Australian Army

Australian Army: modernising Down Under

By Ian Kemp

The Rheinmetall Boxer Cavalry Reconnaissance Vehicle (left) is in production to replace the GDLSCanada ASLAV (right). © Commonwealth of Australia, Department of Defence

The Australian Army is undergoing the most comprehensive modernisation in its history. Ian Kemp reports on the four pillars of the future armoured vehicle fleet.

The past decade has seen a significant restructuring of the Australian Army in preparation for the delivery of a new fleet of armoured fighting vehicles over the next decade. The reorganisation was inspired by lessons identified during more than 10 years of combat operations, which began with the East Timor crisis of 1999 and continued with Australia’s participation in the USled military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. The army’s aim is to develop a “relevant and sustainable Reinforced Combat Brigade that is able to operate and win across the spectrum of conflict”.

The first step was Plan Beersheba, launched in December 2011, to transform the army’s three regular manoeuvre brigades - the 1 st , 3 rd and 7 th Brigades - from uniquely organised formations - mechanised, motorised and light infantry - into three similarly organised Multirole Combat Brigades (MCBs). The brigades were restructured to consist of an armoured cavalry regiment (ACR), two standard infantry battalions, an artillery regiment, a combat signals regiment, a combat engineer regiment, and a combat service support battalion. Beersheba placed the three brigades on a 36 month ‘set, ready, reset’ force generation cycle of

Rheinmetall will produce 133 Boxer Cavalry Reconnaissance Vehicle equipped with Rheinmetall’s two-person Lance turret armed with the MK 30-2/ ABM 30mm automatic cannon. © Commonwealth of Australia, Department of Defence

12 months preparing for operations, 12 months ready for operations or deployed, and 12 months in a reset phase. Each of the three MCBs is paired with two Army Reserve brigades which can generate trained subunits and, if required, a light infantry battle group to augment the MCBs.

One infantry battalion, 2 nd Battalion Royal Australian Regiment (Amphibious), is outside of the brigade structure because of its unique role as the army’s first amphibious battalion. It was assigned this role to exploit the introduction of the Royal Australian Navy’s two Canberra Class Landing Helicopter Dock (LHD) ships - HMAS Canberra and HMAS Adelaide, commissioned in November 2014 and December 2015 respectively. Each 27,000 tonnes LHD can land a force of 1,046 soldiers and up to 110 vehicles including M1 tanks using MRH-90 helicopters and four landing craft, vehicles being hosted on two decks - one for light and the other for heavy vehicles. Although 2RAR will remain the amphibious specialist all brigades will receive amphibious training.

The MCBs are supported by three specialist brigades: • the 16 th Aviation Brigade with 22 Airbus Helicopters Tiger Armed Reconnaissance Helicopters, 47 NH Industries MRH90 helicopters (six of which are operated by the navy), 20 Sikorsky S-70 Black Hawk helicopters, and 10 Boeing CH47F Chinooks; • the 6 th Brigade groups the army’s command support and intelligence, surveillance, target ac

An ASLAV drives from a Royal Australian Navy landing craft during Exercise Talisman Sabre 2019. © Commonwealth of Australia, Department of Defence

Each of the three armoured cavalry regiments is equipped with a squadron of M1A1 Abrams main battle tanks. © Commonwealth of Australia, Department of Defence

quisition and reconnaissance units into a single formation to improve training and readiness; • and, the 17 th Combat Service Support Brigade which commands the army’s deployable operational level logistics units.

The “2016 Integrated Investment Program” (2016 IIP), published conjointly with the “2016 Defence White Paper”, announced the expenditure of A$195 billion in defence modernisation through FY 2025-26. From A$24-33 billion was allocated to modernising the “four elements of the armoured vehicle capability: armour - based on the Abrams; cavalry - based on the current ASLAV and the future replacement Combat Reconnaissance Vehicle; armoured mobility - based on the current M113AS4 Armoured Personnel Carrier and a future replacement Infantry Fighting Vehicle; and, armoured Combat Support and Combat Service Support (specialist versions of the above mentioned platforms).”

The Beersheba restructuring was completed in October 2017 and was immediately followed by Plan Keogh which introduced further structural changes as the army prepared for major recapitalisation projects to replace its armoured and protected mobility vehicles, soldier systems, command and control systems, and logistics systems.

Under Beersheba it was intended that the three ACRs would operate the planned infantry

M1A1 Abrams tanks en route to conduct live fire training. © Commonwealth of Australia, Department of Defence

fighting vehicle (IFV) to provide the infantry lift. It was subsequently decided that the IFV’s potential would be better exploited if they were integral to the infantry sections - the structure common among Australia’s allies. One battalion in each brigade was designated as a mechanised battalion and equipped with the M113AS4 armoured personnel carrier (APC), the final modernised model of the ubiquitous American M113 which has been in Australian service since the mid-1960s, until the fielding of the new IFV. The other battalion was designated as a motorised infantry battalion and equipped with the Thales 4x4 Bushmaster Protected Mobility Vehicle (PMV).

Before Beersheba, the 1 st Armoured Regiment was the only regiment equipped with M1A1 main battle tanks (MBTs) while the 2 nd Cavalry Regiment and the 2 nd /14 th Light Horse Regiment

An M1A1 Abrams of the 1 st Armoured Regiment conducts gunnery training at Shoalwater Bay Training Area, Queensland. © Commonwealth of Australia, Department of Defence

RDA delivered the first three Boxer CRVs in the Multipurpose Vehicle configuration for verification and validation testing in September 2019. © Commonwealth of Australia, Department of Defence

Australia plans to upgrade its M1A1 MBTs to the latest US Army M1A2C standard. © US Army

(Queensland Mounted Infantry) both operated the General Dynamics Land Systems Canada 8x8 Australian Light Armoured Vehicle (ASLAV) in the reconnaissance role. Although the three regiments maintain their historic titles, they are each organised as an ACR with three sabre squadrons - an armoured squadron equipped with 14 M1A1s, and two reconnaissance squadrons each equipped with 20 ASLAV reconnaissance variants.

Abramsupgrade

Australia bought 59 M1A1 Abrams Integrated Management (AIM) Situational Awareness (SA) variants through the US Foreign Military Sales (FMS) programme in 2005 to meet the Land 907 Phase 1 MBT requirement. The army plans to spend up to A$1 billion on the Land 907 Phase 2 Main Battle Tank System Upgrade to modernise the Abrams fleet to an unspecified M1A2 configuration and acquire an unspecified number of additional tanks. On 5 May 2020, Australia’s Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group (CASG) released a notice to industry for the Land 907 Phase 2 Abrams M1A2 Immersive Tactical Trainer which stated that Gate 2 approval for Phase 2 is scheduled for September 2021. To meet this timetable the full scope of Land 907 Phase 2 should become clearer later this year.

Homegrown Hawkei

The Thales Australia 4x4 Hawkei represents a homegrown solution to meet the Project Land 121 Phase 4 requirement for a new class of vehicle, the Protected Mobility Vehicle - Light (PMV-L), offering high levels of ballistic and blast protection. Australia was an original participant in the US Joint Light Tactical Vehicle project until December 2011 when the Australian government decided to quit the project in favour of funding the continued development of the Hawkei.

Land 121 Phase 4 covers the acquisition of 1,100 PMV-Ls in two variants and 1,058 trailers. The 4-door PMV-L will be configured for specific roles such as: command, carrying four personnel and fitted with a battle management system; liaison, carrying four personnel; and reconnaissance, carrying up to four personnel operating in the light infantry, reconnaissance and Royal Australian Air Force security roles. The 2-door PMV-L Utility carries two personnel and has a flatbed which can be used to carry cargo, such as up to four NATO pallets, or for specialist applications such as a radar carrier. With a weight of 7 tonnes the Hawkei will be the only armoured vehicle

The M113AS4 APCs which equip Australia’s three mechanised infantry battalions will be replaced by a new IFV. © Commonwealth of Australia, Department of Defence

Following Project Keogh the M113AS4 APC is now integral to the army’s three mechanised infantry battalions. © Commonwealth of Australia, Department of Defence

in service capable of being transported by the army’s CH-47D Chinook helicopters. The 4-door PMV-L can be fitted with an overhead weapon station although the project does not include funding for such a system. Thales is proposing other variants, such as a special operations vehicle, to meet future Australian requirements or the needs of export customers.

For Stage One, Engineering and Manufacturing Development, Thales delivered 10 vehicles and five trailers while for Stage Two, Low-Rate Initial Production, it supplied an additional six vehicles and four trailers for reliability testing and verification/validation activities, and 100 LRIP vehicles and trailers. The government is expected to approve Stage Three, Full-Rate Production,

PMV-Ms line up for a range practice at the Taji Military Complex, Iraq. © Commonwealth of Australia, Department of Defence later this year for the remaining 1,000 production vehicles and 958 trailers. The contract to Thales Australia also includes through-life-support of the PMV-L. Final Operational Capability is expected to be achieved in June 2023.

Developing the Hawkei, Thales utilised the experience gained from the production of the Bushmaster which entered service in 1997 to meet the Infantry Mobility Vehicle requirement and was later designated the PMV - Medium. The Australian Defence Force bought 1,052 Bushmasters in eight variants for the army and the Royal Australian Air Force’s security forces squadrons, and Bushmaster has been used extensively on operations. New and refurbished Bushmasters have been exported to at least seven customers.

The army has used the Bushmaster extensively on operations, including Afghanistan and Iraq, and the service believes the vehicle’s design has saved more than 300 lives. The service is developing the specifications for a replacement to allow the remaining 985 PMV-Ms to be retired from 2030.

Reconnaissance Boxer

The largest acquisition programme in the army’s history is Project Land 400, Land Combat Vehicle System (LCVS), a multi-phase project to acquire: a Combat Reconnaissance Vehicle (CRV); a tracked IFV; a tracked Manoeuvre Support Vehicle (MSV); and, an integrated training system. Land 400 Phase 2, Mounted Combat Reconnaissance Capability, will replace the 25-year old ASLAV. A total of 257 ASLAVs, were delivered in seven variants from 1994 to 2007, and these were used extensively in East Timor, Afghanistan and Iraq. Australia awarded Rheinmetall Defence Australia (RDA) an A$3.3 billion contract in August 2018 to develop and produce 211 8x8 Boxer CRVs. The contract followed a 12-month competitive evaluation in 2016-17 of four Boxer prototypes and four BAE Systems AMV35 prototypes.

RDA will produce 133 CRV reconnaissance variants equipped with Rheinmetall’s two-person Lance turret armed with the company’s MK 30-2/ ABM 30mm automatic cannon. These variants will also be armed with the Rafael Spike LR2 long range anti-tank guided missile, which will be produced by a joint venture with Australia’s Varley, and a remote weapon system (RWS), with Block 1 vehicles equipped with a Kongsberg RWS and Block II vehicles with the Australian Electro Optic Systems RWS.

Other variants comprise 21 surveillance, 15 command and control, 13 multipurpose (MPV), 11 recovery, 10 repair and 8 joint fires vehicles. Compared to the 13.45 tonne ASLAV, the 38.5 tonne Boxer CRV offers much greater protection against improvised explosive device and mine blasts as well as ballistic threats, and the vehicle may be equipped with the Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Trophy MV active protection system.

On 24 September 2019, RDA delivered the first three Boxer CRVs in the MPV configuration for verification and validation testing which began the next month. The first 25 vehicles will be built in Germany with the remaining vehicles to be produced at RDA’s new Military Vehicle Centre of Excellence (MILVEHCOE) in Ipswich, Queensland, which is expected to be completed by the end of the year. The first Australian-build Block 2 Boxer vehicles are scheduled to roll out of the facility in 2021 and the last in 2026. According to the DOD’s CASG “the Australian Industry Capability level for this project is over 65 per cent, with an expected $10.2 billion, 30-year investment in Australian industry over the life of the project.”

IFV contenders

Land 400 Phase 3, Mounted Close Combat Capability, worth an estimated A$10-15 billion, is intended to provide up to 450 tracked IFVs and 17 Manoeuvre Support Vehicles. The requirement calls for an IFV, operated by a three-strong crew and carrying a six-strong infantry section, that provides STANAG 4569 Level 6 kinetic and Level 4a/4b blast protection, and mobility comparable to that of the M1A2 MBT. The 2016 IIP states: “These vehicles will be equipped with superior firepower, networking and protection and will be

The army’s three field artillery regiments are equipped with M777A2 Lightweight Howitzers. © Commonwealth of Australia, Department of Defence

deployable rapidly by air in small numbers and in larger numbers by Canberra Class amphibious ships and logistics support vessels.”

The 450 vehicles will comprise 312 IFVs, 39 combat engineer vehicles, 26 C2 vehicles, 18 repair vehicles,16 joint fire vehicles, 14 each ambulance and recovery vehicles, and 11 engineer reconnaissance vehicles. The Plan Keogh structure allocates 114 IFVs to each brigade with each mechanised infantry battalion fielding 87.

In October 2019, Australia awarded two risk mitigation contracts, each worth A$50 million, to Hanwha Defense Australia for the AS21 Redback IFV and RDA for the Lynx KF41 IFV. Both vehicles were developed specifically for the Land 400 requirement and Minister for Defence Industry Melissa Price stated the two contenders were the best able to meet army requirements while also offering value for money.

The contracts require each competitor to deliver three prototypes by November 2020 for a twoyear test and evaluation programme, including destructive testing. The preferred option is expected to be presented to the government for a decision in 2022 which is scheduled to lead to an initial operating capability (IOC) in 2024-25 with a full operating capability expected by 2030–31. Rheinmetall is arguing that the KF41 offers significant cost savings as it will be equipped with

Thales Australia will supply 1,100 Hawkei Protected Mobility Vehicles - Light in two variants and 1,058 trailers. © Commonwealth of Australia, Department of Defence the same Lance Block II turret as the Boxer CRV. The AS21 Redback is based on Hanwha’s KT21 IFV that has been in service with the Republic of Korea Army since 2009. It will be equipped with a new two-person T2000 30mm turret developed by Australia’s EOS. Like the Boxer CRV, the IFV will also be equipped with the Spike-LR ATGW and an RWS.

Back on track

Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced five days prior to the 19 May 2019 federal election that Australia would acquire 30 Hanwha Defense K9 Thunder 155mm/52cal tracked self-propelled howitzers, 10 K10 ammunition resupply vehicles, and associated equipment.

The AS-9 Aussie Thunder, an Australianised version of the K9 developed by a team led by Raytheon Australia, was selected for Phase 1C, the self-propelled portion of the Land 17 Artillery Replacement Program before that phase was cancelled in May 2012.

The first acquisition phase of Land 400 involved the 2009 purchase through the US Foreign Military Sales programme of 35 BAE Systems M777A2 155mm lightweight towed howitzers to equip two of the three regular field artillery regiments and following the termination of Phase 1C, the government purchased an additional 19 M777A2s in October 2012. Each regiment now fields three gun batteries each equipped with four M777A2s, and is equipped with the Advanced Field Artillery Tactical Data System (AFATDS), a fully automated digital battle management system developed by Raytheon to meet US Army and US Marine Corps requirements.

The SPH requirement has been revived as Land 8116 Protected Mobile Fires. “Land 8116 is the fourth Pillar of Army’s protected manoeuvre system, intimately supporting combat reconnaissance vehicles, infantry fighting vehicles, and main battle tanks,” wrote Brigadier Richard Vagg, Director General of Systems and Integration in Army Headquarters, in the Royal Australian Artillery Liaison Letter.

A Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles Australia HX77 heavy rigid vehicle supports Operation Bushfire Assist earlier this year. © Commonwealth of Australia, Department of Defence

On visit to Geelong, Victoria in January, Sungsoo Lee, CEO of Hanwha Defense, said: “We look forward to Geelong and Hanwha working together to build industrial capacity for Australian Defence Self Reliance. Our aim is to collaborate with local industry to create a centre of expertise for the assembly and maintenance of the K9 Self Propelled Howitzer and K10 ammunition resupply vehicle family of vehicles.” The proposed Hanwha Armoured Vehicles Centre of Excellence would produce the AS 21 Redback if it is selected as the army’s IFV.

Logistics boost

Defence Minister Linda Reynolds announced on

Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles Australia will supply 3,751 vehicles and 4,730 mission modules to the ADF. © Commonwealth of Australia, Department of Defence

7 February 2020 the declaration of IOC for the ADF’s new fleet of logistics vehicles.

In 2016, Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles Australia began deliveries of its HX series vehicles – including 4x4, 6x6 and 10x10 HX 2, 8x8 HX 77 and 8x8 HX 81 models – to meet the A$5 billion Land 121 Project Overlander requirement for medium and heavy capability field vehicles, modules and trailers. Separate Land 121 Phase 3B and 5B contracts cover the delivery of 3,751 vehicles and 4,730 mission modules from RMMVA and 2,565 trailers from Haulmark Trailers (Australia). More than 1,000 vehicles will be supplied with integrated armoured cabins designed to provide a higher level of land mine/ IED blast protection than modular armour cabs.

The IOC declaration marked the fielding of enough vehicles, about 100, in three configurations - integrated load handling system, heavy recovery vehicle, and truck-tractor – to support a battlegroup. Reynolds said the Overlander fleet “will be used for a range of military deployments, from resupplying combat operations to supporting Defence’s assistance to Australian and regional communities after natural disasters” as was demonstrated over the 2019-20 summer when the initial vehicles were used as part of the ADF response to the Townsville floods and for Operation Bushfire Assist.

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