writer notice what is likely the first public ADF acknowledgement of the existence of the “AP-3C (Electronic Warfare)” platforms when, in February 2019, one of the aircraft deployed to Exercise Red Flag 19-1 at Nellis AFB in Nevada.

The two AP-3C (EW) airframes were modified in the US, based on requirements captured from lessons learned after several years of operating in the Middle East area of operations.

Despite the removal of all external serial numbers from the Orion fleet during the Sentinel upgrade, the AP-3C EW airframes were externally distinguishable by their lack of sonar buoy tubes on the underside of the rear fuselage.

And much like the RAF’s Nimrod R.1 and the US Navy’s EP-3E Aries ELINT derivatives, they were effectively permanently consigned to their new EW role in place of their more traditional anti-submarine and maritime patrol missions.

The AP-3C EWs have received continual technological refreshes, keeping them at the leading edge of passive ISREW capabilities, and making them key electronic and visual ISR assets for the ADF and coalition forces.

The RAAF is keen to point out that, while the timing of the introduction of the MC-55A will coincide with the planned withdrawal of the two AP-3C EWs, the Peregrine is not a replacement for the AP-3C (EW) Orions. “This is a new capability, not an evolution,” GPCAPT Lind told us. “This will be airborne ISR done in a different way.”

Industry experts equate the AP-3C EW and the MC-55A’s capabilities to that of the RC-135V/W Rivet Joint, albeit in a somewhat smaller package. This means that, like Rivet Joint, many of the key sensors on the aircraft will be likely provided by L3Harris and/or BAE Systems, giving the aircraft the capability to monitor, record and classify a wide portion of the microwave and radio wave end of the electromagnetic spectrum, from mobile phone and Wi-Fi networks, to large integrated air defence systems.

The co-location of the MC-55A with the P-8A, MQ-4C Triton, MQ-9B Sky Guardian, and the growing ADF ‘ISR Hub’ which comprises the tri-service Joint Electronic Warfare Operational Support Unit (JEWOSU), elements of the F-35-focused AustraliaCanada-UK Reprogramming Lab (ACURL), and the DGS-AUS (Distributed Ground Station), is no coincidence.

The Project AIR 3503 DGS-AUS is a new intelligence unit responsible for the analysis of data collected from the various RAAF ISR platforms, and has access to other national intelligence resources and assets. It is capable of rapidly fusing data and information to provide senior military and political decision-makers with enhanced situational awareness.

The JEWOSU and ACURL are responsible for providing electronic warfare support by building and testing mission data files (MDF) for the RAAF’s combat and ISR platforms and systems, and many of these MDFs include threat libraries which will likely be built with the assistance of the MC-55A’s sensor suite as well as that of the Triton’s Multi-INT system from 2023. Other assets expected to contribute data to the ADF’s threat library include the EA-18G Growler and the F-35A, as well as the highly-capable passive ESM systems onboard the E-7A Wedgetail and the P-8A. With all these high-end capabilities coming online in the next five years, the amount of data coming in to the ISR hub will increase exponentially.

Therefore, the ability to manage the efficient tasking, collection, processing, exploitation, and dissemination (TCPED) of the data will be key. And while manpower will be important, so too will the integration of an appropriate level of artificial intelligence (AI) into the system.

“We will leverage off dataflows, and we will have a lot more people on the ground than in the aircraft,” said GPCAPT Lind. “We will need to be more flexible about where we get our data, and there will need to be a degree of fusion in the way it is presented.

“It’s not about the platforms, it’s about all the

‘...the amount of data coming in to the ISR hub will increase exponentially.’

The systems and capabilities of the USAF RC-135V Rivet Joint and RAF Airseeker will form the basis of the MC55A’s capabilities. USAF

MC-55A PEREGRINE

capabilities working together to achieve a joint force goal,” GPCAPT Lind added. “A lot of effort is being put into this, and the CJC (Chief of Joint Capabilities) is really taking the lead. Senior leadership has a growing idea of what is required to effectively operate these 5th gen systems, and it will be up to us to educate the decision-makers so the appropriate workforces and systems are established.”

But the manpower issue may not necessarily mean more people are required, but rather new skillsets. “We won’t necessarily need new people, but we’ll be changing the shape of many of those we already have,” GPCAPT Lind said. “Our people won’t just be in uniform. We will have industry, the APS (Australian Public Service), and allies as well.

“We will obviously need more STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics) people,” he added. “And a key consideration from an ethics viewpoint is the need to maintain a balance between the utilisation of AI and keeping humans in the loop.”

INTO SERVICE

The first MC-55A Peregrine is expected to be delivered in 2022. L3 HARRIS CONCEPT ART

Because of the developmental nature of the Peregrine project, L3Harris will conduct a complete flight test campaign and certification program of the MC-55A configuration in conjunction with Big Safari and the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). As with all aircraft operated by the ADF, the Chief of Air Force will be the ultimate airworthiness authority for the aircraft and its systems.

No decision has yet been taken as to what squadron will operate the Peregrine. But with the

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RAAF taking a larger enterprise-level approach to ISREW, the small fleet will be combined with the Triton, MQ-9B, E-7A, and the P-8A under the Surveillance and Response Group (SRG) umbrella.

The four aircraft are scheduled to be delivered to Australia at the rate of roughly one per year until late 2025. A sustainment model is currently being worked on, but it is likely Industry will be required to become a platform steward for the airframe and many of its systems. Due to International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) considerations, some of the more advanced sensors may need to be returned to the US for maintenance and repairs, but this is something the ADF and Industry is becoming more familiar with as other new generation capabilities are introduced.

Training on the MC-55A and its systems will initially be conducted by L3Harris and the USAF at Greenville as part of the initial acquisition package.

GPCAPT Lind wouldn’t be drawn on whether this had already commenced, but did offer that the RAAF was looking to streamline the training on and conversion to the aircraft.

“Training is always a challenge,” he said. “We want to be able to do it more rapidly, but we want to do it safely and efficiently. Regardless of the model we implement, training will always remain a FIC (fundamental input to capability).

“It’s an exciting capability,” he added in closing.

“I’m confident that, after we get it into the hands of motivated operators, this capability will be doing things in 10 years that we haven’t even envisaged yet.”

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FORCE LEVEL EW

FORCE LEVEL EW

FORCE LEVEL EW

Building the ADF’s EW & IW enterprises

BY ANDREW McLAUGHLIN

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hen introducing a new capability, a major factor in its success – or otherwise – is its ability to be successfully integrated with other capabilities.

This has become particularly crucial with the plethora of increasingly capable and expensive new generation capabilities coming on board, each of which may have multiple sensors which generate huge amounts of data which cannot possibly be processed, exploited, and disseminated by humans alone. A small defence force like the ADF can no longer afford to buy multiple systems with overlapping capabilities which cannot integrate with other services, allies, and coalition partners.

And so it will be with the MC-55A which will provide an exponential leap in electronic warfare support capability compared to the AP-3C (EW). So great is the leap that, in our Peregrine article on page 34 of this issue, RAAF Director of ISREW GPCAPT Jason Lind describes it as a “…a new capability, not an evolution”, and that it “…will be airborne ISR done in a different way”.

The challenge of integrating these and other new electronic and information warfare capabilities

into the ADF’s order of battle is a key tasking of the Joint Capabilities Group (JCG) headed by AIRMSHL Warren McDonald, and specifically, JCG’s Director General Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance, Electronic Warfare and Cyber, BRIG Stephen Beaumont.

In the May-June 2019 issue of ADBR our profile on JCG lightly touched on the role its Information Warfare Division (IWD) plays in developing what has been dubbed the ‘fifth domain’ – the other four being air, land, sea, and space. Information Warfare capabilities include cyber; electronic warfare; information operations; space-based systems; command, control, and communications systems; and intelligence – all of which need to be integrated to generate coherent information capabilities for the ADF. Now that the ADF has multiple platforms and systems equipped with high-end active and passive electronic warfare capabilities – and has more on the way – it is now developing a ‘Force level EW’ concept that describes how these capabilities can ‘plug into’ a useable whole-of-ADF network.

“The way I think about force level EW is – they’re building some exquisitely joint, really usable capabilities which all single service EW capabilities

DEFENCE

FORCE LEVEL EW

‘... everything these days is going to have to plumb into an enterprise network...’

can plug into,” BRIG Beaumont told ADBR. “This will ensure the networks that they need are there, and the data they need to function properly is available.

“And when it comes to data, I’m strongly of the view that we aim to, ‘build once, use often’,” he added.

“That is, we should build data sets that are accessible and are of a format and standard that many different platforms can use.

“We are fast moving away from the days where we had stand-alone, platform specific databases that were invisible and inaccessible to other users.

If we think of the contemporary battlespace where characterisation of actors/emitters is critical, access to common, shared, data sets will be important.

“From this we have a chance to build a common understanding of what is occurring in the electromagnetic spectrum, which will help us make choices about how we might wish to manoeuvre in the spectrum – seeking to degrade the adversary’s use of spectrum while enhancing our own.”

BRIG Beaumont says the IWD is responsible for not only providing the Joint ’back-end’ for existing multi-service EW and IW capabilities, but for also working with Capability Managers and their staff to ensure, as far as possible, new capabilities are designed with the need to integrate into the broader Joint EW capability.

“Everyone is working towards this end,” he explained. “And it’s not just JCG. Plainly, everything these days is going to have to plumb into an enterprise network, and when you’re talking enterprise networks you very quickly get into the domain of the CIOG (Chief Information Officer Group).

So we work very closely with CIOG’s ICT Delivery Division to ensure platforms are integrated into those networks, so the data can flow and be available for processing and reprogramming as necessary.

“We also have a body of work of our own that we’re progressing through the Joint EW SubProgram,” BRIG Beaumont added. “This body of work is focussed on building those Joint EW capabilities that will help knit single-service EW capabilities together and enhance the decision making of deployed commanders and EW staff when it comes to spectrum management and the delivery of kinetic and non-kinetic effects. The key capability elements of this program are collaborative geolocation, electromagnetic battle management and EW data management and analytics.

“A key feature of the Joint EW Sub-Program concerns Electromagnetic Battle Management. Our vision is to have a tool – a scalable tool – that allows commanders and staff at all levels to visualise how the spectrum is being used by all actors in a defined area of operations. This capability will enable genuine manoeuvre in the Electromagnetic Spectrum and should facilitate best possible decision making around use of the spectrum. We are working very closely with the Growler community, other EW users, and Industry as we try to solve this difficult capability problem.

“This is a hard problem, to have a single tool or interface that allows you to characterise what’s going on in the electromagnetic spectrum. We talk about manoeuvre, JEMSO (joint electromagnetic

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spectrum operations) and the idea of manoeuvre…I would argue you need a pretty good battle management tool as a first stop capability to allow you to do that.”

Another of JCG’s challenges in working with Capability Managers to knit single-service EW capabilities together into a coherent whole with the high number of stakeholders involved in determining what capabilities are to be acquired.

“Stakeholder engagement is one of the key challenges of being in Joint Capabilities Group,” BRIG Beaumont said. “Making this task easier has been the reforms instituted under the First Principles Review. Defence has appointed VCDF as the Joint Force Authority, stood-up Joint Capabilities Group, and established defined capability programs with clear accountabilities for Program Sponsors and Capability Managers.

“This has provided the organisational framework to allow us to really progress the development of Joint capabilities. Behaviours have also evolved, and I have witnessed a shared purpose when it comes to the progression of Joint capabilities.

“For example, as sponsor of the Joint EW Program, I am invited to attend the Program Steering Groups of other relevant Programs, such as the Land ISREW Steering Group, where there is opportunity to listen and to shape and influence outcomes.

“Equally, my fellow program sponsors are invited to my Joint EW Steering Group. The new structures we’ve got in place, they’re maturing and evolving, but the trend line is very positive, allowing us to collaborate and share routinely.

“It is also worth noting that there is a realisation that a joint approach makes sense from a value for money perspective. This is particularly the case when it comes to data. Data is not a free commodity, so it makes sense to have, as far as possible, a common approach to EW data.”

The First Principles Review also saw the creation of the Investment Committee, and that has allowed the capability managers and other stakeholders to review proposed capabilities with a joint mindset.

“The diligence that goes into preparing those submissions is very thorough and includes detailed collaboration and consultation,” BRIG Beaumont said. “The behaviours and culture that we’re seeing are very positive and I’ve seen a keen eye on achieving value for money and joint capability.

Just as GPCAPT Lind observed in the Peregrine article, BRIG Beaumont agrees that senior leadership and the political decision makers recognise the importance of these ‘back-end’ joint capabilities that aren’t necessarily hardware or platform-related.

“I think everyone appreciates the idea of the contemporary operating environment being ‘contested and congested’,” he said in closing.

“This is especially the case when it comes to the electromagnetic spectrum.

“We need to build capabilities that allow us to characterise and understand – as best we can – what is occurring across the spectrum so we can make choices, bringing to reality the idea of electromagnetic spectrum operations and manoeuvre.”

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SOVEREIGN STRIKE

SOVEREIGN STRIKE

SOVEREIGN STRIKE Operation El Dorado Canyon - lessons from how the USAF mounted a precision tactical strike at strategic distances

BY JOHN CONWAY

‘...that message was sent via a long-range precision strike.’

SOVEREIGN STRIKE

F Three RAF Lakenheathbased USAF F-111Fs and an EF-111 Raven over Saudi Arabia during Operation Desert Shield in 1990. USAF

or Colonel Muammar Gadaffi and the Libyan military, a ten-minute window in the early hours of April 15 1986 would have been complete chaos. With radars and communications being jammed and command and control systems paralysed, there was little that could be done to prevent 60 tonnes of precision ordnance raining down from the night sky.

Although it happened over 30 years ago, the US raid on Libya – dubbed Operation El Dorado Canyon – provides some enduring themes that are relevant to contemporary strategic circumstances, especially when examining the real-world constraints that combine to add significant difficulty to the planning of long-range strikes.

In modern parlance, Gadaffi had been operating in the grey zone. He was not formally at war with the US, but was sponsoring terrorism and radical anti-government organisations. He had established a sophisticated anti-access and area denial (A2AD) capability, and was not afraid to work outside the rules-based international order.

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Yet despite widespread state-sponsored terrorist attacks by Libya across Europe over many years, the US was left to act unilaterally in sending a message to the persistent and menacing threat posed by Gadaffi; and that message was sent via a long-range precision strike.

CRISIS MANAGEMENT

It is not difficult to imagine a future scenario in the Indo-Pacific where Australia may be challenged by a regional actor or becomes a victim of statesponsored terrorism. To protect Australia’s interests, the ADF must develop and retain the ability to conduct precision strike in pursuit of limited strategic objectives against a military target. This strike must also be conducted in a way that retains the element of surprise and avoids or minimises collateral damage.

In a crisis management situation – falling short of full-scale war involving actors with highly integrated economic and trading relationships – a strike mission takes on additional complexity and requires a co-ordinated whole-of-government effort.

The ability and capacity to generate a sovereign strike is beyond the means of most foreign military

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SOVEREIGN STRIKE

forces, especially when the mission involves targets at strategic distances. Without capability and mass, it is not possible to demonstrate combat power at the scale necessary to signal strategic intent.

As the US demonstrated during El Dorado Canyon, ingenuity and sophisticated planning can overcome many operational constraints, provided there is appropriate force structure, a well-trained military and, crucially, the political will to act unilaterally.

SOVEREIGN STRIKE CRITERIA

Sovereign strike refers to the ability to recognise a strategic opportunity, then use deception and surprise to act decisively and with precision in space and time, without dependency on other states.

For a maritime power, sovereign strike is akin to a commando raid by the joint force through air, sea and space – including cyberspace – that exploits a limited window of opportunity and at a speed that forces a belligerent adversary into a defensive mindset.

It must avoid reliance on others to provide access, basing and overflight permission, and must maintain the element of surprise by avoiding the large-scale forward deployment of forces. It must have overwhelming firepower to penetrate sophisticated defences and reach a target beyond the horizon. And it must conduct battle damage assessment that provides factual evidence to further isolate an adversary and prevents revision of history through the exploitation of information.

Electronic warfare played a central role during mission execution of the raid on Libya. Yet, a sovereign strike capability must now consider

cyberspace and the information domain. Fighting the information battle alongside the physical domains can prevent an adversary undermining the international legitimacy of a sovereign strike and retaliating at the strategical level. The sovereign strike must have a coherent narrative and a defensive cyber plan alongside EW, strike, tanker and other plans.

THE GREY ZONE – 1980s STYLE

In the years leading up to the Op El Dorado Canyon raid, Libyan leader Gadaffi had provoked the US by illegally claiming Libyan territory to the south of a “Line of Death” on the 32° 30’ N latitude, which included all of the 560km wide Gulf of Sidra.

In response, the US Navy conducted freedom of navigation exercises in the disputed territory, and on March 24, a Libyan S-200 (SA-5) fired at F-14A Tomcats flying combat air patrol (CAP). The F-14s, supported by EA-6B Prowler aircraft, survived the attack but US Government patience had now run out. President Ronald Reagan issued an ultimatum to Gadaffi to cease supporting international terrorism and withdraw all extra-territorial claims.

But Gadaffi called Reagan’s bluff. The tipping point was on April 5 1986 when a terrorist bomb destroyed the La Belle night club in Berlin, a discotheque popular with Americans. The explosion killed a US soldier and his partner, and injured over 200 civilians including 75 US citizens. Communications intelligence unequivocally linked Gadaffi to the bombing, thus giving President Reagan the justification to retaliate with a limited air strike on Libya.

Launching a full-scale military campaign against Libya involving land forces was out of the

Operation El Dorado Canyon battle damage assessment was provided by three SR-71A Blackbird overflights launched from RAF Mildenhall in the UK. USAF

SOVEREIGN STRIKE

‘The US was unable to rely upon the universal support of some of its Cold War allies...’

question, with economic and political risks and interdependencies impacted by disrupted Libyan oil supplies and the ongoing commitment to the Cold War. The US was also unable to rely upon the universal support of some of its Cold War allies, with France, Spain, Italy and Germany all denying access, basing and overflight rights for the operation. Only Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher would agree to the use of UK bases for the raid, on the condition that it would minimise civilian casualties and only strike targets directly associated with terrorism. Like many other western countries, the UK had expatriate workers living in Libya employed by multi-national oil companies.

The consequences of this agreement would be to constrain planners and result in highly restrictive rules of engagement for the aircrew who were required to positively identify their assigned target on multiple systems, and abort if weapon-guidance or navigation systems were not fully functional.

THE RAID

An RAF Lakenheath-based F-111F with Pave Tack pod deployed and four GBU-10 LGBs loaded. USAF

Nine days after the Berlin bombing, at 17:36 on April 14 1986, 24 US Air Force F-111F fighter bombers launched from RAF Lakenheath in the UK accompanied by five EF-111A Raven electronic warfare variants from nearby RAF Upper Heyford.

In radio silence they completed the first of 12 air-toair refuelling brackets 90 minutes into the 13 hour, 10,000km roundtrip mission.

Despite the strategic distances flown in the raid, it is considered a tactical strike mission, as the five targets were military in nature and did not target Libya’s civilian infrastructure.

The only strategic assets used in the raid were 28 air refuelling tankers launched from RAF Mildenhall and RAF Fairford, with many arriving from the US mainland and elsewhere in the two days preceding the strike. Intelligence and targeting support to the

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tactical planners was provided by the US Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA).

Six spare F-111Fs and one EF-111 returned to base after the first tanker bracket. The remainder switched off their IFF transponders and flew in close formation with the KC-10 and KC-135 tankers to deceive and prevent detection by ground-based radar controllers.

The F-111s flew around the Iberian Peninsula and entered the Mediterranean through the Straits of Gibraltar, taking a starboard turn at Malta to attack the Libyan capital Tripoli at 02:00 on April 15 at low level, employing terrain-following radar, the AN/AVQ-26 Pave Tack electro-optical targeting pod and GBU-10 2,000lb laser-guided bombs.

Ten minutes before the attack, the four EF-111 Raven and 14 US Marine Corps carrier-based EA-6B Prowler electronic attack aircraft began jamming Libyan radars and communications. As Libyan air defences came online they were hit by 48 antiradiation missiles. Over a dozen systems were destroyed during the raid.

Meanwhile, US Navy and US Marine Corps aircraft from the US Mediterranean 6th Fleet, USS Saratoga, USS America, and USS Coral Sea, simultaneously attacked the city and surrounding area of Benghazi on the eastern side of the Gulf of Sidra. According to the American Intelligence Journal, the raid involved 18 A-6E Intruders and A-7E Corsairs, and six F/A-18A Hornets carrying a mix of 500lb bombs and anti-radiation missiles (ARM). Air defence coverage was provided by F-14A Tomcats and E-2C Hawkeye airborne early warning aircraft, while numerous helicopters provided combat search and rescue support.

All five targets were hit, and later confirmed by three USAF SR-71A Blackbird sorties from RAF Mildenhall which conducted battle damage assessment (BDA) of the targets on April 16, flying

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SOVEREIGN STRIKE

through Libyan airspace at Mach 3.5 and more than 80,000 feet.

Gadaffi survived the raid because he was personally notified half an hour earlier by an official from Malta who provided early warning of multiple unidentified combat aircraft heading towards Libya. He would go on to avenge the attack with the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie in 1988, killing 270 people.

Operation El Dorado Canyon was a highly synchronised joint operation, and the longest tactical fighter combat mission in history. New technology played a key role: the mission was the combat debut for the Pave Tack pod and the AGM-88 High Speed Anti-Radiation Missile (HARM), and demonstrated the increasingly sophisticated integration of intelligence into air operations which accelerated during the latter stages of the Vietnam War, especially in regards to the suppression of enemy air defences (SEAD).

With only tactical precision guided bombs available at the time (systems such as the JASSM Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile only entered service around 2009) a purely kinetic attack would have been extremely high-risk generating a requirement for the suppression of the IADS for long enough to allow the penetration and egress of the strike aircraft.

GREY ZONE TECHNOLOGY

The mission had been originally conceived with a much smaller number of F-111Fs, as senior planners were concerned that such a large formation would limit the element of surprise. In human factors terms, the element of surprise was an essential planning consideration because it would trigger an emotional rather than cognitive response from the adversary.

However, a balance needed to be struck since the reliability of the Pave Tack system and President Reagan’s stringent ROE requirements were such that there was a risk the mission would fail due to insufficient serviceable aircraft able to penetrate the IADS and reach the targets.

Furthermore, Libya had developed one of the world’s most effective integrated air defence systems based upon technology and technical support from the Soviet Union. They employed long-range surface-to-air missiles (SAM) such as the SA-2, SA-3, SA-5, SA-6 and SA-8, and advanced anti-aircraft artillery (AAA) such as the ZSU-23-4.

The Libyan IADS introduced additional complexity since it was not a purely Soviet ‘red’ system. The introduction of ‘blue’ radar systems from UK, France and Germany added ambiguities and, in doing so, created a ‘grey’ IADS which resulted in significant jamming problems for both the EF-111 and EA-6B aircraft, whose threat databases were optimised for ‘red’ threats.

To counter the Libyan IADS more convincingly, the USAF would have ideally employed its specialised ‘Electronic Warfare Triad’ which routinely trained together and shared command, control and intelligence arrangements.

The triad formed the basis of the USAF SEAD capability in Cold War Europe employing the EF-111, the F-4G Wild Weasel, and the EC-130H Compass Call communications jammer. However, the Wild Weasels were based at Spangdahlem and the Compass Calls at Sembach, both USAF Europe air bases in Germany, and were therefore unavailable for the raid.

Furthermore, the F-4Gs would have introduced an additional air refuelling burden and, even if they had been flown to the UK for the raid, from a counter-

‘...Libya had developed one of the world’s most effective integrated air defence systems...’

An F-111F in the RAF Lakenheath OLAs prior to launching on Operation El Dorado Canyon.

SOVEREIGN STRIKE

USMC and USN EA-6B Prowlers provided vital electronic warfare support to the USAF raid on Benghazi and USN raids on Tripoli. USN

intelligence perspective their redeployment could have signalled US intentions. The Compass Calls would also have been useful from a base closer to Libya, but their comparatively slow speed would have compromised the need for a high-speed transit and attack.

In the end, the UK-based EF-111s combined with the EA-6B Prowlers and other HARM shooters from the 6th Fleet to meet the SEAD requirement for the strike despite doctrinal and training differences. Electronic warfare system interoperability was ensured by each platform operating the ALQ-99, a modified and updated version of which is still used today by the US Navy and RAAF EA-18G Growler.

The joint task force achieved the mission with the loss of only a single aircraft – F-111F ‘Karma 52’ and its crew – despite the relative lack of prior integration and different single-service concepts of operation.

It also demonstrated further progress in the development of SEAD as a core element of offensive counter air (OCA) operations.

FAST FORWARD

The US sovereign strike on Libya in 1986 stands in time as an example of combat agility. With an overwhelming ‘need to do something’ to meet a strategic Government policy objective, the US Joint

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Chiefs of Staff provided President Reagan with five targets and a brilliant plan, despite extraordinary real-world constraints and a narrow window of opportunity to strike.

Without first-choice aircraft and basing options available, and in the face of a sophisticated and networked Libyan IADS, the US joint task force employed SEAD tactics to deceive, deny, disrupt and degrade Libyan decision-making capacity to the point where it exposed its vulnerability to a highspeed attack.

In the years since Operation El Dorado Canyon, technology has further transformed the potency of conventional strike capability, with the introduction of long-range stand-off weapons, advanced sensors, and the increasing integration of command and control and ISR systems. Informationrelated technologies have also introduced new opportunities and new threats. The introduction of systems such as the Next Generation Jammer (NGJ) to replace the ALQ-99 system on the EA-18G will be a major step forward, but perhaps the biggest transformation will come in the form of nextgeneration unmanned systems that will add mass and capacity to a sovereign strike capability.

However, some things have not changed, especially the constraints introduced by access, basing and overflight requirements, and the willingness to act independently and alone without a broad base of international support. Thus, the raid demonstrated the importance of ensuring a sovereign strike capability avoids being defined by a single service, platform, or weapon system. Instead it must be considered in terms of its attributes and utility to operate in war and, more likely, in a crisis management situation.

Above all, sovereign strike capability must continually evolve and develop within a joint force mindset and drive integration across the entire defence enterprise to execute a ‘kill chain’ in the tightest possible time window while maintaining the element of surprise.

This article proposes some general criteria for a future sovereign strike capability, but it still requires a central idea to add potency and lethality. New ideas will come with the arrival of new technologies and platforms, and traditional concepts such as the ‘EW Triad’ and SEAD can be given a new lease on life based upon networked joint capabilities and manned-unmanned teaming.

The next edition of ADBR will compare and contrast Operation El Dorado Canyon with the NATO-led strikes on Libya 25 years later during Operation Odyssey Dawn. It will examine the friction points and complexity when operating within a coalition.

John Conway has worked in the Australian defence industry for almost a decade, and specialises in the design, integration and implementation of command, information warfare, and human factors at the enterprise level. He is a Board member of the Sir Richard Williams Foundation, and his experience as a senior joint air warfare commander and air combat aviator includes Cold War Europe in the Second Allied Tactical Air Force, the Balkans, Middle East, and Eastern Mediterranean theatres of operation.

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FUTURE WEDGETAIL

F U T UR E W E D G E TA IL

FUTURE WEDGETAIL Boeing looks to RAAF upgrades and international opportunities for the E-7A Wedgetail

BY MAX BLENKIN

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FUTURE WEDGETAIL

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hen the UK announced in March 2019 that it would buy five Boeing E-7A AEW&C aircraft, the Australian government promptly issued a media statement citing this as a big win for Australian defence industry.

“The UK acquisition is expected to deliver 100 jobs to the Brisbane and Newcastle-based staff of Boeing Defence Australia, taking advantage of their world-leading capabilities in systems and software engineering and deep experience in Wedgetail support, including ground-based aircrew training,” then Defence Industry Minister, now Defence Minister Senator Linda Reynolds said.

“Further opportunities – including for the more than 200 Australian companies that have contributed to our own Wedgetail acquisition and sustainment – will be available for Australian industry in the supply chain.”

Eight months on, this has certainly created work in Australia, although perhaps not on the scale breathlessly forecast. More will certainly come, but the really alluring prospect of recapitalising of the USAF fleet of ageing Boeing 707 E-3C Sentry AWACS aircraft remains at best uncertain.

Further, Boeing simply can’t sell Wedgetails to just anyone. That’s because the aircraft is full of systems containing advanced technology which falls under the US International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), and this requires State Department approval for sale.

So how good is the UK acquisition of five E-7s going to be for Australian industry? “Great. We are supporting the UK Wedgetail out of Australia today,” Scott Carpendale, the new Managing Director of Boeing Defence Australia told a recent media briefing.

“We have a leading role in supporting the establishment of the UK program, both supporting the development of the UK aircraft and aircraft systems, but also making sure the UK Ministry of Defence is able to establish a support infrastructure that gives them the same capability as Australia,” he added.

“We have a project team. We have people in Williamtown who are building some of the ground segments to be shipped to the UK. We are doing software development in Australia that is part of an integrated software development team for the UK software baseline. There is a range of different areas.”

Currently Australia, with six aircraft, is the largest operator of Wedgetail. The Republic of Korea operates four E-7 Peace Eye aircraft and Turkey also four E-7s which it calls Peace Eagles.

It’s not clear just where Turkey now sits with the US on E-7, considering its expulsion from the international F-35 program because of its insistence on acquiring a Russian S-400 missile defence system (see article on page 44). Boeing wasn’t about to comment, but Turkey already has possession of its four aircraft, so this may not be an issue.

Australia was lead customer for Wedgetail, developed specifically in response to the Australian AIR 5077 requirement for an advanced airborne early warning and control capability.

When the project encountered major technical problems and delays, Australia came close to pulling the plug. But it chose to persevere, as did Boeing – which took substantial losses on the project – on the expectation it would make good on future sales.

What emerged is very good indeed – the proven and widely used Boeing 737 airframe, coupled with the Northrop Grumman MESA (Multi-role Electronically Scanned Array) radar plus advanced mission systems.

“We still view the Australian Wedgetail program as a world class and world leading capability,” Carpendale said.

“As the threat environment of the future continues to evolve, having a capability of that nature will be attractive

‘We have a leading role in supporting the establishment of the UK program...’

FUTURE WEDGETAIL

A Wegetail blasts out of RAAF Darwin on an Exercise Pitch Black mission. DEFENCE

to multiple customers. But we are working really closely with the US as to how we pursue those opportunities.”

Italy, Qatar and the UAE have all been reported to be interested in E-7, as is NATO which operates 16 E-3 aircraft to support its operations in Europe and internationally. But the UAE has acquired the Saab-developed Bombardier Global 6000-based Globaleye AEW&C, and Italy operates the IAI/ Gulfstream G550 conformal AEW (CAEW).

In June, NATO AEW&C program general manager Brigadier General Michael Gschossmann mused about replacing their elderly Sentry aircraft with a Boeing 737-based capability. That could only mean Wedgetail or something very similar.

“We have to ensure that we acquire a system that has growth potential but that also for financial and time reasons is based on existing capabilities,” he told Reuters.

But more recent reporting suggests NATO is instead leaning towards upgrading its E-3As instead of replacing them.

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The UK’s aircraft will be based on the Australian aircraft, technically making them E-7A. It’s not known if the RAF will retain the E-7A designation and Wedgetail name, or more likely, a combination of the numerical designation and their own name as they have done with their E-3D ‘Sentry’, and RC-135V ‘Airseeker’.

The UK opted for a single-source procurement, going straight for the E-7 and bypassing a contest which would have involved Airbus and Saab which teamed up to offer Saab’s Erieye radar on an Airbus A330 airframe.

The deal was announced in March but appears to have been under serious consideration for some time, with then UK Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson announcing last October that discussions were under way with Boeing. The UK Ministry of Defence had also talked to the RAAF, while RAF aircrew have trained in Australia aboard RAAF Wedgetails.

Former Defence Minister Christopher Pyne took some of the credit. At the third Australia-United

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FUTURE WEDGETAIL

Kingdom Defence Industry Dialogue (AUKDID) in London in July 2018, Mr Pyne pitched Wedgetail to his UK counterparts.

“During the Dialogue I took the opportunity to further promote Australia’s world-class Wedgetail capability to the United Kingdom’s Secretary of State for Defence and the then Minister for Defence Procurement,” he said. “Deeper engagement between both countries’ defence industries, including through increased exports and industry partnerships, will further strengthen our bilateral relationship with the United Kingdom.”

UK aircraft will be manufactured in the US on the Boeing 737 production line, but will be modified to E-7 standard, with the addition of the MESA “top hat” radar and mission systems,

by Marshall Aerospace and Defence Group at Cambridge in the UK. The first aircraft is scheduled for delivery around 2023.

The UK Wedgetail acquisition follows another sole-source acquisition of Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft, also based on the 737 and also operated by Australia. The first of nine RAF P-8s

was handed over recently, and will be delivered to RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland next year.

The two sole-source deals with Boeing prompted criticism from some politicians that the UK was getting too close to the Americans, but the UK government’s Wedgetail announcement certainly highlighted the Australian connection.

“This deal strengthens our vital military partnership with Australia,” said Secretary Williamson. “We will operate the same state-of-theart F-35 jets and world-class Type-26 warships, and this announcement will help us work even more closely together.”

Boeing Australia and the RAAF have formed what they call Team Wedgetail. The UK isn’t yet a member, but soon could be. Boeing Australia director of emerging markets Matt Buckle said the Australian and UK governments would collaborate in areas of E-7 where it made sense to collaborate.

“It is no surprise that that is what they are looking at, and how they can learn from Australia as they introduce the capability,” he said. “But the formality of those structures doesn’t exist today.”

FUTURE WEDGETAIL

‘This deal strengthens our vital military partnership with Australia’

One area of potential future E-7 cooperation with the UK is in an ongoing Australia-only Wedgetail upgrade program through Project AIR 5077 Phase 5A. Under the Integrated Investment Plan (IIP), that phase is costed at $500-750 million.

This program reflects the reality that although Wedgetail is considered to be a state-of-the-art capability, some of its systems have been superseded by improved technology. The first Wedgetail flew in 2002 and, once the RAAF’s classic Hornets retire in 2022, the E-7As will be the RAAF’s second oldest platform after the C-130J Hercules.

Proposed avionics modifications will bring Wedgetails up to the same capability for navigation in congested airspace as current production civil 737s. This includes upgraded civil TCAS (Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance) and ADS-B Out (Automatic Dependant Surveillance Broadcast) systems.

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Significantly, Wedgetail IFF (Identification Friend or Foe) will be upgraded from Mode 4 to Mode 5. This is a crucial cyber-security enhancement, with Australia following the US military. This will eventually be applied to all ADF aircraft.

Mode 5 IFF offers more robust security, particularly against spoofing which could potentially involve a potential unfriendly aircraft pretending to be a coalition aircraft and evading air defences. Although that appears a remote possibility, it was perceived as sufficiently serious for the US to mandate moving to more secure IFF for its combat aircraft.

Along with the IFF there will be improvements to encrypted datalinks, cryptographic upgrades for better security and also wideband satellite for the anticipated expansion in information flow, allowing Wedgetail to deal with high definition imagery. “I agree that some of this capability would certainly appeal to the UK,” Carpendale said.

There are no upgrade plans for the actual radar hardware, although IFF forms part of the MESA software. Neither does the airframe, which is regarded as supremely reliable, need any attention.

The USAF operates a fleet of 32 E-3 Sentry aircraft which have been steadily updated with improved mission systems. However, the Boeing 707 is long out of production – the last was made in 1994 – and airframes are becoming more costly and difficult to support.

As well, the USAF operates 17 E-8 Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (J-STARS) aircraft, also based on the Boeing 707 airframe. This is a surveillance aircraft designed to track vehicle movements at long distance.

With JSTARS slated to start retiring this year, the USAF has launched a new study program to look at replacement capabilities. This complex program is called Advanced Battle Management System (ABMS) and, while it was initially looking at a new platform-based system, it now aims to replace JSTARS with a network of existing and new airbased and space-based sensors.

Buckle said the ABMS program was ill-defined at this stage. “They are going for an analysis of alternatives, and that will take some time before it matures,” he said. “We’d like to think that something that is along the lines of the Wedgetail could play a role in that program. But depending on where they go in their analysis of alternatives, that may or may not happen.”

Buckle said ABMS was now considering air battle management as a concept, not necessarily at replacing platform for platform. “It’s saying what do we need from an air battle management system going forward and what does that look like now,” he said.

Could that involve Wedgetail or a future variant of Wedgetail? Buckle said they would be guided by the statement of needs from the analysis of alternatives.

“We aren’t going to plough down the path of developing that capability for the US market if that’s not what they look to for their future needs,” he said.

“Whether that involves space or other capabilities in terms of what their future air battle management concept is, will guide how we support that.”

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AIR 6500

AIR 6500

BIG AMBITIONS Boeing Defence Australia advances its AIR 6500 credentials

BY MAX BLENKIN

A

IR 6500 – the spectacular ambition to create an integrated national air defence and battle management system – is likely to be one of the most complex projects Defence has ever undertaken.

Two years ago, Defence prudently drew breath to do some hard thinking about just what they wanted and how it would be developed and delivered.

Four primes – Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman. and Raytheon – were initially invited to produce studies on possible solutions. More recently they were again asked for their insights on an updated technical architecture, and their thoughts on how the program could be framed for execution and delivery.

“The Commonwealth is assessing the inputs from each of the four primes and putting together the project execution strategy as to where they want to go,” Hugh Webster, Boeing Defence Australia’s chief engineer for new business told media in a recent briefing.

“There is no single program of record that is going to suit this, there is no single supplier, there is no single integrating glue that is going to solve all this,” he added. “It is up to us – Defence and Industry – to work together to try and figure what’s the right solution for Defence so that we can solve their shorter term needs then give them a pathway to grow and evolve the system over the following years.”

Under AIR 6500, the ADF plans to link together many of its key networks, sensors and capabilities to create a system-of-systems to allow the speediest possible detection, decision and response to the full spectrum of future threats to the Australian mainland and deployed forces. That may eventually include a ballistic missile defence (BMD) capability.

The 2016 Defence Integrated Investment Plan (IIP) cites an AIR 6500 program cost of $2-3 billion over the period 2018-30, but that amount is likely on the low side of what the system will eventually cost.

Defence has already solicited ideas from the big primes, but as Boeing’s Webster suggested, the consensus in Industry is that the complexity and magnitude of AIR 6500 takes it beyond the capabilities of any one company.

As an indication of the complexity of this undertaking, not even the US has a complete integrated air and missile defence (IAMD) capability, although it has different elements which evolved as the different services have created their own systems to meet their particular needs.

Maybe only the much-threatened Israel has succeeded, although its small landmass and known strategic circumstances and adversaries aren’t a perfect model for Australia’s particular requirements.

AIR 6500

While Israel does possess some capabilities which could be of interest to the ADF, what potentially precludes Israeli involvement is the requirement that the system be ‘Five-Eyes’ interoperable.

In practice, that means the US needs to be fully satisfied as to the security of any ally’s system before it will allow integration with its own military systems.

The Australian Army’s battle management system (BMS) was developed by Israel’s Elbit. Webster said this was an important element of the land environment, and the Commonwealth was now getting its head around the implications of an Israel interface to AIR 6500.

And ultimately, the US is likely to benefit from Australia’s work on AIR 6500, now proceeding roughly in parallel with the US. Many of the concepts the RAAF is considering are similar to what the USAF and the broader Joint Integrated Air and Missile Defense Organization (JIAMDO) are also thinking about.

“One of the key elements to move this project forward is going to be the strength of the government-to-government relationship,” Webster said. “That’s for them to work through and resolve, but it will be something that has benefit back to the US eventually. They certainly have that challenge of quite disparate legacy systems.”

Boeing Defence Australia sees its Vigilare program as a reference for its thinking on AIR 6500. Vigilare is the RAAF’s command, control and battle management system, fusing information from civil and military radar systems to create a picture of activity over Australia and the surrounding region.

After a troubled development, Vigilare was declared operational in 2010, and reached final operational capability (FOC) in February 2013. The system is regarded as a world-class capability, although not one that was achieved without delays and technical challenges. It will form a big part of AIR 6500.

Webster said Vigilare was key to their approach to AIR 6500 for two reasons. “The first is the technical sense, in that it has retired a lot of the risk in terms of the breadth of interfaces it ties together. It has a tactical datalink implementation,” he said.

“The second reason, and probably the more important for us that it’s a reference program, is that the way we executed with Defence, certainly in the latter half of the program, was the basis for which we grew the Currawong collaborative management framework.

“We could be frank and open in our conversations with the Commonwealth, resolve all the issues of the day, and burn that down. It was really a touchdown for how we can succeed.”

Boeing has suggested there could be a road map to chart the way forward, setting out steps for integration of different systems and capabilities.

“Let’s draw that as a roadmap to say, ‘well tomorrow we might be integrating air warfare destroyer with Vigilare, and the next day it might be evolved Wedgetail with Vigilare’,” he said. “We see that as not trying to solve everything at once, but to have that roadmap.”

Boeing doesn’t offer specific effectors for AIR 6500, but others do.

For example, the new Project LAND 19 Phase 7B Raytheon/ KONGSBERG Enhanced NASAMS short-range air defence (SRAD) system features Australian-designed and manufactured CEA radars and US AIM-9X and AMRAAM missiles, and will be integrated to AIR 6500. Israel has also pitched its advanced air defence missiles.

“If you think about integrated air and missile defence space, you really need a layered defence,” Webster said. “That’s probably where a mix of different companies’ effectors being well glued together is probably the best way to think about it.”

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Webster said the Commonwealth had some decisions to make on architecture. “That’s going to go first. Their sense is that that is so key and important that they want to make the right choices. It’s not a single pick this and my path is clear. There are very many competing pulls on the architecture.”

Then there’s the crucial issue of how to proceed. One possibility is an alliance or joint-venture featuring all or some of the primes. Another is for a single lead or prime systems integrator (PSI).

“We are responsive to where they want to go,” Webster said.

“We have expressed our views to them about the roadmap for collaboration and how they can progress the program using an Australian sovereign integrator.

“If they choose to pick a PSI tomorrow, then great. We will move on and implement the program,” he said. “If they feel they need to retire a little risk for six months, 12 months we will be responsive to that also.”

However it is done, there will be plenty of work to go around, including by Australian SMEs. To this end, in backing its pitch for AIR 6500, Northrop Grumman has called for expressions of interest from other Australian companies.

“Northrop Grumman aims to lead industry support to the RAAF as it fields a survivable, scalable and modern, next-generation JBMS under AIR 6500,” Northrop Grumman Australia chief executive, Chris Deeble said in a November 18 statement.

“We’re committed to a sovereign capability that’s designed and developed through close collaboration with other Australian industry members.

“We recognise that a program of this size, scope and complexity will demand the most innovative, best-of-breed capabilities and a prime systems integrator partnering with Australian industry who can deliver world class capabilities to the Australian Defence Force,” Deeble added.

The company says it will engage with a range of industry members, including small businesses, with the goal of creating an Australian AIR 6500 solution that brings the best capability for the best value. Northrop Grumman’s ICN Gateway Portal will serve as the primary vehicle for potential suppliers to register expressions of interest and share information about their competencies and skills.

‘We have expressed our views to them about the roadmap for collaboration...’

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JOINT DATA

JOIN T D ATA

JOINT DATA The important of resilient and trusted data links to the ADF’s joint force ambitions

BY STAFF WRITERS

I

n 2016 the ADF Defence White Paper and associated Integrated Investment Plan (IIP) identified that greater emphasis will be placed on the joint force, bringing together different capabilities so the ADF can apply more force more rapidly and more effectively when required.

Correctly managing and integrating Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance & Electronic Warfare (ISREW) systems along with both current and emerging communications technology is key in allowing the ADF to deliver that force to meet and overcome the challenges of the 21st century.

To meet this challenge, the movement toward an ADF Joint Data Network (JDN) to enable many of these systems and technologies to work cohesively together is already underway. The JDN is a network of communications and electronics systems that carry Tactical Data Link (TDL), multi-sensor early warning information, and intelligence data to support joint force operations. Views vary on what is the primary contributor to enabling the JDN, from data derived from Multi-TDL Networks (MTN), through to intelligence networks such as the Integrated Broadcast Service (IBS).

While recognising the need for interoperability across the joint force, it is absolutely critical that the ADF remains fully interoperable with our closest ally, the United States (US). However, the aspiration to become fully interoperable is, in many ways becoming more difficult to achieve. This is due to the complexities involved within many of these systems and, regrettably, TDL is not without its own inherent problems.

But what is a TDL, why does the ADF need them, and how do TDLs essentially enable the ADF to meet the narrative outlined within the Defence White Paper? To answer all three questions in detail is outside the bounds of this article.

Nonetheless, we will explore the two main TDLs that the ADF currently employs – those being Link 11 and Link 16 – which form the largest part of the Multi-TDL Network.

Simply put, a data link is a means of connecting one location to another for the purpose of transmitting and receiving data. This data can be summarised as situational awareness, integrated fire control, and command and control capabilities.

US military documentation on TDLs goes further, and defines a data link by its standardised message formats and transmission characteristics. To make this exchange of data tactical, it would have to be exchanged in real time, so arguably within 20 seconds. However, there are a variety of TDLs each with their own standardised message formats and transmission characteristics, all of which have their own strengths and weaknesses when in use.

Link 11 is considered a legacy data link that exchanges air, surface and subsurface data between ground, airborne and maritime platforms over High Frequency (HF) and Ultra-High Frequency (UHF) media paths. The reason it’s a legacy data link is because it uses the M-Series message format which is not part of the J-Series family of messages. This family only includes J-Series, F & FJ-Series, K-Series and finally common message format.

Link 11 uses a netted architecture in which all Participating Units (PU) exchange data with each other through a protocol known as polling. One PU in the net is designated as Data Net Control Station (DNCS), and during normal operating procedure of ‘roll call’ the DNCS sends an addressed ‘transmit now’ message to each net participant in turn.

Once all PU have transmitted their data, the DNCS transmits its data and the net cycle begins again.

However, the time it takes for a net cycle may be too long, with the result being that data becomes stale and unuseable for tactical operations. Added to this, the DNCS is of course a central point of failure, and Link 11 data rates are notably poor. Careful management of which units will participate in roll call is always considered based upon the individual capabilities of a platform and the operational demands in place.

Another weakness of Link 11 is its weak resistance to electronic countermeasures (ECM), as it operates

JOINT DATA

on a single frequency which can be easy to detect and, as a consequence, is very easy to jam or ‘spoof’ through net capture.

Nonetheless, Link 11 does have its strengths, and none more so than its capacity to operate beyond line-of-sight (BLOS) when utilising the HF media path. Considering operations are conducted at greater ranges and the prospect of operating within a satellite-denied environment is increasingly likely, the use of any TDL that provides for a BLOS capability is invaluable for early warning.

By 2025, the ADF will have migrated from Link 11 to Link 22 which utilises the same media paths. The use of HF will continue to support the exchange of data beyond-line-of-sight in a satellitedenied environment. Link 22 has many advantages over Link 11 and indeed Link 16, but it is in regard to efficiency that Link 22 has its greatest strength.

The introduction of F-Series messages due to inefficient message rules employed within Link 16 is one example, along with the quality of service features used during every transmission. Finally, as Link 22 and Link 16 message standards are part of the J-Series family, and the exchange of information and data forwarding is easier to achieve when platforms operate in a Multi-TDL Network scenario.

Link 16 is both the ADF’s and US Department of Defense’s primary TDL, and is essential to providing secure situational awareness, integrated fire control, and command and control capabilities to platforms.

Consequently, to maintain interoperability with our closest ally the ADF must continue to expand its Link 16 capability in line with that of the US. But to begin to explore Link 16 we must first understand the differences in the widely and often over-used and misunderstood terms surrounding this capability and in particular – JTIDS, MIDS and Link 16.

JTIDS (Joint Tactical Information Distribution System) and MIDS (Multifunctional Information

Distribution System) are bearer systems commonly referred to as terminals/radios that exchange J-Series messages. Strictly speaking, Link 16 is the J-Series message catalogue or the ‘language’ of the JTIDS/MIDS terminal. That being said, irrespective of the terminal being employed or the data being exchanged, it is all generally referred to as Link 16.

Link 16 is a secure, jam-resistant, high-capacity data link that uses spread-spectrum, frequencyhopping and error detection and correction techniques to exchange data between a variety of platforms. Developed to overcome many of the weaknesses of Link 11, it operates on a time division principle known as Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA).

TDMA divides time into cycles, the most significant of which for the user is a 12 second cycle known as a frame.

Within the frame, time is then subdivided into time slots and allocated within the network design process for users to transmit data. Link 16 has up to 128 possible frequencyhopping patterns (FHP) that could be employed by a platform based upon the Link 16 network design and transmission security protocols (cryptographic keys), so it is crucial that users are aligned to the right FHP, by using the directed cryptographic key at the right time to successfully exchange data.

The fundamental weakness of Link 16 is that it operates on UHF and, as such, is limited to line-ofsight. To conquer this disadvantage, Link 16 can be exchanged beyond-line-of-sight through satellite, notably Joint Range Extension Application Protocol (JREAP).

The major challenge for Link 16 users worldwide is how to meet the US mandate to modernise Link 16.

The main purpose is to overcome the threat posed to the operational use of Link 16 by implementing cryptographic modernisation. Additional advanced capabilities allow users to transmit and receive more data, and thus provide greater flexibility by increasing the capacity on already congested Link 16 networks.

The expansion of software-defined Link 16 radios such as MIDS-Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) and small form-factor radios to replace the ageing JTIDS & MIDS terminals only continues to complicate the ADF’s desire to simply maintain a minimum level of interoperability. To compound this even further, with the exception of cryptographic modernisation, there are substantial differences in the modernisation features that each terminal/radio may, or indeed can integrate.

Ultimately, the ADF must remain interoperable with its closest ally wherever possible. Only by carefully managing these technologies will the ADF enable an effective joint data network and maintain a level of interoperability. The risk that the Commonwealth faces if it fails, is that ADF platforms become disadvantaged users in an increasingly demanding operational environment.

‘By 2025, the ADF will have migrated from Link 11 to Link 22...’

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OPEN SOURCE INTELLIGENCE

OSINT

THE SCIENCE OF OPEN SOURCE INTELLIGENCE How Open Source Intelligence can be used to validate capabilities analysis

BY DOUGAL ROBERTSON

D

efence industry and the military must embrace and exploit new and emerging information-gathering techniques to keep abreast of rapid technological change. The effective use of open source intelligence can provide a competitive edge if effectively prioritised, tasked and managed.

In July 2014 Ukrainian separatists shot down a civilian Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777, MH-17 over eastern Ukraine while it was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. In the confused aftermath, Russian government and intelligence services denied and attempted to disguise the involvement of Russian military personnel in the catastrophe.

Initial investigations by the Dutch Safety Board struggled to gain access to the area where the aircraft had been destroyed, and little credible information was available on the cause of the crash. Shortly after, a small website supported by citizen journalists began to establish the facts surrounding MH-17.

The UK-based investigative website Bellingcat identified and tracked the 9K37 Buk-M1 (NATO reporting name SA-11) surface to air missile (SAM) system from its garrison located in Russia to the eastern Ukraine, located the field where the missile was launched from, and identified suspects involved in the incident. The conclusions published

by Bellingcat pre-empted the findings of the criminal investigation led by the Dutch Ministry of Justice – and were all drawn from publicly available information.

Widespread publicity surrounding Bellingcat’s findings – helped in some measure by the unsophisticated Russian counter-factuals put

onto the internet – identified open source information as a credible intelligence source for business and governments.

In parallel with the exponential growth of internet-connected devices over the last decade, open source intelligence, or OSINT has become synonymous with social media aggregation and internet data-mining. Vendors and companies now specialise in the aggregation and filtering of ‘user analysis’, or the depiction of network structures.

But what has been sidelined as internet research becomes automated and focused on ‘big data’, is the traditional, or capabilities-based assessment, provided through a functional application of open source intelligence across multiple data points.

OPEN SOURCE INTELLIGENCE

WHAT IS OSINT?

Open source intelligence is information gained for advantage through publicly available or ‘open’ sources. Open source information is obtained using ethical means; that is, not through the use of agents, or controlled, or compromised sources.

Before the rise of signals intelligence, or SIGINT in the mid-20th century, OSINT was simply ‘intelligence’. For example, Rudyard Kipling’s Kim (and even George MacDonald Fraser’s Flashman) were tasked with describing and assessing the capabilities of the various tribes of Afghanistan, and determining the intentions and expectations of Imperial Russia and Germany. They received their priorities from the government and military, collected information, and turned this into intelligence by selecting or removing specific data points, processed what they received and prepared reports, added their assessment, and disseminated the report back to customers in Peshawar, Delhi and London.

This was the intelligence cycle in action, describing military and political facts, assessing capabilities and attempting to understand

‘Before the rise of SIGINT, OSINT was simply ‘intelligence.’

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intentions. Until the rapid growth of technical collection, intelligence was largely seen as an art.

However, the process of intelligence is a science.

THE APPLICATION OF OSINT

Intelligence can be used for four purposes: descriptive (what or where something is), capabilities (what something can do), intentions (what someone plans to do) and expectations (what we think they will do). The payoff from getting each of these right increases in inverse proportion to the likelihood of success. To understand intention and describe expectations, analysts must predict the future.

Due to the multitude of complex variables involved in this prediction, consistent predictive analysis is impossible for all but the most experienced intelligence analysts – and history is littered with ‘intelligence failures’.

For example, very few (perhaps one or two) Israeli Defence Force analysts predicted an attack

by Egypt across the Suez Canal in October 1973, let alone a combined Arab attack on two fronts. But multiple intelligence sources had confirmed troop and equipment movement prior to the attack, and intelligence reporting existed on the capabilities of new Soviet equipment such as the Russian 2K12 Kub (NATO SA-6) SAM system.

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OPEN SOURCE INTELLIGENCE

The outcome of the Yom Kippur War is contested – was it ultimately a victory for the IDF on the battlefield, or a failure of preparation across the Israeli defence establishment? But it is clear that an understanding of capability would have provided clear information to prepare for the threat. The IDF could not predict the future, but it could have developed a plan based on a realistic understanding of what could happen in the future based on adversary technical capability.

This is capabilities analysis.

Intentions and expectations are extremely difficult and expensive to understand. They can be subject to observer bias and deception by an adversary or opponent.

Capabilities analysis is potentially more accessible, at a lower cost, and can be delivered through OSINT. This may be entirely as an ‘open’ product if used for business intelligence, or as a supplement to classified reporting for government and military intelligence. Capabilities analysis – the breaking down of complex problems into specific questions – is a useful analytical startpoint. And the source for capabilities analysis is capabilities intelligence.

USING OSINT FOR CAPABILITIES ANALYSIS

Capabilities intelligence consists of the observation of ‘things’. Before the internet age, we considered things such as military equipment as existing within a system. Understanding the system – the human decision-maker – was the most important goal, as this would give us intent. Listing equipment was a means to divining this end, such as the meticulous counting of the Soviet bomber fleet during the Cold War. Now, with the advent of network technologies we need a more defined typology. A way of framing the problem is to characterise the science of intelligence as mapping objects (things), networks (the links between things) and systems (the people and decisions that are enabled by networks). All three are linked. If we understand all of one, we will understand some of the other. Things – equipment, entities, objects – are immediately evident and can be mapped to understand the whole.

We could call this approach ‘object-based intelligence’. Focusing on the ‘object’ allows us to isolate it and ask specific questions about it –

‘Intentions and expectations are extremely difficult and expensive to understand...’

Dashcam and social media imagery of the Buk missile launcher driving through eastern Ukraine and southern Russia after the MH17 shootdown helped track the alleged unit which fired the missile.

OPEN SOURCE INTELLIGENCE

Egyptian troops and armour crossing the Suez Canal at the start of the Ramadan/ Yom Kippur War in 1973.

including emissions, signatures, performance, numbers and type, and affiliated location and position information.

Object-based OSINT allows us to formulate the problem we are trying to solve and the questions we are trying to answer. It exists purely to describe something and assess its capabilities.

Once we have characterised enough objects we can start to understand a sample or small part of intention by looking at previous trends, analysing and disaggregating historical data points, and developing questions based on what we know of the object.

Instead of a linear approach to understanding intent such as asking one question, an objectbased approach using OSINT establishes multiple questions and continues to develop new questions, which form a network of attributes around an object.

The complexity of an object is reduced, and the problem is broken into smaller constituent parts.

Some of these smaller components may only be answerable via direct acquisition of a piece of equipment or through classified means. But objectbased OSINT establishes a framework for knowing through description and assessment of capability.

As the investigation around the cause of the crash of MH-17 progressed, significant object-based intelligence began to be reported in the media through the work of professional journalists and technical analysts. The reporting was supplemented by the release of information from the Dutch Safety Board’s technical enquiry and documents from the joint investigation team.

The facts were compelling – shrapnel at the crash site that could only have come from the 9N314 missile launched by the Buk-M1, and fragmentation patterns observed on the fuselage could only have been from a specific warhead. Narrowing down the weapon type meant the launch area could be

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defined. Within that area, possible launch sites were identified.

The location of the object and its visual signature then became relevant – it could only have come from the Russian 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade, garrisoned in Kursk close to the Ukrainian border.

The Kremlin tried to hide intent by lying on a massive scale and conducting what MI6 described as a ‘hugely intensive, multichannel propaganda effort’, but this was ultimately unsuccessful. The analysis of capabilities clearly revealed what had happened.

CONCLUSION

When it comes to predictive intelligence, trying to understand a target’s intentions and develop our expectations of their behaviour is expensive, difficult, and often wrong. It is trying to predict the future – an endeavour in which humans are notoriously ineffective.

To reduce the risk of surprise and focus intelligence efforts on specific and answerable outcomes, capabilities intelligence provides a framework for knowing. This framework focuses on objects and provides an inbuilt flexibility to define the relationships between objects. But it uses the object as the start point of analysis. While multiple intelligence disciplines can provide inputs to this analysis, it is open source that should be the start point for building capabilities intelligence.

Dougal Robertson is an executive analyst at Felix Defence. With 13 years’ experience as a military intelligence officer, he has worked in tactical, operational and strategic commands and deployed with the ADF to multiple locations. He is a graduate of the RAAF Fighter Intelligence Instructor Course, and holds a Masters degrees in International Relations and Intelligence & Counter-terrorism.

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GROUND-BASED AIR DEFENCE SYSTEMS

S-400 & GBAD

THE GREAT EQUALISER Ground-Based Air Defence Systems

BY DOUGAL ROBERTSON

O

n July 16 2019, US President Trump announced the US would cancel Turkey’s purchase of 100 F-35A Lightning II JSF aircraft.

The announcement came the same week that Russia began delivering components of the S-400 Triumf advanced surface-to-air missile (SAM) system.

According to reports, the US was unwilling to expose the capability of the F-35A to the S-400.

“Turkey’s decision to purchase Russian S-400 air defense systems renders its continued involvement with the F-35 impossible,” a July 17 White House statement said. “The F-35 cannot coexist with a Russian intelligence collection platform that will be used to learn about its advanced capabilities. Turkey has been a longstanding and trusted partner and NATO ally for over 65 years, but accepting the S-400 undermines the commitments all NATO allies made to each other to move away from Russian systems.”

Turkey was the seventh international partner to join the JSF program after the UK, Italy, the Netherlands, Canada, Denmark and Norway, signing on as a Tier 3 partner in July 2002. In January 2007, Turkey consolidated that partnership by signing an MoU with the JPO to participate in F-35 production.

But what is the S-400, and why is the proliferation of advanced SAM systems such a concern to 5th-generation fighters and other advanced air platforms?

The Russian S-400 Triumf (NATO reporting name SA-21 GROWLER) is a mobile SAM system capable of engaging aircraft, UAVs, cruise missiles and theatre ballistic missiles. It is the ‘4th-generation’ of Russian SAMs, and a development of the original long-range S-200 (SA-5 GAMMON) and S-300 (SA-10 GRUMBLE and SA-20 GARGOYLE) systems. Unit cost for an S-400 system is estimated to be around US$500m (A$740m), compared to around $1 billion for the US PAC-2 Patriot, the only comparable Western system.

The development of Russian SAM systems dates to at least the end of the Second World War. Nazi scientists working on the eastern island of Peenemunde were engaged in rocketry programs (including the V1 and V2 rockets), and the first radarguided SAM system, the Wasserfall Ferngelenkte FlaRakete (Waterfall Remote-controlled A-A rocket).

As the Red Army sped through eastern Germany towards Berlin, many of the secret Nazi research laboratories and research institutes were captured

by Soviet forces, including Peenemunde in May 1945.

The Soviets gained an instant head-start in rocketry which, coupled with the defensive paranoia of the Cold War, provided significant impetus for the development of ground-based air defence (GBAD). The Soviet plan was both practical and necessary – SAM systems were relatively simple to operate by conscripts (compared to a fighter

Steps have been taken to remove Turkey from the JSF Program, and the four F-35As delivered to date have been placed in storage.

LOCKHEED MARTIN

GROUND-BASED AIR DEFENCE SYSTEMS

An S-400 system in Syria.

aircraft), but they also provided a layered defence against NATO’s and the US’s superiority in offensive air power.

The Soviets began to develop an integrated air defence system (IADS) from the early 1950s that linked ‘Frontal Aviation’ (short-range fighters such as the MiG-19 and MiG-21) with dense, overlapping missile and AAA batteries. The whole Soviet air defence complex was linked by radio beacons and heavily automated. For example, radars in defensive fighters would be switched on or off by groundbased controllers.

This meant NATO aircraft operating over Soviet forces would have to expend significant numbers of weapons and expect high numbers of aircraft losses. While the defensive mindset would not lead directly to victory, it would impose such a high cost on the West in aircraft and aircrew that it would probably allow Soviet forces to attain and hold their objectives in Western Europe, while defending against long-rang B-52 strikes from the US mainland.

This defensive capability and mindset continues through to modern Russian SAM systems. While the S-400 can be overwhelmed by enough weapons and offensive systems, the cost to defeat the system becomes ever higher. For example, in the Baltic region Russia has deployed one S-300 and two S-400 systems to the enclave of Kaliningrad. With a claimed maximum range of 250nm, these systems provide air defence coverage over Latvia, Lithuania, most of Poland, the eastern Baltic Sea, and even parts of southern Sweden.

If NATO had to resist Russian aggression in the Baltics, targeting these systems would require expending sufficient stand-off weapons to overwhelm the three battalions. During a conflict Russia would likely deploy short-range systems such as the highly mobile SA-22 GREYHOUND and possibly medium-range SA-17 GRIZZLY to defend against stand-off strike weapons and cruise missiles.

Because of the mobility of all these systems and Russia’s practiced operational denial and deception, battle damage assessment would be extremely difficult and probably rely on risking high-value

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intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft by moving them closer to the SAMs to confirm destruction.

A ‘takedown’ of even a limited number of advanced systems would require large numbers of aircraft ‘packaged’ together, including electronic attack, fighter escort, stealth bombers and tankers, plus a rescue package for personnel recovery. The time and cost to assemble this type of force – and find the political will to risk the lives of aircrew – may be too difficult, or take so long that Russia (or another potential adversary) achieves its strategic and operational goals in the conflict.

So when NATO member Turkey announced it would purchase the S-400, the decision revealed the complex web linking politics and military hardware.

Turkey wanted to integrate the S-400 with its air defence system, so it was expected the Turkish Air Force would then train (or at a minimum, operate) its F-35A aircraft inside the detection range of the S-400 radars.

In itself this is not an overwhelming risk to the F-35A’s capabilities; NATO ally Greece has operated the Russian S-300PMU1 (SA-20) since the mid-1990s (and Israeli F-16I aircrew reportedly practiced strikes against it during joint exercises in 2015), but Turkey’s growing relationship with Russia made the possibility of technical exploitation a reality.

This technical exploitation could in turn lead to a further erosion in the advantage of 5th-generation offensive air power, negating key advantages in stealth, airborne sensor fusion and stand-off strike weapons.

“Turkey cannot field a Russian intelligence collection platform in proximity to where the F-35 program makes repairs, and houses the F-35,” US Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Ellen Lord said in a July 18 Pentagon briefing.

“Much of the F-35′s strength lies in its stealth capabilities, so the ability to detect those capabilities would jeopardise the long-term security of the F-35 program.”

Russia has played the long game in developing and fielding sophisticated long-range SAM systems.

As a defensive weapon, the SAM system – when integrated with aircraft, airborne C2 platforms and surface vessels – is a significant force enabler. As the ADF begins to consider options for integrated air and missile defence, the ability to raise the cost of offensive action for any potential adversary should be high on the list. The advanced SAM provides such an option..

‘Because of the mobility of all these systems.. battle damage assessment would be extremely difficult...’

Dougal Robertson is an executive analyst at Felix Defence, with 13 years’ experience as a military intelligence officer. He has worked in tactical, operational and strategic commands and deployed with the ADF to multiple locations. He is a graduate of the RAAF Fighter Intelligence Instructor Course and holds Masters degrees in International Relations and Intelligence & Counter-terrorism.

66

SUB SYSTEMS

SUB SYSTEMS

SUB SYSTEMS Lockheed Martin is steadily maturing the Attack class submarine combat system

BY MAX BLENKIN

SUB SYSTEMS

S

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ubmarines – like any warship – only exist to keep their electronics, weapons and crew dry, and to get them where they need to be.

That’s not at all well-appreciated in the ongoing public discussion around Australia’s 12 new Project SEA 1000 Attack class submarines and their design by prime, France’s Naval Group.

Proceeding steadily but with less public commentary is the combat system design, development and integration by Lockheed Martin Australia. The combat system accounts for a significant portion of the overall project – the basic rule of thumb is that the combat system in a modern warship accounts for around 20 per cent of total project cost.

Considering the future submarines project has been costed around $50 billion, that places the combat system component at about $10 billion.

This work is proceeding at a steady pace.

In October the combat system development review was completed, with the next major combat system milestone the preliminary design review (PDR) in the second half of 2021, followed by the critical design review (CDR) in the first half of 2023.

Mike Oliver, Lockheed Martin’s program director for the submarines’ combat system, said this system would be state-of the-art, and will be a step on from the combat system aboard the Navy’s six Collins class subs which employ a version of the US Navy AN/BYG-1.

“This boat will be operational out to the 2070s,” Oliver told ADBR ADBR.. “It’s important that we understand that boat one will not be the same as boat 12.

“What we have to achieve is flexibility in our design so we can accommodate those new technologies as they come along, so we can keep the functionality of the combat system,” he added.

“We call it pacing the threat, keeping in front of the adversary.”

Oliver said the proposed system would feature some basic functionality which would be pretty identical to what was aboard just about any submarine in the world today.

“What really makes the combat system unique are the sensors we are putting on the boat and the amount of data and information coming from those sensors,” he said. “That’s where you start seeing this big improvement on contemporary boats of the day. It is just taking advantage of the technology.

“The processing power is getting more and more every year and how we take advantage of that to actually process more of the data and present that to the operator.”

In simple terms, the combat system links the submarine sensors – bow, flank and towed array sonars – with the weapon system, the Mark 48 torpedoes, and maybe eventually submarine-launched missiles. Information is presented to operators in the submarine control room, where the commander can then make the appropriate decisions.

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SUB SYSTEMS

The Navy had big ambitions for the Collins combat system, but the then available technology was barely up to the task and integration proved difficult, protracted and costly.

Of all the many problems afflicting the Collins boats in the early years, the combat system was the most intractable. It was only fully remediated with the decision to go to AN/BYG-1, installed first aboard HMAS Waller in 2008. That was 15 years after the launch of HMAS Collins.

The Attack class’s combat system will be mostly fully developed and proven long before it’s actually installed on a submarine.

“I anticipate starting what I will call preproduction and prototype development in the 202223 timeframe and our strategy and aim is to evolve the combat system and get that early so I can work to find the problems and issues through the lab-based integration before I deliver it to the shipyard to be integrated,” Oliver said.

“The timeline to deliver to the shipyard is in 2028.

That’s delivery and integration into the platform.

Platform integration will be a little bit beyond that before the boat actually hits the water.”

The Attack class combat system will be based on the AN/BYG-1, but will feature enhancements through improved technology plus additional capabilities. It is being designed with full open architecture to accommodate emerging

technologies such as unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs).

“We are designing the combat system to accommodate whenever those become available,” Oliver said. “There is a lot of research and development being done by a lot of the navies of the world on how they want to use unmanned submersibles and unmanned aircraft. We have designed the combat system architecture to accommodate when that capability comes along.”

The design team is also looking to integrate automation of some systems, where appropriate.

Oliver said there were some ship functions which could be automated. “There are some things, because they involve ship safety or ability to protect that ship, where you always want a human in the loop,” he said.

One consideration not yet finalised is how many crew members will an Attack-class boat need? A Collins boat’s complement is 45.

“It’s not just the ability to man the consoles and the attack centre, but you have to look at the total ship – damage control and all these sorts of things, what’s the number you need,” Oliver said.

John Towers, Lockheed Martin’s lead for submarine combat system human integration added, “There is a lot of work being done now in terms of the complement,” “To understand what are the tasks and how we effectively design roles for the

The attack class boat’s combat system will be an evolution of the Collin class’s AN/BYG-1 combat system.

DEFENCE

SUB SYSTEMS

‘We have a vision to be able to upgrade and update the combat system pierside.’

future submarine, that is an ongoing effort.

Unlike Collins, Attack class boats will be fitted with an optronic mast with day/night vision capability in place of the traditional optical periscope. This has a significant advantage for submarine design in that it doesn’t penetrate the pressure hull, and frees up interior space.

It also provides additional inputs to the combat system from the mast’s high definition cameras.

An optronic mast also supports antennae for communications and electronic surveillance.

Oliver said in the combat system design, they were aiming for complete separation from the hull design. “We know the combat system will continue to evolve. I want to be able to evolve and upgrade that combat system relatively quickly without impacting ship design.

“We are smarter in those interfaces. When I do an evolution of the combat system, it doesn’t impact the ship as long as I stay within my margins,” he added.

“We have a vision to be able to upgrade and update the combat system pier-side so it doesn’t have to go into mid-cycle or full cycle docking.”

However Lockheed Martin and Naval Group will still need to work together in the design process to make everything fit. “As Naval Group is progressing their design they need to know attachment points, cable runs and all those sorts of things so they can design the boat to accommodate that,” Oliver said.

“The challenge is making sure as I deliver the interface control drawings that they are correctly

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interpreted by Naval Group. That is one of the reasons I have a small team in Cherbourg.”

That starts at gross conceptual level and eventually moves to 100 per cent accuracy. Initially the combat system team specified basic space, weight and power requirements to allow Naval Group to do what they term their balances. “We have all those information exchange touch points with Naval Group, well defined on when we owe them data and they owe me data,” Oliver said.

The control room is the beating heart of any submarine, traditionally located beneath the conning tower so the commander can readily access the periscope. Operators stare intently at consoles displaying graphic coloured representation of signals from the sonar sensors.

But using an optronic mast means the control room need not be located directly beneath the conning tower. On USN Virginia class nuclear attack boats, the control room has been moved one floor down, providing substantially more space.

Designing the combat system and the control room to provide operators and the commander with the most useful and timely information is a key task of the development process.

John Towers said their objective was to ensure the combat system allowed operators to perform at optimum level. That applies to all aspects involving the operators – from physical design of combat system elements through to the cognitive effort they have to apply to any particular task.

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SUB SYSTEMS

“We are responsible for ensuring that is not excessive and they have the right information at the right time in the right format to perform the tasks we are expecting them to,” he said.

“It really involved in the first instance establishing a baseline of understanding for which existing doctrine and workflow on the submarines they (the Navy) definitely don’t want to change, what works well.”

There’s actually a well-established engineering methodology for human factors on the program.

“We have done sea rides, we observe training, interviewed submariners,” Towers said. “What that helps us do is get a starting point and a baseline to establish early task models.

“We develop high level scenarios and then the underlying work flow of tasks and roles and role interactions, heavily leveraging in the first instance off Collins. It is going to evolve with new functions and optimisation of operations.

“Then we move into simulation of those models,” he added. “We use a commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) simulation tool. We have invested heavily in human system integration on the program to the point where we have a really well-established best practice for these activities, and it has given us an opportunity to really leverage that and start developing some of our own tools that take it to the next level.”

Then it moves on to physical design. Right now that involves some cardboard mockups of workstations to assess lines of sight. “Then we are building a very representative combat system simulator,” Towers said.

“As part of that we will start getting submariners into the lab and having them dynamically work with the combat system and we will extract performance measures of how well they are doing, how well our mitigation strategies work for issues we perhaps find in the modelling.”

Towers said all through this process, they were working closely with the Navy. “They are gaining an insight into what we are thinking, how we are interpreting results, what’s accurate and what they believe is maybe a bit off track for one reason or another,” he said.

Oliver, a former USN submariner, said in the past each control room operator had a particular role.

“My job was just to look at the data coming from a particular sensor. That’s all I did. I had somebody else working other sensors. Nobody had the ability to integrate that full situational awareness picture seamlessly.

“Today it’s not so much role-based – looking at the towed array or the flank array or the bow array,” he added. “You are just looking at the data. You don’t really care where the data is coming from. You can find it if you want but it is presenting that as a total picture.

“The systems now integrate that data to present you with a different picture. You still have the ability to drill in to see the data if you want to. But you find out if you do that you start getting tunnel vision.

That’s not just sonar – it’s all of the sensors.”

Lockheed Martin is also looking to industry and academia for ideas, offering research grants for particular research projects in search of capabilities of the future.

“They will give us the results of their research paper and we will analyse and assess those and, if it merits further research, we will fund them up to an additional million dollars to mature that capability,” Oliver said.

“We go through that annually and the idea is that we keep this flow of new ideas in this pipeline. Some things will come out the end and go into the system as the technology is available.

“Some things may not be quite ready, and we may keep it in the pipeline a little bit longer. The idea is to build the capability and capacity in Australia.”

‘You don’t really care where the data is coming from.’

Like the US Navy’s Virginia class SSN control room, the Attack class control room will not be be located under the submarine’s sail. US NAVY

SUB SYSTEMS

NAVAL GROUP

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72

CURRAWONG

CURR AWONG

CURRAWONG TO THE WORLD?

BY MAX BLENKIN

T

he Army’s new Project LAND 2072 Phase 2B Currawong Battlespace Communications System (BCS), a world-class wholly Australiandesigned and produced capability, is looking increasingly attractive to the US and British Armies.

Both of these key allies are in the process of modernising their military communications systems, and Boeing Defence Australia is pitching Currawong or elements of the system to meet some or all of their particular requirements.

Others allies such as New Zealand could also be interested, but right now it is the US and UK which are live prospects.

Darcy Rawlinson, Boeing Defence Australia business development manager for deployed network communications systems, said Currawong met or exceeded many of the requirements of the UK Project Trinity which aims to develop a wide area network for their Army headquarters.

“What we will be offering is something based on the technology in Currawong,” he said. “We do have the ability to modify that there as the UK has slightly different requirements. The UK will go out and do a competitive tender and look for that over the next couple of years.”

Then there’s Project Niobe, a vehicle-based networking solution. Whereas Australia names military communications projects after native birds, the UK seems to favour names of mythological characters.

Rawlinson said their experience with the ‘Headquarters on the Move’ development, a Currawong system in a Bushmaster armoured vehicle and the deployed data module in the back of a Hawkei protected mobility vehicle, were relevant to what the UK sought. “We are looking to work with the UK Ministry of Defence and do some concept demonstrations,” he said.

The US Army is also looking at upgrading its tactical network. Initially called the Warfighting Information Network – Tactical (WIN-T), the requirement has now been named the Integrated Tactical Network.

DEFENCE

“Some of the senior leaders in the US Army have gone on the record saying it is not quite the network they need for the next war – it’s not quite ready to, as they say, fight tonight,” Rawlinson said. “So they are looking at a range of different technologies from a range of different vendors. There are certainly elements of Currawong they are interested in.

“We have spoken to them over the last year explaining our system for them to understand where it could fit into that broader integrated tactical network,” he added. “They are quite keen to take it to the next stage of doing some testing with it in their labs in the US so they can understand exactly how it performs.”

What the US has in mind is for Currawong to perform some of the heavy lifting in their network, the routing and network management system.

Rawlinson said these were the elements that dealt with that really adverse environment in which military forces operated, one where there is never sufficient bandwidth, and a congested and contested spectrum.

“The network is highly dynamic, unlike in an enterprise environment where you wire up a

CURRAWONG

‘The US sees that as something they think can really enhance their network...’

Defence Industry Minister Melissa Price at the October opening of Boeing’s Wacol test and assembly centre.

DEFENCE

building which stays there and will be there the next day,” Rawlinson said. “Here our headquarters are constantly moving. It is really important that the network is very agile and flexible to deal with all that, while reducing the amount of complexities that soldiers have to deal with.

“That’s where Currawong really comes into it – it does that,” he added. “We have managed to crack that nut for the Australian Army. The US sees that as something they think can really enhance their network as something well worth looking at.”

In Australian service, Currawong is replacing Parakeet, a communications network developed in the 1990s and which was then regarded as very advanced. Parakeet gave the Australian military encrypted satellite communications, though essentially from point-to-point rather than as an integrated network.

Currawong provides vastly more capability, versatility and redundancy. “Basically it gives you everything you normally get out of your mobile phone,” Currawong project director Ian Vett said.

“Of course there is no infrastructure in the deployed environment,” he added. “It does that through providing core network capability, a mission system manager that sits on top and manages…and then all the bearers.”

Currawong features multiple communications options for deployed forces. Mostly that would be by satellite, specifically the US military WGS constellation which provides fast, secure high bandwidth comms. However Australia only has proportional access to WGS on the basis of us funding one of the 10 WGS satellites, while two more are planned. The ADF can also use the Optus C1 satellite through a hosted defence payload.

Currawong features other communications options – microwave high capacity line-of-sight which is good out to around 80 kilometres, and troposcatter which provides high bandwidth reliable communications to around 200 kilometres.

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Should the circumstances permit, it’s entirely possible to connect Currawong nodes by fibre optic cable which is secure and delivers very high bandwidth.

Finally, Currawong can use existing infrastructure – the internet – through a new capability for secure communications called External Network Access Point (ENAP). The troposcatter and ENAP capabilities, along with the new medium satellite terminal, will be delivered soon through Currawong Release 2.

Vett said people might think all this wasn’t so hard as their own office network worked perfectly well. “Obviously we don’t have mobile phone towers and things like that when these guys are fighting the fight, so we have to bring in all that.

That’s what Currawong is and that’s why it’s so expensive.

“The thing is this is a deployed battlefield communications system. You are only as good as the bearer you’ve got,” Vett said. “The trick here is not how much bandwidth you get. The trick is with limited bandwidth, what can you do with it?

“We get voice over very bad lines that have a lot of delay,” he added. “With a 32 kilobit line you can still get video. You also have to move quickly. You have to be able to pick it up, dump it around and immediately get it working again.”

The $950 million project – taking in support and acquisition contracts it’s actually a bit over $1 billion – dates back to the early 2000s and has followed a tortuous course, with projects merged, terminated and resurrected.

Boeing was awarded the contract for what is now LAND 2072 Phase 2B in September 2015, although the company had been working on it since 2011. Boeing’s Release 1 technology was delivered just 27 months after contract signature, a notable achievement considering the extensive software and hardware development required.

Release 2 is under way and Release 3 is planned for late next year.

Significantly, because Currawong was developed in Australia, it comes without ITAR-added complications and restrictions of US technology.

For the Currawong project, Boeing decided to develop its own $7.5 million test and assembly centre in the Brisbane suburb of Wacol, officially opened by Defence Industry Minister Melissa Price at the end of October.

The minister said this was a further demonstration that major companies were seeing the opportunities and making significant investments in Australia’s defence industry.

New Boeing Defence Australia Managing Director Scott Carpendale said that, before the Wacol facility was opened, Boeing had to send equipment interstate and overseas for testing to ensure it would work wherever it was needed, be that in snow or desert conditions.

“Now we can do it right here, quickly and to the most rigorous standards,” he said. “This enables us to be more agile with our development, to identify and address issues earlier and to deliver capability to the Australian Defence Force faster.”

ON TARGET - SIR RICHARD WILLIAMS FOUNDATION

74

On Target

A Message from Beijing?

By Brian Weston

ast issue’s On Target column concluded with some observations from the concept of operations for the defence of Australia drafted by Sir Richard Williams in 1925 a document of 68 pages titled a Memorandum Regarding the Air Defence of Australia and the similarity of some of Williams’ observations with the strategic scenario that is emerging in the Indo-Pacific today.

In particular, the column noted there were some parallels between the emerging notion of air power in 1925, and the term asymmetric warfare today. The column also noted that today, new ways of prosecuting aggressive campaigns against nation states are emerging, and that some of these developments might increase the likelihood of smaller-scale aggressive and coercive campaigns, aimed at advancing a nation’s national interests.

The column concluded with the observation that Australia would be wise to understand the world’s post-1945 system of rules-based international order is being superseded.

By co-incidence, as that article appeared in print, on October 1 China chose to live-stream to the world an impressive array of emerging military capabilities. But curiously, while it was China’s National Day, the activities of October 1 2019 had little to do with some four millennia of China’s history, instead solely focussing on a celebration of the 70 years of rule by the Communist Party of China.

While such a celebration by a totalitarian state under one party might be seen as somewhat selfindulgent, when combined with the demonstration of an array of new, emerging and impressive military capabilities, it takes on a more sombre and intimidating messaging.

Prominent among the military hardware displayed were 16 road-mobile launchers for the DF-41 inter-continental ballistic missile, suggesting that China was continuing to mature and expand its recently developed inter-continental nuclear strike capability.

But perhaps even more significant was the display of the DF-17 surface-to-surface hypersonic glide missile. The hypersonic glide missile provides greater range and accuracy, with the manoeuvring terminal capability posing significant challenges for anti-missile defence systems. Although considered not yet operational, the DF-17 suggests sizeable leaps have been made in China’s military technology, and that it is advancing towards developing an accurate, conventionally armed, long-range, surface-tosurface missile capability.

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Also on display was an unmanned supersonic rocket-powered reconnaissance vehicle, an unmanned attack aircraft prototype, and the YJ-18 anti-ship missile with a reported supersonic terminal dash capability. All told, these advances in military capability in a relatively short timeframe have not just increased China’s military combat power, but have dramatically increased the strategic reach of China’s military power. The pace of these developments also suggest that China’s military capabilities will continue to advance in capability and reach, in the near future.

Apart from the range of military capabilities on display, perhaps even more concerning was the sustained media focus on China’s leader, Xi Jinping, who now concurrently occupies the following powerful appointments: General Secretary of the Communist Party of China; Chairman of the Central Military Commission (Commander-in-chief of the People’s Liberation Army); President of the People’s Republic of China (PRC); and Chairman of the National Security Commission of the Communist Party of China.

Additionally Xi was designated as China’s Paramount Leader in 2012 and, in 2018, removed the presidential term limits which previously limited the duration of occupancy of previous appointees to the office of President of the People’s Republic of China.

Xi is, without doubt, the most powerful ruler of the People’s Republic of China since Mao Zedong ‒ and the National Day parade of October 1 certainly reinforced that observation.

There are other observations such as: that the PRC is a one-party totalitarian state under the governance of the Communist Party of China; that China has already demonstrated its aspirations towards enhancing its regional power and global reach as evidenced by its occupation and militarisation of the South China Sea in defiance of a ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration; that China has not been backward in using its growing wealth and soft power to advance its national interests; and that China has long indulged in the illegal gathering and pirating of new technologies, intellectual property, source code, etc from anywhere on the globe.

Therefore, regional neighbours and international interlocutors need to comprehend that, in dealing with China, they cannot expect it to conform with the established rules-based international protocols that have existed since the end of World War 2. China has consigned those protocols to the history books.

Brian Weston is a Board Member of the Sir Richard Williams Foundation

‘...the activities of October 1 2019 had little to do with some four millennia of China’s history,’

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