TO DELEGATES AT 2017 CHIEF OF AIR FORCE SYMPOSIUM + AVALON AIRSHOW
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ADM EXCLUSIVE Chief of Air Force Air Marshal Leo Davies speaks to ADM this month FEBRUARY 2017 VOL.25 NO.2
AIR POWER 2017 Plan Jericho two years in Air 6500 takes shape Counter UAV tech Okra update AMG on the up Training assets incl ranges and simulation
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MAYOR’S MESSAGE The City of Ipswich is proud to be the epicentre of the defence and aerospace industries in Queensland. Ipswich is committed to supporting the defence industry, and this year has created the City of Ipswich Defence Industry Attraction Committee to drive potential business opportunities for defence and aerospace industry related businesses. Recognising the opportunities available to them, many companies are already invested and reside in Ipswich including: • • • • •
Boeing GE Northrop Grumman QinetiQ Raytheon
• • • • •
Rosebank Engineering Spotless TAE Tenix Toll Defence Logistics Thales
Proximity to RAAF Base Amberley is not all that makes our city such a desirable destination for the defence and aerospace industries. With a thriving local economy, affordable residential and industrial land connected by excellent road and rail infrastructure to Brisbane, as well as major sea and air ports, Ipswich has all the amenities a modern company needs to do business. Our enthusiastic team in the Office of Economic Development welcome your call to talk about your future in Ipswich on (07) 3810 6938 or visit AdvanceIpswich.com.au.
Mayor Paul Pisasale City of Ipswich
at a Av t s Vis alo ta it n A n d us irs 2A ho 24 w 20 17
DID YOU KNOW THAT IPSWICH • Is home to Australia’s largest defence base • Has over 1/3 of the available industrial land in south east Queensland • Voted in the Top 21 of the World’s Intelligent Communities for 2017 • Queensland's fastest growing city
RAAF BASE AMBERLEY Located in the City of Ipswich, RAAF Base Amberley is home to both Air Force and Army units. It covers an area of 5,500 hectares and has nearly 6,000 personnel, which is projected to reach 7,000 by 2020. Amberley is continuing to expand, with new aircraft and Air Force and Army units establishing their military capability at the base. Over the next 20 years, the Federal Government has committed more than $1.5 billion into the base, funding more accommodation for personnel, new maintenance facilities and two new types of aircraft – the EA-18G Growler and C-27J Spartan. Visit us at stand 2A24 at Avalon Airshow 2017.
THIS MONTH
Contents
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VOLUME 25 NO 2 | FEBRUARY 2017
DEFENCE
32 64
ON THE COVER: A USAF F-35A JSF lies in formation with a RAAF KC-30A Multi-Role Tanker Transport during boom refuelling trials in the US.
4 | February 2017 | www.australiandefence.com.au
Flinders Uni partners to boost shipbuilding
16
AIR POWER 2017
Laying the groundwork for F-35
32
RAAF performing well on Okra
36
Northrop Grumman expands local footprint
44
Counter-UAS is the new buzz
52
Replacing the Special Purpose leet
58
Pilot training: simulation led
64
NEWS
Training: home on the range
70
Fincantieri stakes its claim for Sea 5000 8
Integrated Air Missile Defence for the ADF
74
Boeing proves new Chinook rotors
9
SME Spotlight: APA leads the way
82
Anzacs commence AMCAP upgrades
10
Making the most of a consolidated C2 framework
88
SME Spotlight: Orbital: little engines with big plans
94
It’s an Air Affair
98
Editorial
4
News Review
6
Books
116
Defence Industry
100
Events
118
From the Source
122
Civmec’s big plans for expanded Henderson facility
The Avalon Airshow is an important event on the Defence calendar. Events such as Avalon are an important opportunity for industry, both local and international, to showcase the latest technological developments and innovations that will inluence Defence decisionmaking. As you would except, the ADM team will be out in force at the event and we'd be delighted to see you at our stand in Hall B - 2L1. We enjoy talking with our readers and getting your feedback.
14
26
SM-6 cleared for international sale
Judy Hinz | Publisher
14
‘The Steel Cat’ loats again
AMG embraces Plan Jericho
The View from Canberra 114
Last Word
12
Rheinmetall proposes military vehicle vision for Australasia
Plan Jericho: two years on18
REGULAR NEWS AND REPORTS
82
H.I. Fraser celebrates sub milestone
10
12
From the Source
AIR POWER 2017
Chief of Air Force Air Marshal Leo Davies
“If you want to have an effect, give it to a small team well resourced with a clear mandate.” P122
Air Affairs are expanding their business P98
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EDITORIAL
The future is unmanned KATHERINE ZIESING | CANBERRA AS the RAAF transitions a number of successful platforms (Growler, P-8A, C-27J, PC-21) into its order of battle and is making headway into support and training plans for much anticipated platforms like the JSF and Triton RPA, I can’t help but think what the next generation of platforms will look like. Increasingly, they will be unmanned I suspect. hat is not to say there will be no humans in the loop; far from it. But the platform itself will have a pilot and a trigger inger far from the platform. Militaries around the world are also moving this way. We are living in the irst age of UAV warfare. While UAVs can trace their origins back at least as far as 1918, it took fairly recent technological advances to truly showcase the abilities of long-endurance, high-lying remotely
“he limited signiicance of current-generation drones in interstate contexts beyond monitoring stems from a key technological limitation: UAVs currently in operation are vulnerable to air defence systems, meaning that they are much less likely to be efective when operating in hostile airspace.” Perhaps there is one area where I diverge with the authors and that is their statement that “given their technical limitations, current-generation drones are unlikely to have a large impact on interstate warfare”. here are current generation UAVs that are armed, stealthy, have a significant payload of sensors and can be networked into a federated command and control structure that prioritises ‘any sensor, best shooter’. Platforms like Predator MQ-1 and Reaper MQ-9 are in this class and the US Navy’s Unmanned Combat Air System, which saw the X47B operate of a carrier, are just the beginning in the US context. Europe, Israel and Asia also have a range of weaponised UAVs that are either in the testing and development phase, in service or plans are afoot to weaponise the current generation of platforms. Australia has its own plans for a weaponised UAS with an announcement at the Avalon Air Show this month an event to watch out for. But how do we counter such threats? Air 6500, alongside Land 19 Phase 7B, will fulil Australia’s efort in this space (see P74). Integrated Air Missile Defence (IAMD) and Integrated Missile Defence (IMD) is not just about taking out missile threats but also the threat of UAVs I would argue. Commercial counter-UAS technologies are aimed at the smaller UAS market (see P52) and may have military applications at the tactical level. But it is Air 6500 that will provide the central sensor, C2 and efect support to such eforts at a theatre level. State on state conlict is something that militaries and governments plan for in the hope that such plans remain unused. he latter half of the 20th century was a time of unprecedented peace at this level but as many analysts have noted this is not ‘normal’ in the history of human endeavours. UAVs are excellent for the dull, dirty and dangerous roles so oten seen in the military. hey can also be used for uncertain roles in an uncertain future.
“UAVs are excellent for the dull, dirty and dangerous roles so often seen in the military.” piloted machines. Yet despite their prominence in modern battleields, the greatest impact of UAVs will be felt in the future. Right now, UAVs are mostly changing the calculus for counter-insurgency and domestic warfare, but in the future, drones might fundamentally change wars fought by nations against other nations. A new paper from university scholars Michael C. Horowitz, Sarah E. Kreps, and Matthew Fuhrmann entitled “The Consequences of UAV Proliferation: Separating Fact from Fiction” looks at how UAVs are used now by nations around the world (counterterrorism, interstate conlict, crisis onset and deterrence, coercive diplomacy, domestic control and repression) and what their operational evolution is likely to look like. “Current-generation drones ofer little utility for coercion against other governments,” the paper states. “Contrary to the conventional wisdom, moreover, drones might actually enhance security in disputed border regions by providing states with greater ability to monitor contested regions persistently at lower cost, leading to reassurance that potential adversaries are not attempting to change the status quo through force. 6 | February 2017 | www.australiandefence.com.au
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NEWS REVIEW INDUSTRY UPDATE
Fincantieri stakes its claim for Sea 5000 ITALIAN shipbuilder Fincantieri, which has been down selected by the Commonwealth for the Sea 5000 Future Frigates program, has established its local company and will open a new Australian headquarters in Canberra soon. Dario Deste has been designated Chairman of the new company Fincantieri Australia, and he will be supported by former RAN Rear Admiral Mark Purcell. Deste is also currently CEO of Fincantieri Marine Systems North America, subsidiary of Fincantieri in the US. Deste said Fincantieri Australia will now manage the important phase of the shipbuilder’s participation in the competitive evaluation process for the Sea 5000 Future Frigates program.
“ F i n c a n t i e r i ’s commitment to this project will be total and we will deploy all of the company’s strengths as a market leader. he FREMM Frigate we are ofering is an absolute cutting-edge product.” He added that Fincantieri Australia will be resourced with senior technical and other personnel recruited locally in Australia and drawn from Fincantieri’s global network of naval ship building executives. “We are very happy with the team assembled so far and all of the people who will take part in with the team assembled so far and all of the people who will take part
in bidding for this signiicant naval project will have an important role,” Deste said. he Italian Navy’s FREMM Frigate Carabiniere, designed and built by Fincantieri, visited Fremantle in late January, and will also conduct port visits to Adelaide, Sydney and Melbourne this month. Carabiniere is engaging in joint training activities with the RAN and conducted public open days in Fremantle and Adelaide.
Boeing proves new Chinook rotors PATRICK DURRANT & NIGEL PITTAWAY | SYDNEY & MELBOURNE BOEING has proven a new technology for the Ch-47F Chinook as part of the Block II series of upgrades. During recent light tests at the company facility in Mesa, Arizona, the aircrat demonstrated the Advanced Chinook Rotor Blades (ACRB) which give an additional 1,500 pounds of lit to the long-serving heavy lit helicopter. Developed by Boeing and the US Army, the ACRB is a new fully composite blade with a swept-tip design. he Block II series of upgrades are focused on increasing payload, providing commonality across the leet and creating a foundation for afordable future upgrades. he key objective for the program is to restore payload lost over the years as the Chinook has gained about 1,900 kilograms of mission equipment.
Under Block II, one speciic future upgrade the US Army is eyeing is a potential new engine, with the Chinook now lying with the Honeywell-made T55 engine that has been upgraded over the years. here will also be upgrades to the electrical system and the transmission. ADM Comment. In the interest of remaining common under the Chinook Capability Alignment project (Land 9000), ADM understands the Australian CH-47F Chinooks will acquire the improvements being made under the Block II upgrade program. DST Group has
been tasked with conducting a Technical Risk Assessment and preparing a Science and Technology (S&T) Plan prior to the phase being approved. he project is still pre-irst pass approval from Government, so the program of S&T work is in development and negotiation, according to the DST Group website.
SHIPS
SYSTEMS
SUPPORT
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Anzacs commence AMCAP upgrades JULIAN KERR | SYDNEY PREPARATORY work has begun on the irst of eight Royal Australian Navy Anzacclass frigates to undergo a Mid-Life Capability Assurance Program (AMCAP) that will include a number of upgrades including a new active phased array air surveillance radar. AMCAP forms the major work element within an eight-year $2 billion Warship Asset Management Agreement signed in April 2016 under which BAE Systems Australia, Saab Australia, Naval Ship Management and the Australian government will jointly support the 3,600 tonne frigates for the remainder of their naval service. Preparatory work on HMAS Perth, the irst ship of its class to complete a 17-month anti-ship missile defence (ASMD) upgrade in June 2011, began at the BAE Systems Australia shipyard in Henderson, WA in December 2016. he AMCAP scope of work includes replacement under Project Sea 1448-4B of the Raytheon SPS-49(V)8 ANZ long
range air search radar with a more capable unit developed from the CEAFAR active phased array radar installed on the Anzacs as part of their ASMD upgrade. Sea 1448 Phase 4B will also replace the existing Cossar Mk XII Friend or Foe (IFF) and Secondary Surveillance Radar (SSR) capability with a new, supportable and enhanced IFF and SSR capability that includes Mode 5 and Mode S. Other AMCAP enhancements include replacement of the Exelis ES-301 electronic support measures (ESM) system, upgrades to the LESCUT and AN/SLR-25C torpedo self defence systems and the Nulka active missile decoy capability, installation of Link 22, and provision of a technical insert for the Saab 9LV 453 combat management system that will move its operating system from Windows to Linux. he scope of work also includes improvements to engines, propulsion, lighting, heating and cooling. Informed sources said each reit is expected to take about 12 months per ship. Given
some overlapping, this means the program will be completed around the end of 2022, within about three years of the likely replacement of the irst of the Anzac class with the irst of the nine Future Frigates to be built under Project Sea 5000. A number of the AMCAP upgrades will provide risk mitigation information for Sea 5000. With inal approval for the replacement air search radar yet to be announced, HMAS Perth will not receive this and several other AMCAP modiications during its current docking, and will return at a later date for them to be implemented. Work on HMAS Arunta will begin in September 2017. his is expected to incorporate all the known AMCAP upgrades. Julian Kerr is also correspondent for Jane's Defence Weekly where this article first appeared.
SM-6 cleared for international sale RAYTHEON’S Standard Missile 6 (SM-6) has been cleared by the Pentagon for international sales and Australia is likely to be one of the irst customers. SM-6, which has been earmarked for the RAN's Air Warfare Destroyers (AWDs) soon to be in service, is currently in limited initial production. It is a key weapon in the both the US Navy’s emerging distributed lethality concept and the service’s Naval Integrated Fire Control Counter-Air (NIFCCA) for its ability to strike air, surface and limited ballistic missile targets. Of the ive international Aegis combat system operators, three are in the process to have the upgraded combat system to ield the SM-6 – Australia, Japan and South Korea. 10 | February 2017 | www.australiandefence.com.au
he AWDs will be equipped with Aegis Baseline 9 which will incorporate modiications from earliuer versions allowing targeting information from a third party to interdict air and sea warfare threats using the SM-6. It is unclear at this stage if the three potential buyers will be permitted to use all three modes of the missile – anti-air warfare, anti-surface and a limited ballistic missile defense capability. “While the missiles will all have the inherent capability for all three missions, the US Government will determine which of those features will be activated for international sales,” Raytheon's had Smith said.
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NEWS REVIEW INDUSTRY UPDATE
Civmec’s big plans for expanded Henderson facility PATRICK DURRANT | SYDNEY WA based engineering services company Civmec will lease an additional seven hectares adjoining its Henderson facility and plans to commence building a massive shipbuilding hall on the site in the second quarter of this year. A neighbour to long time Henderson locals and future shipbuilding rivals Austal and BAE Systems, Civmec, via its recently acquired subsidiary Forgacs Marine and De-
fence, will now have further space to carry out construction, repair and maintenance of ships and submarines, including those under Civmec general manager Defence and former submariner Mike Deeks told ADM the company’s plans would represent a major capability that would change the face of shipbuilding in WA and potentially in Australia. “he planned hall will be about 60 metres high or 20 storeys – you would be able to house all twelve of the Ofshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs) in there under the one roof,” he said.
he hall will have three bays separated by multi-story partitions, each about 12 metres wide, that will house workshops, store rooms, project planning rooms, oice spaces and amenities etc. “All the facilities needed to carry out work on the ships contained within will be located within these partitions – workers will be able to walk straight of the module or vessel being built straight into those supporting workspaces – it will deliver a new level of productivity to shipbuilding.” Deeks said the company was well recognised for its productivity and innovation providing engineering services for the ofshore and resources sector, and would now apply this expertise in the Defence and shipbuilding sector. Acording to Deeks the plans represented a multi-decade, multi-generational commitment to grow a new capability with the focus not simply on the numerous naval shipbuilding programs in forthcoming years, but on domestic commercial maritime builds as well as potential export opportunities. “Having said that, I believe we are competitive in the OPV space, working with designers and/or other Australian builders,” he said. Civmec would also be growing its workforce as a result of the development and Deeks envisaged 1,000 workers being utilised in the new facility alone, of which 100 would be apprentices.
H.I. Fraser celebrates sub milestone HYDRAULICS engineering irm H.I. Fraser has marked a signiicant milestone by completing its millionth itting for the Collins class submarines. On January 24 the company's facility in Sydney was visited by Minister for Defence Industry Christopher Pyne, who was presented with the millionth coupling H.I.Fraser has manufactured for the Collins Class Submarine Project. H.I. Fraser general manager (East Australia) Chris Williams spoke with Minister Pyne about the company's involvement in a range of programs including AWDs, LHDs, F-35s, and Land 400, and highlighted the great value of the company's long-standing partnerships with both customers and its suppliers. Minister Pyne said for 30 years, the parts 12 | February 2017 | www.australiandefence.com.au
made by H.I.Fraser have been critical to ensuring Australia’s submarines are able to perform their important role in maritime operations. “H.I. Fraser’s partnership with the Collins program has helped build the skills and experience for them to seize opportunities in other Defence capability programs such as the Air Warfare Destroyer and Landing Helicopter Dock.” Local MP Jason Falinski said the company was yet another example of high end manufacturing that proves global competitiveness and being locally based are not mutually exclusive. “I look forward to working with H.I. Fraser to lend my support so they can continue to maximise the opportunities for skilled employment in our area.”
Minister signs the 1,000,000th coupling manufactured by H.I.Fraser for Collins Class
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NEWS REVIEW INDUSTRY UPDATE
Rheinmetall proposes military vehicle vision for Australasia PATRICK DURRANT | SYDNEY IN December Rheinmetall Defence Australia announced a proposal for the establishment of a national infrastructure asset for military vehicles in Australia, to underpin a 50-year strategic relationship between the Commonwealth, the Australian Army and defence industry. he largest supplier of ADF military vehicles will establish a centre of excellence (MILVEHCOE) which will launch a program of continuous design, build and support for up to 10,000 military vehicles in Australia and the Asia-Paciic region. he high quality, low risk facility would draw in a network of suppliers across Australia to deliver products and services to Australia’s growing leet of military vehicles
and open the way for these companies to supply Rheinmetall military vehicle programs around the world through the company’s Global Supply Chain. Under the proposal, Rheinmetall would establish a regional headquarters for diverse military technology in Australia and transfer critical technologies and skills in military vehicle design, medium calibre weapons and ammunition, ire control systems, passive and active defence systems, electro-optic and surveillance systems, simulation and training systems, systems engineering and integration and advanced manufacturing. he proposal has been shared with more than 400 Australian companies in every corner of the nation. Fletcher said the MILVEHCOE would create more than 250 long term jobs well beyond the life of Land 400 Phase 2 ac-
quisition phase and establish and foster an enduring, vibrant industrial network for military vehicles, simulation, weapons and munitions. “Rheinmetall is committed to transferring military vehicles technologies and skills to Australia,” Fletcher said. “he company will also create industrial innovation hubs to enrich the economy and adjacent industries and enable Rheinmetall to mentor Australian companies to compete and export globally.” he company has already established an Australian industry network around its Boxer Combat Reconnaissance Vehicle (CRV) and Global Supply Chain programs that include a number of companies including Cablex, which was recently approved to supply electro-mechanical components, cables and harnesses for Lithuania’s Boxer program.
‘The Steel Cat’ loats again THE Air Warfare Destroyer (AWD) program reached a signiicant milestone in Adelaide in December as the second of three destroyers was formally named and launched into Australian waters for the irst time. Minister Tehan represented the Government as Brisbane was oicially named and launched. Her predecessor, the guided missile destroyer HMAS Brisbane, was fondly known in the leet as ‘the Steel Cat’, a nickk name that alluded to the leopard that tops the crest of the City of Brisbane and which also appears on the ship’s crest. “Australia is undertaking an unprecedented upgrade of its naval capabilities, and the additional of the Brisbanee to our 14 | February 2017 | www.australiandefence.com.au
leet will help ensure our ongoing national security,” Minister Tehan said. Minister Pyne said many companies came together to get the second AWD in the water. “I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the shipbuilder ASC, mission systems integrator Raytheon Australia, ship build manager Navantia and the Government’s representative, Defence, on this momentous occasion. Over the coming months, outitting of Brisbane will continue, as will the loading of combat system equipment. Ship 01, Hobart, will sail into waters of the coast of South Australia on sea trials early next year to undertake testing of
combat and communications systems and further platform system testing. ADM understands she will be joined by the Spanish Armada’s AWD of matching design, Cristóbal Colón during the trials. he third destroyer will now move forward into its inal position in the shipyard where it will inish being consolidated into a full ship.
NEWS REVIEW INDUSTRY UPDATE
Flinders Uni partners to boost shipbuilding LEFT: Representatives of Flinders University, ENSTA ParisTech, École Centrale de Nantes, CentraleSupélec and École Polytechnique and South Australia’s Minister for Higher Education and Skills, the Hon. Dr. Susan Close and the Deputy Chief Executive of DCNS and General Manager of Australia’s Future Submarine Program, Marie-Pierre de Bailliencourt at the MoU signing ceremeony held at DCNS Headquarters in Paris on 17 January. BELOW: Australia’s Ambassador to Italy Dr Greg French, left, Flinders Professor Saint, the University of Genoa’s Professor Trucco, and Fincantieri’s Vice President Sales Sabrina Sanguineti at the MoU signing in Genoa on 18 January.
SA'S Flinders University has signed a number of agreements with current and prospective shipbuilders as well as international academic institutions to cooperate in research and development with a focus on naval architecture and shipbuilding. Late last year the university signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Future Frigate program (Sea 5000) contender Fincantieri to collaborate on R&D and a supporting agreement has just been signed with the University of Genoa (UNIGE) in Italy. Fincantieri is currently hosting two Flinders Business School students on internships in Europe as part of the earlier agreement. Flinders’ Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research), Professor Robert Saint said the University of Genoa MoU includes opportunities for staf and student exchanges, research collaboration and the sharing of experience in using high-tech equipment. “his agreement with he University of Genoa, just weeks ater our MoU with one of the world’s biggest ship builders, Fincantieri, shows Flinders University’s ability to play a major role in Australia’s Future Frigate Program is internationally recognised,” he said. “Flinders’ vision is for our world-class researchers to be at the heart of Australia’s biggest defence projects, at the heart of Australia’s economic transformation.” University of Genoa Vice Rector Professor Trucco said the agreement further strengthens the multiple research 16 | February 2017 | www.australiandefence.com.au
relationships between UNIGE, Flinders and Fincantieri. “Our University has a proud history of productively working with Fincantieri and with all the Italian shipbuilding and maritime industry since decades,” he said. “he establishment of this agreement with Flinders University will foster an exchange of knowledge between Australia and Italy in relation to ongoing and future projects in the maritime and shipbuilding ield, and harness some of the world’s best research minds in the quest for technological innovation in the vital defence sector.” Flinders University has also signed an academic and research cooperation agreement relating to Australia's Future Submarine Program.
he agreement between Flinders and a consortium comprised of ENSTA ParisTech, École Centrale de Nantes, CentraleSupélec and École Polytechnique will foster joint research projects, student and staf exchanges, and a new wave of Australian-French innovation and entrepreneurial projects related to the Future Submarine Program to be centred in Adelaide. Alain Guillou, DCNS Executive vicepresident of Human Resources and Operations welcomed the agreement. “Innovation is at the heart of DCNS’s Future Submarine Program plans,” he said. “We would like to congratulate Flinders University and the French Institutions on this exciting development which ties communities for the long term.”
AIR PLAN JERICHO
Plan
Jericho two years on KATHERINE ZIESING | CANBERRA
Then Chief of Air Force Air Marshal Geoff Brown released Plan Jericho two years ago at the last Avalon Air Show. ADM has a look at the transformation plan now to see what the program has achieved. IN essence, the Plan Jericho vision is to develop a future force that is agile and adaptive, fully immersed in the information age and truly joint; the RAAF of the future is dependant on complex platforms operating in a multi-faceted joint and networked battlespace. To support this vision, Plan Jericho is broken down into 16 streams of work (see box for more on the streams and their achievements) that are being pursued under the three guiding principles of: 1. Top-down Design Meets Bottom-up Innovation. 2 Strategy-Led: A Compass not a Map. 3. Combat Mission Focused. Each work stream has its own goals, budget and management and is headed by a RAAF one star. Afectionately known as one of the Jericho 18 | February 2017 | www.australiandefence.com.au
twins, Group Captain Jake Campbell (now Air Commodore on his next posting at the time of publication), conirmed that the work streams are part of a living document that underpins Plan Jericho, as new streams can be added as neededwhileothersareremovedoncecomplete. “his is the top down part of the approach,” GPCAPT Campbell said. “But we’ve encouraged all parts of Air Force to look at what they do and how they do it as Jericho can provide a way to evolve and make changes.” And Air Force has indeed been responsive to the call out. Group Captain Pete Mitchell, the other Jericho director, told ADM that over 40 of the programs that Jericho has underway have come out of this approach. “hese activities are separate to the Jericho Dawn activities, which are more formal demonstrations of achievements within
Jericho or demonstration of Jericho-centric concepts,” GPCAPT Mitchell said. here have been a number of Jericho Dawn activities, with two recent events demonstrating ISR integration (see ADM’s previous coverage of this in XX) and more recently using Microsot's Hololens augmented reality product to explore options to enhance command and control concepts or advanced operational planning. he Jericho program of work saw RAAF spend $15.497 million 15/16 FY.
Innovation Despite the buzzword nature of innovation in Defence and the wider government environment, the Plan Jericho team is walking the talk. Partnering with University of Technology Sydney (UTS) Design Innovation Re-
An A27 Hawk 127 operated by No 76 Squadron participates in a training activity over Lake George, ACT. ADS-B on Hawk has been a pilot program for Plan Jericho
search Centre (DIRC) and industry, many Jericho programs are working diferently within existing structures. A key development has been the application of Design Led Innovation (DLI) to appropriate programs. Design Led Innovation is one of DIRC’s methodologies that builds capability through tried and tested, design-oriented practices applied to real world problems. he methodology has previously been applied and reined across multiple sectors including food and agribusiness, automotive, advanced manufacturing and renewable energy. In June 2016, nominated personnel from DIRC, Plan Jericho and major industry primes, medium and small enterprises attended a four-day scrum (workshop) with approximately 70 per cent of participants travelling internationally or interstate to visit UTS. he
“ Our future development is a disruptive spiral thanks to dealing with transient advantage in a complex operational environment.” aim was to delve into a speciic, urgent and challenging Air Force problem, and move it fast from ideation to implementation. he goal was to challenge assumptions and reframe requirements relating to ADS-B (Automatic Dependent Surveillance – Broadcast); a capability that will upgrade the Hawk 127 Lead-in Fighter training aircrat to meet CASA safety and technical regulation requirements. his program was already late, with parts of the
RAAF admitting that they had dropped the ball to meet the new civil regulation. Usually, Air Force would develop its requirements in isolation, and then release these to industry for their response. Industry would approach this problem by launching into ‘solution mode’ and preparing a pitch for tender, arguably without a deep understanding of the problem or the end-user context. Indeed, when industry was informally approached about the issue, www.australiandefence.com.au | February 2017 | 19
AIR PLAN JERICHO
LOCKHEED MARTIN
A US Air Force F-35A Joint Strike Fighter lies in formation with a Royal Australian Air Force KC-30A Multi-Role Tanker Transport during boom refuelling trials in the US. The F-35A is equipped with symmetrical external stores for this trial.
the costs involved were prohibitive at irst glance under regular frameworks. In this scrum, participants were provided with the opportunity to meet with all the stakeholders, including the end user (pilot), the platform chief engineer and CASA. “Part of the problems we’ve had in the past is that we’ve made assumptions – asked the wrong questions, and got the wrong answers,” GPCAPT Campbell said. Over the four days, participants were divided into mixed groups that united various areas of industry with Defence personnel to collaborate through a series of DIRC facilitated DLI tools that encouraged participants to explore unchartered territory by trying to understand the problem from multiple stakeholder perspectives. “Industry understands the issue as much as we do and the DLI approach gives us a valuable forum to explore the art of the possible,” explained Wing Commander Jerome Reid, who is leading the Jericho acquisition and industry engagement eforts. Industry could see the potential opportunities and were prepared to engage, although there were some initial hesitations and reservations about the process and the ability to change the acquisition paradigm. Old habits are hard to break. Most industry participants had a technical or engineering background and entered with preconceived notions of the scrum process being technically driven. Air Force moved fast, and within three days of the scrum being concluded, a Request 20 | February 2017 | www.australiandefence.com.au
we’re not so good at. It involves a whole bunch of risk and it involves validity rather than reliability. Our future development is a disruptive spiral thanks to dealing with transient advantage in a complex operational environment.” he Jericho team is looking at which IIP programs are suitable for a sprint methodology, which will be included under the CASG Smart Buyer process. “Going through the Smart Buyer process, it will become apparent as to whether or not the sprint approach is appropriate for any given program as an acquisition strategy,” GPCAPT Mitchell said, acknowledging the diferent risks and players of any given program. “Whenever you are ater a disruptive technology and the need is urgent, that is
“The Jericho program of work saw RAAF spend $15.497 million 15/16 FY.”
for Tender was posted on AusTender. Industry was asked to submit their proposed solutions utilising this new DLI perspective. he next step was to down select and invite the most suitable candidates to take up the opportunity to undertake co-funded prototyping. his approach to capability acquisition has had profound beneits to both industry and Defence. he program has now been formally approved, and the RAAF and BAE Systems are now forging ahead with four down selected companies, sub-contracted to BAE Systems for the prototype phase. Details of the four companies had not been announced at the time of publication. “We took the program to this point in three months,” WGCDR Reid said, also noting that the program would have taken the better part of two years under existing arrangements. he DLI approach is a fast paced framework that is not suitable for all programs but applied correctly can have huge beneits for all parties. “he sprint methodology seen with ADSB is based on a large body of research that we’ve been conducting,” WGCDR Reid told ADM. “hat research included talking to industry, looking at best practice, and engaging with academia. hanks to this work, we realised that there are two types of innovation that Air Force undertook. One was sustained innovation or incremental change; we were very good at that as it increased reliability. “hen there is disruptive innovation, which
where the sprint methodology comes into its own,” WGCDR Reid concluded.
Industry feedback Industry has been enthusiastic about the Plan Jericho partnering approach thus far. Companies working on Jericho related programs include: • Northrop Grumman, which worked on a Jericho Dawn demonstration with their airborne gateway technology, Battleield Airborne Communications Node (BACN). • L3, Honeywell, Northrop Grumman, Boeing, Inmarsat and ViaSat on the AirView 360 system to provide wireless connectivity in the back of AMG aircrat. • Rockwell Collins for testing wideband High Frequency IP as a low capacity beyond line of sight communications bearer. • Insitu Paciic and AOS Group for a trial of small UAVs and intelligent sotware agents to autonomously respond to ground based intrusions. • Lockheed Martin to explore force level integration through Open System Architecture. • Daronmont to identify the Digitised Air Base architecture prior to engaging industry via technology identiication/demonstration. • DST Group and SAAB Australia explored Augmented Reality for future advanced Command and Control applications
AIR PLAN JERICHO
PLAN JERICHO STREAM ACHIEVEMENTS TO DATE PROJECT 1. Enhance Air-Land Integration • Acquisition of 4SQN equipment including JTAC Part Task Trainer, JTAC Fielding and Training System and Digital Aided Close Air Support (DACAS) system • C-17 enhanced communications for embarked forces incorporating wi-i, SATCOM and AirView 360. • C-130J Beyond Line of Sight (BLOS) communications capability
PROJECT 2. Enhance Air Force’s Maritime Operations Capability • FMV demonstration ISO Fleet Maritime Operations (Nov15 FCP-E) – Secure comms - COMPLETED • AP-3C Static Aircraft - WBHF Trial to support Open System Architecture development trials, COMPLETED • CIB/IBS trial completed on GW163. Trial splitter to enable concurrent use of SATCOM data and CIB/IBS. Testing Complete. Acquisition to facilitate leet wide incorporation.
PROJECT 3. Establish an Air Warfare Centre • Air Warfare Centre achieved Initial Operating Capability (IOC) in January 2016 including establishment of Integrated Mission Support (IMS), Tactics & Training and distributed Test and Evaluation (including OT&E) Flights (TEF).
• Established AWC 'Innovation Hub' currently engaged in facilitating IPTs and developing innovation toolkit for application against IPT/RFA's. • Established internal Defence relationships to coordinate Amphib/ Maritime integrated activities in partnership with RAAF.
PROJECT 4. Enhance Air Force’s Command, Control, Computer and Communications Capability • Established a Capability System Management Committee for Communications and Information Systems (CIS) at the HQAC level with FEG representation • Commenced capturing C4 issues across Air Force so they can be prioritised and remediated • Funded the Jericho Innovation Team within Command Intelligence Systems Support Organisation (CISSO) to provide additional capacity to improve Air Force’s C2 capability
PROJECT 5. Optimise Air Force Contribution and Access to the Common Operating Picture • Delivery of XMPP Chat Capability – E-7 BLOS Chat Capability. • Tactical Display Format (TDF) Portal is web-based software application supporting the Vigilare and MROC GUIs (graphical user interface) allowing for the Vigilare RAP to be made available to users based on their IP
address via DSN infrastructure. • 37 SQN L-16 Joint Range Extension (JRE) Support.
PROJECT 6. Grow the Air Force Capacity to Support the Joint Cyber Capability • Preliminary implementation program includes the development and approval of the detailed Cyber CRP Implementation Plan (CIP). • 462SQN attended Ex CYBER GUARD 16 (CG16) in Suffolk, VA in June 2016.
PROJECT 7. Develop an Integrated Fire Control Capability • Integrated Fire Control concept brief developed jointly with Navy and presented to the Joint Warfare Council in November 15. • Responsibility for IFC within Air Force transferred from ACG to AWC in January 2016.
PROJECT 8. Enhance Air Force’s Air Base Warighting Capability • Digitised Movements. Engaged RPDE to identify possible options for the ADF requirements for an integrated and automated air movement solution and what options or combination of options could meet those requirements by November 2017. Following engagement with service stakeholders and industry RPDE identiied a COTS Departure
JSF
A RAAF F-35A lies in formation with a US Air Force F-35 and F-16 during trial lights from Luke Air Force Base in Phoenix, Arizona.
22 | February 2017 | www.australiandefence.com.au
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PLAN JERICHO STREAM ACHIEVEMENTS TO DATE Control System that could meet the CSG digitisation requirements. • CSC2 System. Finalised Capability Reporting Information System (CRIS) development with DPRA and now liaising with CIO to install tool on DSN. • Digitised Air Base Architecture. Contracted Daronmont to identify the Digitised Air Base architecture prior to engaging industry via technology identiication/demonstration in April 17.
PROJECT 9. Implement an Air Force Collective Training Plan • Commenced body of work to matrix AF core roles/missions against Defence Response Options by platform, with the view to identify supported/supporting relationships across FEGs for each DRO, and capture this data within REACH, the RAAF Exercise and Activity Collaboration Hub.
PROJECT 10. Enhance Air Force’s Live, Virtual and Constructive (LVC) and Ranges Capability • C-130J participation in Coalition Virtual Flag as a proof of concept in the distributed training environment. • Virtual Wedgetail (E-7A) participation in Fleet Synthetic Training - Joint, a Coalition exercise that provided a raise train and sustain activity for 2SQN but also in support of the RAN. The exercise enabled the Virtual Wedgetail (and full crew) to participate in high end air surveillance tasking in support of USS Ronald Reagan's WUP to be certiied as operationally ready.
PROJECT 11. Integrate Logistics into the Battlespace • Fleet Management (Production Planning and Control) - Worklow ICT Demonstration - Intelledox Ininiti (note: Intelledox Ininiti was developed to address the market requirement for software speciically designed to assist with the construction of repetitive documents. Intelledox allows non-technical users to implement common Microsoft Word skills, to create reusable document components in a central repository, without the requirement
24 | February 2017 | www.australiandefence.com.au
of macros or coding. Intelledox Pty Ltd is an Australian company headquartered in Canberra)
PROJECT 12. Develop Capacity to Manage Air Force Security • The implementation plan for Task 12 has not been signed by DCAF/ACUST at this time, latest version is with DGMOD at this time expectation is that it will be staffed to DCAF/ACAUST for signature before end August 16. • Actions currently underway IAW implementation plan: • Restructure of DSEC-AF has been achieved through the AFHQ AFOD and the EVR for DSEC-AF has been submitted to DGMOD. • Development of the statement of capability intent for Security is underway and peer review feedback in currently being incorporated, on track for completion by mid 2017.
mented across Air Force. The PPS provides improved coaching and mentoring mechanisms, more clearly links reported performance dimensions with Air Force values, provides reliable information to support promotion, selection and other personnel decision making within Air Force, and automates much of the reporting system, thereby providing eficiencies for members, assessors, and processors within Air Force. • The Talent Management Framework has now been implemented for WGCDRs and WOFFs, and will
“Digitised Air Base Architecture. Contracted Daronmont to identify the Digitised Air Base architecture.”
PROJECT 13. Develop Air Force’s Strategy-Driven Operating Model • At the July 16 Chief of Air Force Advisory Committee (CAFAC), the updated operating model was accepted by CAF with implementation of the model to occur in line with development of the FY17/18 Air Force Business Plan. • Further reinement of some of the detail regarding documents supporting the Operating Model will occur during the coming months, together with communication regarding how the model will work.
PROJECT 14. Establish an Air Force Integrated Capability-Management Process • Intention to close Jericho 14 initiative as it will be subsumed under Capability Life Cycle (CLC) project.
PROJECT 15. Implement the Workforce Management Strategy • Personnel Performance System (PPS). Project Suakin and New Horizon, the PPS has now been imple-
be rolled out for SQNLDRs in 2017. The Talent Management Framework draws on a range of information sources to assist to identify and invest in high value and high potential people in Air Force. Elements include use of the Talent Management Framework to provide better information to individuals on their potential in the organisation, an Executive Coaching trial for women identiied through the talent management framework, and use of the Talent Management Framework to better inform selection of individuals for roles. The net effect of the introduction of the Talent Management Framework has been superior succession planning, thereby assisting Air Force to better identify and develop talent to support fifth generation personnel requirements.
PROJECT 16. Modernise Air Force’s Education and Training System This project was included in the revised Jericho Program of Work in October 2016 and is headed up by Commander Air Force Training Group to ensure all the new and ongoing training and professional education requirements of a 5th Generation Air Force.
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AMG embraces Plan Jericho AIR Mobility Group has been quick to embrace the Jericho Vision and the entire operational leet is the beneiciary of increased capabilities – including satellitebased communications systems, data links and displays to provide connectivity and to enhance the situational awareness of crew and passengers, to planned upgrades which will enable the KC-30A to become a C2 node over the battleield. Training initiatives are realising eiciencies by inding smarter ways to do things, and the delivery of new platforms continues; two more C-27Js arrived late last year and the entire leet will have been delivered by early 2018. he irst of two additional KC-30As will also arrive this year.
Jericho initiatives Commander of AMG Air Commodore Richard Lennon says the enhancements are not an ad-hoc series of upgrades, but rather a carefully thought out process, designed to enhance situational awareness and increase operational efectiveness. “here is an extensive capability development happening in the air mobility leet. Our intent is to it the leet with a common network system, so the users on board can maintain connectivity with their plan26 | February 2017 | www.australiandefence.com.au
NIGEL PITTAWAY | MELBOURNE
Arguably the most visible effects of Plan Jericho to date are the incremental enhancements being rolled out through the RAAF’s Air Mobility Group (AMG) leet. ning and communications systems,” he explained to ADM. “From that perspective we’re installing Line-Of-Sight and satellite-based communications systems that have IP interfaces, so you can connect to an of-board communications network using your laptop or tablet and continue to plan the mission you’re proceeding on.” A recent practical demonstration of this capability was an Aeromedical Evacuation exercise aboard a C-17A, where the AME team were able to consult with specialists back on the ground via video link. Another initiative has been the integration of Link 16 Tactical Data Link (TDL) on the C-130J for both pilots and loadmas-
ters, which provides unprecedented levels of situational awareness in a combat area. “hat’s a fantastic capability and it really enhances the survivability of the aircrat. It also provides Army, or the passengers in the cargo compartment, with continued communications with their planning authorities so, when they get of the back of the aircrat they have the best information available and haven’t experienced the traditional ‘black out’ of two or three hours while they’ve been airborne,” AIRCDRE Lennon said. “We’re doing similar work on the C17A so, as we trial and prove the capabilities on the C-130J, we roll them onto the Globemaster. We’ve just trialled Link 16 Beyond Line Of Sight (BLOS) capability and following that success we’ll now take it into trials, to develop tactics and work with Army to enhance the C-17A’s capabilities in the tactical role.”
C-17A role expansion The broadening of the Globemaster’s role into the tactical environment is not the only initiative within AMG, and the second season of flights in support of the Australian Antarctic Division began in late 2016.
DEFENCE
Air-to-air refuelling trials between the KC-30A Multi-Role Tanker Transport and United States Air Force B-1B Lancer.
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Up to six lights are planned during the summer season and already this has included the air drop of fuel and supplies to expeditionary parties out in the ield. “In the past they’ve had to establish caches using helicopters, to allow their research teams to endure out there for a period of time. With the C-17A we can ly down there and airdrop a bunch of caches at different locations in a morning and ly back to Hobart,” AIRCDRE Lennon explained.
DEFENCE
RAAF loadmaster students Sergeant Keely McDonald (left) and Sergeant Karl Penny on board a C-130J Hercules transport aircraft during a training light doing a load drop near RAAF Base Richmond.
and upgrading of the current L-band SATCOM system with the Viasat Ku-Band Fixed Installation Satellite Antenna terminal, to enable transfer of larger amounts of data, such as high-deinition video, to and from the aircrat.
Labours of Hercules In addition to the networking enhancements delivered by SATCOM and Link 16, the C-130J has also undergone signiicant role expansion, including the development of a Forward Arming and Refuelling Point (FARP) capability, in support of Army helicopter deployments across Australia. he Hercules leet is being itted with external fuel tanks to allow additional fuel to be carried and allow helicopters to be refuelled on the ground, directly from the aircrat in austere locations. his is now a mature capability and eliminates dependency on airields which have fuel supplies available, allowing faster transcontinental deployment of Army Aviation assets. he Hercules remains the backbone of AMG’s tactical airlit capability, currently enjoying a stabilised rate of efort of around 7,350 hours per year and is set to remain in
“The Hercules leet is being itted with external fuel tanks to allow additional fuel to be carried and allow helicopter refuelling on the ground.” “And that’s just a game-changer in terms of saving time which, in a short summer period, can be quite signiicant to the research teams, allowing them to get out into the ield weeks earlier than was possible previously, stay out in the ield longer, and conduct more research as a result.” Further enhancements will include a wireless intercom system in the cargo bay 28 | February 2017 | www.australiandefence.com.au
service until 2030, when it will either be upgraded or replaced by a new aircrat type. “I think there is a role for a C-130-sized aircrat in the future and I think we’ll be looking largely for a straight replacement in that class of aircrat,” AIRCDRE Lennon says. “Personally I don’t have a preference whether it would be a propeller or a jet aircrat, the C-17 has certainly shown that a jet-powered aircrat can operate into tactical airields successfully.”
Spartan in service he C-27J achieved Initial Operational Capability (IOC) on December 16 last year and four are now in service with 35 Squadron at RAAF Richmond. A further two aircrat are supporting training in the US and all 10 are expected to be established at Richmond by early next year. AIRCDRE Lennon is keen to point out that the Spartan should be regarded as a ixedwing Chinook, rather than a ‘baby Hercules’. “Its cargo compartment is slightly larger than a Chinook and the environment it will be operating in will be the same environment as Army Aviation, it’s a battleield airliter,” he said to ADM. “We’ve established a close relationship between 35 Squadron and 5 Aviation Regiment; the two units stay in close contact with each other and the intention, in terms of establishing that networked
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DEFENCE
AMG
ABOVE: RAAF loadmaster students Sergeant Keely McDonald (left) and Sergeant Karl Penny on board a C-130J Hercules transport aircraft during a training light near RAAF Base Richmond as part of their initial six month course. RIGHT: Two C-130J Hercules aircraft dispence lares over RAAF Base Richmond during an Airborne Operations Training Course.
operation under Jericho, is that we’ll focus the C-27J on Army C2 systems, to establish a seamless interface between operating on a Chinook and operating on a Spartan.” Now entering its third year of operations in the Middle East, the KC-30A and its crews have earned a reputation for reliability and lexibility in the region and it is now widely referred to as the ‘tanker of choice’ amongst the partners in theatre. With the boom refuelling system now fully operational, work is underway to expand the number of receiver aircrat types. Aircrat recently cleared to receive fuel from the aircrat include US and Singapore Air Force F-16s and USAF B-1Bs. Trials with the RAAF’s newly-delivered P-8A Poseidon is also due to begin this year. “Under Jericho we’re looking at what else we can do with the aircrat. In its tanker coniguration it spends a lot of time in the battle area, but it has got a lot of real estate on board and a lot of room on the fuselage for antennas and other sensors,” AIRCDRE Lennon explained. “So we’re looking at a variety of other uses for the aircrat, whether it’s C2, communications relay, or a translation mode for diferent networks – Army’s BMS into the air Link 16 network for example, while it’s loitering in the area.” 30 | February 2017 | www.australiandefence.com.au
DEFENCE
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Sensors for the King Air Air Force’s King Air leet is currently under review and likely to be consolidated within one squadron in the next couple of years, possibly at RAAF East Sale. In the meantime, three aircrat are being itted with an Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition, Reconnaissance and Electronic Warfare (ISTAREW) mission system under Air Force Minor Project 01037 to support Army’s Special Operations Command. he aircrat are modiied with a ‘canoe’ under the fuselage for a communications re-broadcast system, together with an EO/ IR turret under the nose. IOC is planned to occur in the middle of the year and the irst has already undergone a series of light tests from Richmond to verify aircrat performance with the external changes. “AMG is in a great place at the moment; we’ve got great people and Plan Jericho has
really spurred the imagination of a lot of our people; we’re going through internal restructures to transform ourselves into a 5th generation Air Force and the men and women of AMG are looking at better and smarter ways of doing business all the time,” AIRCDRE Lennon concluded. “And we are blessed with what I think is the most modern and potent air mobility leet in the world. We have some of the best aircrat available and we’re putting some good equipment on board under Plan Jericho. We’re encouraging our people to think outside the square and think innovatively and when you put all of that together, whether we’re operating in support of the government, in coalition, or whether we’re operating out on our own, doing humanitarian assistance or combat operations in the Middle East, the guys and girls are earning a great reputation as world-class operators.”
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With the irst Australian F-35As due to arrive in December 2018, work is continuing apace to prepare facilities and systems for the ifth generation ighters. ADM spoke with some key people, including JSF Division head AVM Leigh Gordon, for an update on progress.
groundwork for the F-35 IN May 2015 the irst sod was turned on the $1.5 billion New Air Combat Capability (NACC) facility works at RAAF Base Williamtown. Under the project, the largest public works activity undertaken since WWII, both RAAF Bases Williamtown and Tindal will be transformed as they are readied for the arrival of the irst F-35As. he works at Williamtown, home to the irst two squadrons to operate the F-35 (Nos. 3 and 77), will account for about $1 billion of the total. he new facilities will include an F-35 training complex for No. 2 Operational Conversion Unit (OCU), a combined 3 and 77 Squadron headquarters facility and hangars, of-aircrat component maintenance facility, of-board information systems centre (OBISC) to manage sotware updates and equipment preparation, new parking aprons, a deeper level maintenance facility and a centre for testing and painting 32 | February 2017 | www.australiandefence.com.au
the aircrat’s surface inish to maintain its low radar observability. “Recently, I was lucky enough to go and stand atop the No.2 OCU building and look out across the expanse of the F-35 facility and it is quite amazing,” AVM Gordon told ADM. He explained that the building is at an advanced stage of construction, with those for the squadrons also rapidly taking shape. Explosive ordnance storage facilities have already been moved and the work on the runway extension is close to completion. “hey’ve done a lot of preparatory work for the aircrat hardstands, you can now see where it’s laid out and where they’ll be building up the surface and putting the paving down,” he said. he work on the runway extensions has been undertaken with the consideration that Williamtown will support two operational and one training squadron, and
AVM Gordon explained this examined operational squadrons lying the F-35 at higher weight and also the fact it occasionally will be operated by pilots during their conversion training, when they will naturally be less experienced with the type. “We really need that length of tarmac to allow pilots to be able to make the right decisions in the event of something happening,” he said. “So there’s a real safety piece to those extensions.” Under normal operating circumstances, he didn’t envisage the aircrat requiring afterburner for take-of. he irst building at a point where it can be occupied is the OBIS Centre. Vital to the efective introduction of the F-35s and future sustainment eforts is the Autonomic Logistic Information System (ALIS); it will be home to the imminent risk mitigation activities that have been planned to test the
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AIR JSF
“he US Air Force declared IOC for its F-35As in August of last year so that’s an example of the schedule contingency we’ve got between the two,” AVM Gordon explained to ADM. Of course he’s keen to see OT&E completed as soon as possible and is reassured by the presence of Australians working at the USAF’s light test centre at Edwards Air Force Base in California as part of the Joint Operational Test team. “I’d like to see it tied up – then we can capture the lessons out of that activity and low them into the follow-on modernisation program.” RAAF Base Tindal, home to 75 Squadron (thelasttobeequippedwiththeF-35)willpass a signiicant milestone in March with a design review setting the basis for the work to occur ater that. As with Williamtown, which is also undergoing a signiicant base redevelopment alongside the NACC work, everything needs to be done with no capability impact.
LOCKHEED MARTIN
Local support arrangements for the F-35 are coming together well.
system and its integration into the Defence information environment. he irst issue of the ALIS standard operating unit has been delivered and Defence IT personnel are preparing to install it in the new building. “In the irst quarter of 2017, we expect to have all of the computer systems installed in that building and we’ll be able to start the process of testing the interchanges and working out how ALIS works in conjunction with our networks, so that will be a pretty important step in the project,” AVM Gordon said. He’s proud of the fact that Australia has speciically taken this step which will contribute towards mitigating risk in the program. “I think there’s a lot of sense behind it and the preliminary work we do now will pay dividends further down the track.”
Program concerns
Regional MRO
In September last year, the Pentagon’s chief weapons tester, Director of Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E) Dr Michael Gilmore sent a memo to the US F-35 Joint Program Oice (JPO) highlighting his concern that the aircrat’s full warighting capability sotware release (Block 3F) would not be ready as scheduled, in turn delaying the aircrat’s readiness for Initial Operational Testing and Evaluation, set for August 2017. Dr Gilmore called for the program to be restructured and for additional resources to deliver the full Block 3F warighting capability. AVM Gordon is not overly concerned by this, citing the diferent timeframes for Australia’s F-35 program (IOC December 2020).
In February 2015, BAE Systems Australia was assigned responsibility for regional Maintenance, Repair, Overhaul and Upgrade (MRO&U) for the F-35 airframes in the Southern Paciic. Similarly, TAE was awarded responsibility for MRO&U for the F-35’s F135 engines from Pratt & Whitney. BAE Systems F-35 campaign lead Andrew Gresham said the company had completed a 50 per cent design solution for its F-35 airframe MRO&U site at Williamtown. In December last year, a design review for the site activation was conducted in conjunction with AVM Gordon’s JSF Division, the JPO and Lockheed Martin Aeronautics. “Early this year we’ll have the facilities infrastructure design to a point where we’ll be
LOCKHEED MARTIN
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34 | February 2017 | www.australiandefence.com.au
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AIR JSF Squadron Leader Andrew Jackson taxiing an F-35A (AU-001) at Luke Air Force Base in Phoneix, Arizona.
“There will be a level of work with which they can be established and then it’s really up to the venues to commercially win more.” intheejectorseat,”Greshamexplained.“We’ll repair the global volumes for those through to 2025, at which point all of the regional repair capability will be stood up for the Paciic region – that’s when all of us will start repairing the 64 of those 65 components.“ From mid-2017 there will be a competitive tender to outsource the regional MRO&U of another 700-odd components in the tier 2 list. Gresham said the company was working closely with the Commonwealth, JPO and other local industry partners to determine how they could best improve their oferings for the additional work. “We’re looking to secure as many of those additional components as we can because that’s the way you can really drive the beneits for industry, the Air Force and regional operators via cost synergies for the additional volumes.”
Australian content AVM Gordon has been encouraged by the success of Australian companies in winning F-35 work to date, especially with regard to the component repairs. He explained that the airframes and engine work had to be a sovereign capability because the Commonwealth didn’t want the aircrat being maintained overseas. 36 | February 2017 | www.australiandefence.com.au
“When Lockheed Martin, Pratt and Whitney and the JPO came out to look at the facilities for assignment, they recognised the strength of the BAE Systems facility and also the TAE facility in that ofering, such that they could efectively be assigned the responsibility for the Southern Paciic region. hey’ve got this view that on airframes and engines Australia could do more work than just the Australian component.” However, for the component assignments, the Commonwealth preferred to support local industry winning the work based on merit. “his is what has occurred, and the assignments mean they are now able to work through the US JPO to develop appropriate contracts with Primes and Original Equipment Manufacturers against the likely scope of work,” AVM Gordon said. “Recognising that we are three to ive years before full tempo F-35 operations will be occur in Australia, it’s really an opportunity for them to be on a journey with industry to ensure that they have the appropriate arrangements in place to support that.” With Japan also supplementing the F-35 MRO&U workload for airframes and engines from 2018 and 2021 respectively (for the Northern Paciic), AVM Gordon said eventually the organisation within the system that can provide the best value outcome to the joint enterprise would get more work. Given the geographical distance separating the two, this is more likely to occur for engine maintenance, where components could be worked on separately and transported more easily.
JSF.MIL
ready to go into sub-contracts for construction stage,” Gresham said to ADM. “hat’s the irst point where it really starts to take shape, there’ll be activity on the BAE Systems site where it starts to transform and look like an F-35 airframe facility.” BAE Systems is aiming to stand up the initial capability for the airframe facility in December 2018, in order to align for the arrival of the irst aircrat. In November last year, the company was one of a group, including Northrop Grumman, GE and RUAG, selected to perform MRO&U on 64 of the irst 65 F-35 components to be assigned for regional work. “Starting in 2021, we will start to support the global volumes for the life support systems which are primarily the oxygen components
“he same model will apply for the other F-35 components. here will be a level of work with which they can be established and then it’s really up to the venues to commercially win more work from the global system,” he said.
Sustainment he JSF Division chief’s biggest priority now is delivering a capability that will prevail throughout its whole of life. “It’s not just about a couple of jets in Australia in 2018; we need to be setting up a system that will operate efectively for the next 35 years. hat means a sustainment system that will support the aircrat, a training system that willaccommodatethecapacity,andaprocessof follow-on modernisation through the international partnership that will enable the aircrat to remain relevant throughout that period.” He cites the division’s work with BAE Systems on a potential RF seeker for the F-35’s Joint Strike Missile as an example of the latter. Another priority includes making sure there is appropriate engagement with the international partnership, industry and Defence to guarantee delivery of a successful capability. “Also taking care to link up the F-35 industry program with the Defence Industry Policy Statement and the reforms that First Assistant Secretary for Defence Industry Policy Kate Louis’ team is bringing forward.” As the clock ticks on the biggest, most transformational program in the Air Force’s history, AVM Gordon relishes the excitement of the job. “here’s so much going on with the program, even a month feels like an eternity in the F-35 world.”
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AIR OPERATIONS
Corporal Stephan Barnes from the Air Task Group Strike Element removes the wheel chocks on an F/A-18A Hornet as it prepares to taxi out for another mission.
JULIAN KERR | SYDNEY
From the time of their arrival in the Middle East in late September 2014 to the end of December 2016, the eight aircraft attached to the Australian Air Task Group (ATG) in the Middle East lew some 3,200 combat missions totalling more than 26,000 light hours.
DEFENCE
RAAF
performing well on Okra THE six RAAF F/A-18F Super Hornets initially deployed as part of Operation Okra and the six F/A-18A ‘classic’ Hornet that replaced them ater six months undertook 2,023 missions and dropped 1,582 GPS or laser-guided JDAM (Joint Direct Attack Munition) bombs; the EA-7 Wedgetail airborne early warning and control aircrat clocked 300 missions; and the KC-30A multi-role tanker oloaded more than 40 million litres of fuel to ATG and coalition aircrat. “Ater two years and four months we’re getting pretty good at this as those statistics indicate and we’re in a position to keep going for as long as the government needs us to,” ATG commander Air Commodore 38 | February 2017 | www.australiandefence.com.au
Philip Gordon told ADM, speaking from Al Udeid air base in Qatar. “We are kept busy dealing with the daily challenges in what is a very complex and dynamic operational environment, staying focussed on the mission and staying abreast of the risks and opportunities. It’s a marathon not a sprint.” he ATG’ s aircrat and most of its 250 personnel are located at undisclosed locations in the Middle East. AIRCDRE Gordon and some specialist staf are embedded with the Combined Air Operations Centre (CAOC) at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, the command and control centre for coalition air power operations against Daesh.
Targeting It’s from here that AIRCDRE Gordon or a Wing Commander ‘Red Card Holder’ colleague reporting to him must provide inal clearance for every bomb dropped by ATG aircrat in Iraq or Syria. “We exercise that authority through two means, one which we call deliberate strikes – we’ve assessed the intelligence, we’ve picked a target and we provide clearance to engage that target on a planned strike that takes place in a subsequent mission,” AIRCDRE Gordon explained. “But the way we conduct most of our strikes is through dynamic engagements; classic air support for the ground forces
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AIR OPERATIONS
he overall targeting process came under scrutiny in late September when coalition air assets, including two RAAF Hornets along with US, UK and Danish aircrat supported by an RAAF Wedgetail, accidentally bombed and killed about 80 Syrian troops near the town of Dayr az Zawr. AIRCDRE Gordon said a third type of strike involved targets identiied in real-time and prosecuted by the CAOC itself. hese were generally well away from friendly forces and were picked up by ISR (Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance) assets “in the enemy’s backyard”. “In the Dayr az Zawr strike, essentially a number of individuals had got the intelligence wrong and the investigation revealed that the CAOC didn’t have the right processes in place to adequately catch the mistakes and the mischaracterisations that were made,” AIRCDRE Gordon said. “here are now more people in that part of the combat operations di-
“ATG aircraft are rotated back to Australia after they have used up nearly all their available hours before needing an overhaul.”
DEFENCE
where we’ll be working with strike cells, basically a collection of Joint Terminal Attack Controllers (JTACs) and other coordination personnel in CAOC who are correlating and vetting the targets, deciding on the priorities, assigning the assets. “We’re in constant communication with them to understand a situation as it’s developing. We’ve got information from the ground and live feeds from the many, many unmanned systems that are hovering over the battlespace at any one time. We can even see what the targeting pods on our Hornets are looking at and what the pilots have got in the cross-hairs. “It’s our job as the target engagement authorities to interrogate all the information available to us and to basically run a sovereign targeting process over that to ensure we are fulilling Australia’s obligations under the laws of armed conlict, we’re meeting our rules of engagement. hen we provide clearance which is relayed to the pilots in the cockpit before they release the weapon.”
40 | February 2017 | www.australiandefence.com.au
vision, there are also stronger operations and intelligence linkages, basically a refocusing and a strengthening of the intelligence feed into decision makers relating to that speciic situation.”
CAOC in action With hundreds of aircrat at its disposal, the central role of the CAOC was to apportion assets to cover requirements over what was a very large battlespace, directing and then managing the execution of air operations as requirements and situations changed. A daily Air Tasking Order (ATO) designated which aircrat from which bases were lying at what time, their target area, air-toair refuelling arrangements, the patrol agencies with which they’d communicate, the ordnance to be carried, and the mission itself. Difering sovereign rules of engagement were taken into account – for example, some countries might want to ly in Iraq but not Syria, and vice versa. Others might have speciic targeting restrictions. Australian tasking takes into account the announcement on 1 September last year that Canberra had authorised broader targeting by the ATG of Daesh forces, including their logistics and support organisations.
A pair of F/A-18A Hornets from Air Task Group 630 Strike Element lying in the Middle East Region during an Operation Okra mission.
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AIR OPERATIONS
“The ATG’s aircraft and most of its 250 personnel are located at undisclosed locations in the Middle East.” However, AIRCDRE Gordon stressed that there was no linkage between this and the Dayr az Zawr incident. With strikes by ATG aircrat generally combined within a six to eight hour period, he and his colleague managed their shits to align with when Australian aircrat were scheduled to ly. Deployments by ATG personnel, nearly all of them volunteers, varied between four months and nine months depending on their role and their lexibility, but the great majority were in-theatre for four to six months. Pilots were typically away from Australia for just under ive months. Handling the heat required detailed strategies. “It’s quite pleasant in January, only about 30 degrees or so during the day, but in July it’s up to 50 degrees or more, 30-40 per cent humidity, and it’s brutal. “We’ve got our maintainers wearing ice vests to keep their core temperature down and we limit the time they can be out working on the aircrat before sending someone else out to continue with the job," AIRCDRE Gordon explained to ADM. 42 | February 2017 | www.australiandefence.com.au
“Likewise with the pilots. Go out, prelight the aircrat, prelight the bombs and you’re almost spent by the time you’ve done that. Have a cold drink, put on all the combat gear, climb up the ladder into the cockpit and try and get the aircrat started and away before it overheats.”
Maintenance Maintenance in the forthcoming summer heat will be facilitated by the recent completion of a 4,000 square foot tented hangar capable of accommodating a Hornet, and beneitting from 10 large air conditioners. Routine maintenance and a little in-depth servicing is handled in-theatre by Air Force. Deeper maintenance is conducted in Australia “but if something major breaks, we ix it”. ATG aircrat are rotated back to Australia ater they have used up nearly all their available hours before needing an overhaul. AIRCDRE Gordon praised RAAF engineers and maintainers for working out in the leadup to Operation Okra how to eventually double the hours required before a major servicing based on the type of lying undertaken and some preventative maintenance done before the aircrat let Australia. “hat means we can bring Hornets over
DEFENCE
Leading Aircraftman Joshua Greiter from the ATG Strike Element monitors the start up of an F/A-18A Hornet at Australia's main operating air base in the Middle East Region.
here and leave them in theatre for about eight months. Every three months we’ll bring two fresh jets in and take two tired jets out, and we’re managing the leet very carefully to get the most out of them before they need that deeper maintenance,” he said. Rotating the Wedgetail and the KC-30A about every four to six months was a simpler process, since neither aircrat needed air-toair refuelling to reach their destination. Logistic support for the ATG is provided by Operation Accordion, which also supports Operation HighRoad, the ADF’s training mission in Afghanistan, and Operation Manitou, Australia’s contribution to maritime security in the Middle East Region. “We buy locally where it makes sense – fuel, bottled water and food don’t come from Australia but the bombs, the spare parts, specialist equipment, that all comes from Australia; we’re not beholden to anyone else for these,” noted AIRCDRE Gordon. A chartered sustainment light lies in and out of Australia’s main logistics base once a week servicing the constant changeover of ADF personnel involved in the Middle East theatre, and carrying cargo. Additionally, two or three RAAF C-17 strategic airliters ly in two or three times a month with bombs and specialist equipment.
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AIR INDUSTRY
Northrop Grumman
expands local footprint IN addition to its headline MQ-4C Triton long endurance maritime UAS, which is to be acquired under Project Air 7000 Phase 1B, Northrop Grumman Australia sees near-term opportunities in programs such as the Defence Enterprise Resource Plan (ERP); JP2096, Defence ISR Integration Backbone (DIIIP); JP9711, Core Simulation Capability (CSimC); Land 19 Phase 7B, Ground Based Air and Missile Defence; and Air 6500 (Joint Battle Management System). Further out, the company sees opportunities in the vertical take-of UAS requirement for Navy’s Ofshore Patrol Vessels and Future Frigates (Sea 129), for which Northrop Grumman is proposing its MQ-8B/C Fire Scout, and upgrade of the RAAF’s EA-18G Growlers under Project Air 5349 Phase 6 (Advanced Growler). Northrop Grumman Australia is ranked No.14 in ADM’s Top 40 Defence Contractors 2016 list, with a reported turnover of $214.4 million and a reported 461 people on their books. With the opportunities for further growth as outlined, Australian CEO Ian Irving predicts an exciting year ahead.
NIGEL PITTAWAY | WASHINGTON, PATUXENT RIVER AND PALMDALE
With a number of major Defence capability acquisition contracts up for grabs in the near future and the recent awarding of a major F-35 sustainment contract, Northrop Grumman Australia is looking to double its local workforce by 2020.
Captain Jeff Dodge, director of US Navy and Marine Corps’ Multi-Mission Tactical Unmanned Air System (PMA266) Program Ofice with a MQ8C Fire Scout at Pax River.
44 | February 2017 | www.australiandefence.com.au
KATHERINE ZIESING
Northrop Grumman Australia Speaking in Washington in mid-January, Irving said that the Australian workforce has grown from around ive people four years ago to almost 500 today, largely through Northrop Grumman’s acquisition of M5 and Qantas Defence Services, but predicts that it will grow to around 1,000 people by the end of the decade. “his is going to be a tremendous year for us; it really is the year for Australia,” Irving said. “here are ive major projects in which we are likely to participate in the irst eight months of the year, in addition to assisting the Commonwealth with their Triton co-operation program with the US Navy. “We should also be in a position to sign two big new contracts by the end of the year as well.”
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AIR
Key to the projected growth will be the establishment of an F-35 component maintenance, repair, overhaul and upgrade (MRO&U) capability to service Australia and southern Asia. Irving says the current thinking is to establish an electronics repair and sustainment capability either at Williamtown or in the Greater Western Sydney Area. Northrop Grumman’s Integrated Defence Services (IDS) division already has a signiicant presence at RAAF Richmond, by nature of its C-130H MRO work. “We’d like to establish the new facility as
KATHERINE ZIESING
INDUSTRY
“The Multi-INT Triton is due to enter service with the US Navy in 2021 and therefore its timing is important to Australia.” the nucleus of what would be a broader electronics repair capability within Australia,” he added. “here are a lot of products that we have supplied over the last 20 years which are being maintained back here in the US and which we’d like to localise in Australia.” Irving and members of his senior leadership team were in the US to formulate Australian industry participation plans for each of the capabilities it will propose in response to the Commonwealth’s requirements. “We are looking at not just accessing our portfolio here in North America for Australia’s requirements, but building an Australian Industry Capability,” he said. “Both within Northrop Grumman Australia and also our supply chain partners in both markets.”
Triton update he 2016 Defence White Paper approved the purchase of seven MQ-4C Triton mari-
46 | February 2017 | www.australiandefence.com.au
time surveillance platforms for the RAAF, which are likely to be acquired in the early years of the next decade. he working number of platforms is at seven but ADM understands another two are in the oing, with timing unknown at this time. Australia is interested in the multi-intelligence (Multi-INT) development, which will have signiicant enhancements over the baseline aircrat now about to enter service with the US Navy, including a Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) payload. Also known as Integration Functional Capability 4 (IFC-4) coniguration, the Multi-INT Triton is due to enter service with the US Navy in 2021 and therefore its timing is important to Australia. Flight testing of the initial three System Development and Demonstration (SDD) aircrat at NAS Patuxent River in Maryland continues, with 113 lights
MQ-8C Firescout at Pax River.
and 721 hours accumulated by mid January. According to Northrop Grumman, Triton performance so far, including that of the AN/ZPY-3 Multi-Function Active Sensor (MFAS) X-band AESA radar, is meeting or exceeding performance speciications. Final assembly of the irst two production aircrat is currently underway at Northrop Grumman’s facility in Palmdale, California, and the USN is due to take delivery of the initial example in August. he two aircrat will deploy to Guam early next year with VUP-19, the irst of the US Navy’s two operational Triton squadrons, and Early Operational Capability (EOC) will follow in the (northern) spring of 2018. “Triton is very exciting for us, it’s our headline program and we are pleased to be working with the Commonwealth as they move forward with a co-operative agreement with the US Navy,” Irving said. “It will be a co-operative contract under which Australia will participate hand in glove with the USN, in very much the same style as the P-8A contract. I think it will beneit Australia in the future as a contributor to the Triton capability as it evolves through life.”
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AIR INDUSTRY
Navy’s Project Sea 129 is seeking to acquire vertical take-of unmanned platforms for the new OPVs and frigates and Ian Irving says he is hopeful that the MQ-8 Fire Scout will be actively considered for both. “here’s still some water to go under the bridge with both of those projects but we’re having some very fruitful dialogue with the Royal Australian Navy,” he says. he US Navy has two versions of Fire Scout; the smaller MQ-8B, which is based on the Schweizer 300 helicopter and the larger and more recent MQ-8C, based on the commercial Bell 407 platform. By switching to the larger MQ-8C, the US Navy has increased endurance from 4-5 hours to 10-12 hours. Both platforms initially had identical missions systems, but recent modiications have seen diferent maritime surveillance radars itted. he MQ-8B has now deployed operationally with a Telephonics AN/ZPY-
NORTHROP GRUMMAN
Fire Scout update
Northrop Grumman mechanics perform inal quality inspections on the center/aft fuselage shipset produced by the company for the irst Australian EA-18G Growler.
“ADM understands that the Airborne Gateway system will be trialled aboard an RAAF King Air over the next year or so, as part of a process which will inform JP9347, High Altitude Gateway.” 4(V)1 AESA radar and the MQ-8C will soon be itted with Selex’s Osprey 30 advanced electronically scanned unit. he irst US Navy Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) to deploy to the western paciic with the radar itted is the USS Coronado, currently forward-based in Singapore with two MQ-8Bs aboard. “We’ve now embarked on a program to put a maritime surveillance radar on the MQ8C, which will be ongoing over the next couple of years,” Captain Jef Dodge from the US Navy’s Fire Scout program said. “We selected the Osprey because the larger MQ-8C can support a radar with a larger aperture.” Alsounderdevelopment,atleastinitiallyfor the MQ-8B is the AN/DVS-1 Coastal Battleield Reconnaissance and Analysis (COBRA) system, which can provide information about obstacles on the beach and in the surf prior to an amphibious assault. he system is now progressing through operational test and evaluation and is expected to be released o the leet in the (northern) autumn of this year. he MQ-8B has been deployed at sea 48 | February 2017 | www.australiandefence.com.au
aboard the US Navy’s now-retired FFG-7 frigates and is currently deployed aboard both classes of LCS. Trials have also been conducted with an Arleigh Burke DDG and a US Coast Guard Cutter. Although the MQ-8C has carried out some trials aboard an LCS, ship availability has had an impact on the schedule. “We need to do some more dynamic interface testing between the MQ-8C and the LCS, but we just haven’t been able to get on the schedule for our ships, because they’re so busy,” CAPT Dodge explained. he MQ-8C is expected to transition from the Navy’s Unmanned Test Squadron, a developmental test unit based at Webster Field close to Patuxent River, to test squadron VX-1 for operational trials in the northern autumn and the platform scheduled to achieve IOC with the leet during 2018.
there are plans for a future capability upgrade to both the platform and its sensors. One of the items under consideration for the Advanced Growler program, reportedly Project Air 5349 Phase 6, is the addition of removable conformal fuel tanks to the spine of the aircrat. he CFTs add another 3,500 pounds (1,587.5 kg) of internal fuel which, according to Boeing, will increase combat radius by 260 nautical miles (481 km), while reducing both weight and drag, because the need to carry two 480 gallon (1,800 litre) fuel tanks on the underwing pylons is removed. he tanks are designed and manufactured by Northrop Grumman and one set of aerodynamic mock up items have already been lown on a Super Hornet, although production engineering and integration of real tanks is still to be undertaken. “he US is looking at doing this for the EA-18G and every Super Hornet would also beneit, but we are not on contract yet,” explained Tighe Parmenter, Northrop Grumman’s head of F/A-18 production at El Segundo in Los Angeles. “It is a concept that is waiting to be picked up.” Kuwait became the launch customer for CFTs in November when the US Defense Security Co-operation Agency (DSCA) announced that eight sets will be acquired to support an FMS buy of F/A-18F Super Hornets.
Considering the Advanced Growler Even before the irst EA-18G Growler Airborne Electronic Attack aircrat for the RAAF touches down on Australian soil,
After Jericho Dawn Last March, Northrop Grumman successfully demonstrated its Airborne Gateway
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AIR INDUSTRY
ted to a range of ADF platforms, including obvious persistent ISR nodes such as Wedgetail, but also to others around the battlespace, including the KC-30A or even the RAAF’s C-27J, which will work closely with Army Aviation assets and may beneit from connectivity with Army’s BMS. Northrop has integrated its Airborne Gateway onto the RQ-4 Global Hawk under the US Air Force’s Battleield Airborne Communications Node (BACN) program and the system has seen extensive operational use in the Middle East. here is also a good chance that the Australian Triton will carry the system later in its life. “It’s the glue that brings the technology
communications relay and gateway system during Exercise Jericho Dawn 16-3, which connected a range of communications systems, including Wedgetail, Super Hornets, Tiger ARH and Army’s EPLRS radios. See P18 for more on this. he Airborne Gateway system was hosted aboard a company Gulfstream platform during the exercise and demonstrated a means of achieving the Plan Jericho goal of harnessing the combat potential of an integrated force. he idea is to select a limited number of waveforms, such as Link 16, Link 11, Common Data Link etc when planning an operation and then use gateways to make the remaining connections between systems. Such a system could conceivably be it-
together; we provide the dial tone,” explained Tony Karkainan, director of business development for Northrop Grumman’s military communications group. “So all you have to do is pull the trigger on your communications device and you will be able to speak with whomever you want to. he operator doesn’t know, and shouldn’t frankly care, how it works – it’s just that it works really well.” ADM understands that the Airborne Gateway system will be trialled aboard an RAAF King Air over the next year or so, as part of a process which will inform JP9347, High Altitude Gateway. Disclaimer: The writer travelled to the US as a guest of Northrop Grumman.
LOOKING THROUGH TIME – THE JAMES WEBB SPACE TELESCOPE
NIGEL PITTAWAY | LOS ANGELES
NASA
In October 2018, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will be propelled to a position almost 1 million miles (1.61 million kilometres) away from earth, to search for the very irst, and most distant, stars in our universe. The infra-red telescope will effectively peer back 13.5 billion years, to a time where stars and galaxies were beginning to form after the ‘big bang’, to discover and study planetary systems similar to that of our own. NASA is the lead agency in an international team which also includes the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency. The Agency’s Goddard Space Flight Centre manages the program, and the Space Telescope Science Institute will have responsibility for developing both the science and mission operations and will also be responsible for ground station development. A telescope to look back into history The JWST is the successor to both the Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescopes and has four scientiic objectives: detection of the very irst luminous objects (the irst light) in the universe, the assembly of galaxies, the birth of stars and planets and (hopefully), the origin of life – through the study of the characteristics of these planets, and the detection of chemicals which could harbour life. The telescope will use a primary mirror, made of Beryllium, 6.5 metres (21.3 ft) in diameter, coated with a thin layer of gold and designed to be operated at a temperature of almost minus 230 degrees Celsius (minus 380 degrees Farenheit, 45 degrees Kelvin). It has a 212.2 by 14.6 metre (70ft x 48ft) deployable sunshield and will orbit the sun at the Second Lagrange Point (L2), 940 thousand miles (1.5 million km) from earth. JWST will be launched aboard an Ariane rocket from the European Space Agency’s launch facility, Le Centre Spatial Guy-
50 | February 2017 | www.australiandefence.com.au
anais in Kourou, French Guyana in 2018 according to the current schedule. Northrop Grumman and JWST In a high bay assembly area in the aptly named Space Park, near Los Angeles International Airport, Northrop Grumman engineers and scientists are assembling and testing components of the JWST, the largest space telescope ever built. The company was selected by NASA as the prime contractor for the JWST program back in 2002 and it has designed, and is building, the deployable sunshield, as well as providing the spacecraft itself and integrating the total system. Tim Frei, Northrop Grumman’s senior vice president Global Strategy & Mission Solutions, Aerospace Systems says the company had to develop 10 completely new technologies for the JWST program. “For example the JWST focal plane has to be cooled to six degrees Kelvin (minus 267 Celsius), something which had never been done before,” he explained. “If you don’t get to six (degrees) Kelvin, you don’t go back 13.5 billion years. In fact the system doesn’t even turn on until it gets to nine degrees (Kelvin).” The NASA requirement is for a six-month commissioning period once the telescope reaches its position and is deployed at L2 and then ive years of operation following that time. Northrop Grumman is also required to provide twice the amount of propellant, the only consumable on board. “For example the Chandra Observatory, which was my irst job with the company, had similar requirements and we are now well into Year 17 of that ive year mission,” added Arenberg. “So with care and typical – not even extraordinary – performance, we should have a long and productive life. I hope that I retire before it does and I have a long way to go.” Disclaimer: The writer travelled to the US as a guest of Northrop Grumman
AIR COUNTER-UAS
Department 13 CEO Jonathan Hunter (L) and technical lead Brian Halfpap at the demonstration held in Sydney in November 2016.
ON January 7 this year, the irst reported UAS-to-passenger jet collision occurred in Mozambique. A small UAS crashed into a packed Boeing 737-700 passenger jet with 80 people on board, tearing holes in the LAM aircrat's nose as it was on inal approach to an airport. he aircrat is understood to have landed safely with no casualties, however experts warn that it is simply a matter of time before a small UAS causes a fatal crash. US counter-UAS security companies Department13 and DroneShield have signiicantly increased their presence in Australia, foreseeing the need for a mitigation of the threat posed by small UASs. Both companies, which have originated in Virginia, US, work across the public and private sectors, and in the past year they were listed on the ASX, demonstrating the increasing signiicance and growth of the market. he detection system markets include prisons, airports, event organisers, critical infrastructure protection, even movie sets, and VIPs and celebrities with security, and/ or privacy concerns. here are many methods to detect small UASs, and all come with their advantages and disadvantages. he most commonly used detection methods are Radio Frequen52 | February 2017 | www.australiandefence.com.au
ADM
Counter-UAS
is the new buzz PATRICK DURRANT | SYDNEY
With small, commercially available drones or UASs (unmanned aerial systems – ADM ’s preferred term) featuring high up on the Christmas wish lists last year, it's no wonder that the threat posed by them to security and safety is being taken seriously, with two counter-UAS security companies listing on the ASX in just the past year.
cy (RF); Acoustic signature; ground radar; and Camera/Video. Camera detection is cheap and works very well for near term detection, with special computer vision and pattern recognition algorithms allowing the system to distinguish between birds and UASs. While it does have uses in some applications, it's not ideal when detection is preferred at longer ranges, especially when the speed of the latest commercially availableUASsisaround20metrespersecond. Ground based radars are very efective at detecting small UASs at very great distances. he majority however, are used by the military for the detection of much larger objects such as aircrat and they are therefore not very portable, and prohibitively expensive. hey are also blind at near distances and oten won't cover the full 360 degrees. New generation radars, such as those developed for bird detection, have some potential and they can be easily adopted for UAS detection however cost is still a premium. hey certainly have a role to play and can detect small objects at very near distances.
AIR COUNTER-UAS
"In September last year, the Department13 successfully demonstrated Mesmer at Black Dart, a US Department of Defense Counter-UAS evaluation exercise." Department 13 Department 13 uses RF detection via its portable solution known as Mesmer, which was oicially launched on January 23 this year. Australian protective equipment supplier EPE has teamed up with the company to market the product in Australia, and the technology was recently showcased during a number of events throughout the country; ADM attended the irst such event in Sydney. Mesmer works by recognising and characterising signals from the UAS, then manipulating it by sending it signals. hrough this intelligent process, known as protocol manipulation, the system can identify the UAS’s proile and features, obtain system information and ultimately persuade it to listen to a new control system from other than the original pilot. It interdicts and mitigates the threat posed by taking control of the UAS, directing it away from the threatened area and even landing it safely on a pre-designated zone for further response. “What many of our competitors are do54 | February 2017 | www.australiandefence.com.au
ing is what’s called “de-auth” – denying or de-authorising the UAS of the network, but still allowing the operator to retain control,” Department 13 CEO Jonathan Hunter explained to ADM. “hat’s not protocol manipulation and it’s relatively simple to do." In September last year, the company successfully demonstrated Mesmer at Black Dart, a US Department of Defense Counter-UAS evaluation exercise. “We were the only company present to take positive control of the UAS at the event, all the others in the commercial space were using jammers where they created a lost link efect or where they crashed the UAS,” Hunter said. “From a tactical, or operational point of view, we have the smallest footprint, so imagine a Pelican case, a generator, and an antenna system; that’s all you really need to have a counter UAS solution.” he physical system consists of a 41 kilogram stand-alone, rack mountable unit housed in a ruggedized Pelican case. It's essentially a server with an RF front end to control the gain and transmission of the RF signals. Hunter said it had an efective range of at least one kilometre using only one watt of transmit power, and range was a variable depending on the antenna type, transmit power and terrain.
ADM
DroneShield's acoustic dish sensors can detect signatures to a range of about one kilometre and cover an arc of 30 degrees.
“Urban environments will introduce a degradation of the detection range, but even in those areas we have been getting plus-600 metre efectiveness from a sub-1 watt transmission,” Hunter said. Sotware for the system does need to be updated at regular intervals to keep pace with the ever increasing number of new, technologically advanced UASs appearing on the market. Many of the models currently available have a single frequency connection which is easier to mitigate against. One of the most popular commercially available UASs on the market is the Chinese Phantom 4 UAS built by DJI. It uses a frequency hopper based on the company’s Lightbridge sotware, and this makes it more diicult to counter. Department 13 is already working on overcoming such protocol hurdles and doesn’t see it as a problem. “We haven’t found a UAS we can’t hack yet – by the end of January 2017 we’ll be able to mitigate against the Lightbridge 1.0 UASs and we’ll move onto countering the Phantom 4.”
DroneShield DroneShield, which headquartered in Sydney in late 2015 last year, ofers separate detection and mitigation solutions. UASs are detected via an acoustic signature based system, with the company ofering both longer range detection up to around one kilometre
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AIR
in a 30 degree arc, and shorter range detection from omnidirectional sensors (‘omnis’) to about 150 metres. DroneShield CFO Oleg Vornik told ADM that their acoustic detection ofering was “cheap, efectively a microphone in a box or dish with an omni-sensor in terms of the hardware”. He explained the secret source is within the sotware, the algorithm separating the UAS from the background noise and matching it to a library of acoustic signatures. Once detected, an alert is sent to the user via a GUI interface displaying a Google Earth image of the facility and the detection sectors of the deployed sensors. “So, for example if you are a prison facility you want to have 12 dishes in the middle of the facility covering a circle out to one kilometre radius, and then you have a few omnis around the corners, efectively providing an immediate proximity alert,” Vornik said. he system, according to Vornik, even works well in noisy, inner city environments. “An efective signature detection system
for us is one that can withstand environments such as a ield of crickets or a downtown Tokyo kind of noise.” To mitigate against the detected UAS, DroneShield ofers the DroneGun, a rilestyled jammer device efective at the 2.4, 5.8 Ghz and (optional) GPS/Glonass frequencies which are those used by commercially available UASs. Currently in Australia this product can only be sold into the military, law enforcement and irst responder markets. Aware of the dangers of simply knocking a UAS down via kinetic means, Vornik said it was important to be able to bring down the UAS in a controlled manner while also locating the pilot. “he DroneGun will stop the communication between the pilot and the UAS, with the default solution being for the UAS to return to the operator, thus allowing you to locate that person,” he said. “When an optional GPS-jamming capability is also used in conjunction with the RF jammer, the common response is for the UAS to just land in a controlled manner, so that allows you to retrieve it and conduct an investigation.”
“An effective signature detection system for us is one that can withstand environments such as a ield of crickets or a downtown Tokyo kind of noise.”
Dept 13's Mesmer unit.
he range of the DroneGun is nominally around two kilometres, with efective mitigations having been achieved at almost double that, according to Vornik. It is also efective against the frequency hopper types because it will jam the entire bandwidth, leaving no frequencies for the UAS to hop to.
US experience he US Departments of Defense and Homeland Security purchased similar counter UAS technology last year, namely Batelle’s DroneDefender rile. Jammers like the DroneGun are proving popular in countries where the laws regarding RF jamming are less restrictive as they are, for example, in Australia and the US. While customers will be interested in detection systems in the long run, Vornik said, oten they will prefer to opt immediately for a jamming device that will take care of any unwanted UASs that approach them in the meantime. He worries that regulations controlling the use of UASs are not keeping up with the proliferation of the technology. “Unfortunately it will take a disaster where there is a considerable loss of life before authorities give the problem the attention it deserves; this could be an act of terrorism where a UAS is used to deploy a dirty bomb or a UAS simply lies into a jet engine of a large passenger aircrat.”
DRONESHIELD
DroneShield's DroneGun jams the entire bandwidth of frequencies used by drones, forcing the drone to either land immediately or return to its controller. 56 | February 2017 | www.australiandefence.com.au
ADM
COUNTER-UAS
AIR SPA
NIGEL PITTAWAY | MELBOURNE
One of the next major aircraft acquisition programs to be undertaken by Defence is not listed in the public version of the White Paper or Integrated Investment Plan. The RAAF leet of Special Purpose Aircraft (SPA) is based in Canberra and due for replacement over the next two years or so.
Replacing the
ACCORDING to CASG, the solution will replace the existing SPA operation – and industry contract arrangements – with ‘performance-based service delivery contract arrangements’, by the appointment of a Managing Contractor. A Request for Proposals was released to industry in late 2015 with a closing deadline of February 16 last year. Responses are now under consideration and ADM understands the selection of a preferred Managing Contractor will occur early this year, with contract negotiation and subsequent Government approval to take place over the next year. Because the proposals are under active consideration, industry is reluctant to discuss any aspect
of the program, although some components of the eventual solution, such as the installation of a VIP cabin in an Airbus KC-30A, are now well known.
Current leet he SPA leet is operated by the RAAF’s No.34 Squadron, based at Defence Establishment Fairbairn (Canberra) and is currently made up of two Boeing 737 Business Jets (BBJ), which handle the bulk of the long haul trips, and a trio of Bombardier CL-604 Challengers, for the shorter range domestic trips or visits to airields which are too small to accommodate the larger aircrat. he leet was acquired in 2002 and has been supported by Qantas Defence Ser-
Special Purpose Aircraft
A Boeing 737 BBJ over Canberra.
58 | February 2017 | www.australiandefence.com.au
vided a basic capability up until the present time, future demands will dictate more sophisticated communications equipment at the very least. he average tasking provides between 1,200 and 1,800 special purpose lights each year and the 2016 Defence Portfolio Budget Statement reveals that the BBJs are planned for a total of 1,600 lying hours each year between now and the middle of 2020. Given their primary domestic commitment, the three Challengers are budgeted to ly a total of 2,403 hours each year over the same period. However, one of the reasons for the SPA replacement program – which ADM understands could actually be an upgrade and/or replacement program – is the aforementioned requirement for government business to be undertaken during the long transit lights between Canberra and international destinations. A further reason is the realisation that the Challenger, with a crew of three (pilot, co-pilot and attendant) and up to nine passengers, is no longer large enough for some of the tasks. he two BBJs are larger, but are unable to carry the necessary numbers of aides or members of the press gallery on many international trips. his latter fact was tragically highlighted on March 7 2007, when a Garuda Indonesia 737 crashed at Yogyakarta, claiming the lives of ive Australians travelling with then-Foreign Minister Alexander Downer. he BBJ also does not have suficient range to reach many international destinations, in Europe or North America for example, without one or more technical stops along the way.
vices and later by Northrop Grumman Australia (which acquired QDS in 2014) since that time. he BBJs and Challengers replaced a leet of ive Hawke-era Dassault Falcon 900s, which had been in service since 1989. he task of the squadron is to provide safe, secure, eicient and reliable air travel for the Governor-General, Prime Minister, visiting Heads of State and other VIPs, when commercial travel arrangements are unsuitable due to either the location, timing, or security considerations at destination or arrival airports. In the modern, connected world, it is becoming increasingly important for government business to be conducted while travelling, and while the SPA leet has pro-
leet
it may see a mix of aircrat acquired, possibly from one or more manufacturer. Airield performance, the ability to get into many of the smaller airields around Australia and the region, will also have a major inluence on which type(s) are selected. However ADM understands that the RFP is designed to be lexible enough for the Commonwealth to veto any aircrat type, or types, proposed by the Managing Contractor if it so chooses. he RFP, which closed on February 19 2016, also allowed for (optional) Request For Tender quality data to be submitted for Second Pass approval by November 1 last year. “In conducting this RFP, the Commonwealth intends to shortlist respondents to participate in a subsequent procurement process, the nature of which will depend on the outcome of the RFP,” the documentation states. “he Commonwealth also intends to use this RFP to shortlist preferred capability solutions for future SPA service, with the aim to present tender quality solutions to Government before the end of 2016.”
“The SPA Transition Program, the project seeks ‘innovative solutions’, through the selection of the Managing Contractor.”
DEFENCE
An innovative solution Also known as the SPA Transition Program, the project seeks ‘innovative solutions’, through the selection of the Managing Contractor, who will be responsible for integration, delivery and management of the various aspects, including supply of an aircrat type (or types), inance and support. It is therefore the successful Managing Contractor who will then form partnerships with business jet manufacturers to acquire aircrat to fulil the Commonwealth’s requirements. his may result in a single type of larger executive aircrat capable of illing most, if not all, of the roles currently undertaken by the BBJ and Challenger – or
KC-30A as a Government transport As revealed by ADM in late 2015, one of the solutions in the SPA transition mix is the incorporation of a VIP cabin, together with the necessary communications capabilities, into one of the RAAF’s Airbus KC-30A Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) aircrat. his was conirmed in the recent IIP, which revealed that $190 million had been allocated for an ‘Air to Air Refuelling Aircrat – Government transport and communications capability’. his project has since been approved and will ill the requirement for long range SPA transportation, while simultaneously allowing government business to be conducted en-route. It will also satisfy the Commonwealth’s desire to accommodate a larger number of aides and media representatives than the current BBJ is able to uplit. www.australiandefence.com.au | February 2017 | 59
AIR SPA
DEFENCE
The Air Force Roundel on the side of a Challenger 604 Special Purpose Aircraft with a Boeing 737 BBJ shown in the relection.
he aircrat to have the interior itted is understood to be the second of the two exQantas A330-200 aircrat purchased under Project Air 7403 Phase 3 in 2015 and currently undergoing conversion to KC-30A coniguration by Airbus Defence and Space in Spain. he aircrat are due to be delivered to the RAAF, in the tanker coniguration, in 2017 and 2018. he modiied aircrat will retain its full
one KC-30A tanker to support a long range Government Transport and Communications capability,” a Defence Spokesperson said. “he capability is scheduled to be delivered in late 2019.” To assist with the operation of the KC30A in both the SPA and Air Mobility roles, ADM understands that standardisation of the RAAF’s cabin attendant training has already begun, which will facilitate workforce lexibility between 33 and 34 Squadrons to meet mission demand.
“The world’s leading manufacturers of business jets are understood to have held discussions with the potential Managing Contractors.” air to air refuelling capability and will be operated by No.33 Squadron at Amberley, alongside the other six KC-30As used for air to air refuelling (AAR) and strategic airlit operations. Tasking in support of ADF operations will have priority over SPA transport but, since many of the longhaul VIP missions are known and planned well in advance anyway, Defence expects little if any scheduling conlict. “Defence is managing the modiication of 60 | February 2017 | www.australiandefence.com.au
Replacement aircraft
With the wide range of missions currently lown by the RAAF’s small SPA leet, which includes everything from transporting the Governor General or Prime Minister to London or Washington, to the Canberra-Sydney shuttle at the end of the Parliamentary sitting period, practically the entire range of current executive jets are potential contenders. he world’s leading manufacturers of business jets – including Airbus, Boeing, Bombardier, Cessna, Dassault, Embraer and Gulfstream – are understood to have held discussions with the potential Manag-
ing Contractors at some point in the RFP process, and almost the entire executive jet portfolio of each could be under consideration, depending on the mix proposed by each Managing Contractor solution. However the KC-30A/VIP strategy will arguably remove the requirement for a large, ultra-long range aircrat and, conversely, the reported capacity limitations of the current Challenger leet would appear to dictate a larger aircrat at the lower end of the requirement set. With the replacement of the BBJ by the KC-30A on long haul SPA missions, a further option would be to transfer them to domestic and nearby regional operations. Although built back in 2001, the two aircrat are relatively young in terms of hours and light cycles. With no requirement for long haul travel, for a relatively modest cost the BBJ cabins could be refurbished and reconigured to better meet the requirements of (relatively) short-haul operations. he opportunity could also be used to install state of the art communications, such as wide-band satellite communications and internal enhancements such as wireless internet access. If this option were to gain favour, the SPA replacement program may come down to just one new aircrat type – larger than the Challenger but still able to operate from smaller, relatively austere airields.
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AIR 5428
Pilot training:
simulation led
DEFENCE
Pilot candidates are now screened on the CT-4B trainer aircraft at BAE Systems’ facility at Tamworth.
PHILLIP SMART | ADELAIDE
The ADF will cease screening potential pilot candidates in light aircraft and move to simulator-based assessment under the new Air 5428 lying training program. 64 | February 2017 | www.australiandefence.com.au
PILOT candidates are currently screened through a two-week course at the BAE Systems Training Academy at Tamworth NSW, which includes 10 lying hours in a Paciic Aerospace CT-4B basic trainer aircrat. Candidates are assessed on their rate of learning, ability to respond to instruction, motivation and maturity, before fronting an oicer selection board for assessment of suitability for entry in to the Australian Defence Force pilot training system. Under the present system graduates selected for basic lying training then complete their six-month course
at Tamworth lying the same CT-4B aircrat. Under Air 5428 all basic lying training will now be completed at RAAF Base East Sale, also the home of the RAAF Central Flying School, which turns experienced pilots in to instructors. Under the initial $1.2 billion seven-year contract signed in December 2015, the Air 5428 project is designed to harmonise Australia’s basic military lying training across army, navy and air force. Known as Team 21, prime contractor Lockheed Martin will provide overall project management and
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AIR 5428
From June 2019 pilot candidates will be screened on Flight Training Devices at RAAF Base East Sale before jumping into a PC-21.
“Once the decision was made that we were going to a single aircraft type the decision was made for all of us, that ight screening had to be done in a training device.” integrated ground-based training technologies, with Pilatus supplying 49 PC-21 trainer aircrat, ground based training equipment and through-life engineering and airworthiness support, and Hawker Paciic providing maintenance services and leet support. Advances in training simulation and the lexibility of the Pilatus trainer mean the ADF pilot trainees will dispense with a basic trainer aircrat and begin practical light training on the PC-21. he PC-21 aircrat will replace both the PC-9 leet, which has been in service since 1988, and the CT-4B aircrat currently used for basic training and light screening. At East Sale, from around June 2019 pilot candidates will be assessed in Flight Training Devices (FTDs), high-idelity simula66 | February 2017 | www.australiandefence.com.au
tors that provide visual and tactile cues without motion, which the ADF believes will demonstrate a pilot’s suitability for basic pilot training. In essence, potential ADF pilots will no longer actually have any time in the air at this stage. “hese are high idelity light simulators but do not have a motion-base (i.e. they do not move like a Level D airliner simulator might),” a Defence spokesperson told ADM. “Physical sensation is provided by a rumble seat to emulate airframe bufet and a G-suit to emulate (somewhat) the feeling of pulling Gs.” “he ield of view of our RAAF PC-21 FTDs is 300 degrees horizontally and suicient vertically to permit any light training
sequence to be undertaken in the FTD, including visual landing patterns, aerobatics, spinning and formation light.” “Once the decision was made that we were going to a single aircrat type the decision was made for us, that light screening had to be done in a light training device,” Wing Commander Mark Broadbridge, Oficer In Charge of the Aviation Candidate Management Centre at RAAF Base East Sale explained to ADM. Wing Commander Broadbridge said that aside from issues of the new PC-21’s availability for candidate screening while running a lying course, an advanced turboprop trainer itted with ejection seats was not considered an appropriate aircrat for elementary light screening. “here’s quite a few concerns about taking a 16 or 17-year-old of the street and putting them in a high-performance aircrat like the PC-21 with ejection seats,” he said. “People have pointed out that we do take
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AIR 5428
passengers in the PC-9, but there’s a big difference in giving someone an hour and a half brieing when they’re going to just sit there and not touch anything, compared to actually undertaking some lying training in an aircrat like a PC-9 or a PC-21.” He said candidate screening in FTDs will also remove unpredictable elements of light, creating a more level playing ield for all candidates. “Up at Tamworth, the environmentals can vary signiicantly throughout the year. In the middle of summer you’re lying in thermals and a stiling cockpit and in winter you can be up against low cloud bases and strong winds. “You could come back and be the only person in the circuit. At other times you might come back and you might be the fourth or ith aircrat in the circuit and there’s lots of radio chatter going on. So again, for standardisation, doing it in the aircrat is not always best,” WGCMDR Broadbridge concluded. Candidate screening in simulators will also allow assessors to avoid time lost in
transiting to and from a designated safety area, allowing greater focus on completing the screening syllabus with exercises designed to show a candidate’s qualities. Being able to go straight to a particular exercise or phase of light and repeat it immediately if necessary will help streamline the process compared with actual light. “he fact that you don’t have to start, taxi and takeof means you can do activities straight away in the area,” WGCMDR Broadbridge said. “hat’s the diference between part task training and full light training. You have the beneit of being able to do both. You might want to do landings and you might look at four or ive of them in a row. hen maybe the very last sortie would be a full light one where the person doing the assessing wouldn’t actually interfere. And that’s the option you do get from a simulator.”
“Flying the aircraft is a means to an end, with the rate of learning considered more important than ‘stick and rudder’ skills.” Although candidates will conduct light exercises in the simulator, lying the aircrat is considered a means to an end, with their rate of learning considered more important than “stick and rudder” abilities. “Rate of learning is something that we’ve always been interested in seeing,” WGCMDR Broadbridge said. “Just about anybody can be taught how to ly in an unlimited amount of time. But obviously we’re looking for people will not only progress well through their pilot training, but also can become the captain of a KC-30 aircrat within a couple of years of getting their pilot’s wings.”
CAE
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AIR RANGES
Training: home on the range JULIAN KERR | SYDNEY
DEFENCE
With one exception their names are not widely known, yet the 12 incountry training ranges utilised by the RAAF encompass vast swathes of territory and play a vital role in ensuring the ongoing operational effectiveness of Australia’s air power.
70 | February 2017 | www.australiandefence.com.au
THAT single exception is the Woomera range in the South Australian outback, the largest instrumented overland test range in the world and part of the 122,188 square kilometre Woomera Prohibited Area, a space roughly the size of England. Initially established in 1947 for AustraliaUK missile and rocket trials, Woomera was used in 1956-63 for British nuclear tests and since then has been in almost constant use as a military test and evaluation facility for aircrat and other platforms, radars, and weapons systems.
Last June’s award to Raytheon Australia of a $297 million contract under Project Air 3024 Phase 1 to remediate and upgrade Woomera referred to the need to replace its analogue equipment with modern digital systems, a move that Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said would make the range the most advanced facility of its type anywhere. he enhancements would allow Woomera to test and evaluate the performance of the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), 72 of which are being acquired for the RAAF, and the aircrat’s ability to work and operate with other weapons systems, Turnbull said. Conirmation that the upgraded range would also be available to Australia’s allies, in particular the US, suggests that test and evaluation activities for the wider JSF program could be the driver behind the forthcoming enhancements, although Defence maintains the improvements are not linked to a speciic aircrat requirement. While Turnbull referred to modernising the range’s measuring, monitoring and sensor systems, he gave no other details.
Mobile Ranges However, a Raytheon website subsequently referred to technologies involved in its Mobile Range integrated suite of communica-
LEFT: : High frequency antenna array near Woomera
DEFENCE
BOTTOM LEFT: Allan Paull DST Research Leader Applied Hypersonics (left), with Oficer Commanding Woomera Test Range, Wing Commander Noel Corbet in front of the HIFiRE 5b rocket at Woomera.
tions, optics and telemetry capabilities as the foundation of the Woomera upgrade, enabling in-country light testing, demonstrations, and data collection. Useable across a variety of platforms, the Mobile Range system combines parabolic or lat-panel antenna systems with remote optics for target and range monitoring and communication – all controlled from an integrated mobile command centre. he system has a universal sotware control interface and can be operated or supported remotely via network connection. Antenna feeds include single, dual or tri-band. he purpose-built transportable units, mounts and control systems can be operational on rudimentary test sites in just four hours with minimal support staf or infrastructure. Other Woomera upgrades costing $50 million and proposed by Defence to Parliament’s Public Works Committee include the creation of three inert and three highexplosive target sites and new communications systems supported by 61km of buried ibre optic cables.
he Defence submission said obsolete testing equipment had to be controlled manually by staf co-located with radar and optical sensors. he new testing and monitoring equipment would be operated by remote control. Whether these enhancements are additional to or will form part of the Raytheon contract is not clear. Woomera is described in the 2016 Integrated Investment Program (IIP) as a critical, unique national asset whose facilities will be increasingly in demand due to increased cooperation and joint exercises with the US and other security partners. As such, additional investment of up to $453 million is programmed through to 2025-2026. his funding seems likely to be directed at least in part to what Defence told ADM was the need not only to fully integrate range systems but also to potentially connect individual ranges and their live, virtual and simulation capabilities.
EW With all 12 EA-18G Growler electronic attack aircrat due in Australia by mid-2017
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AIR RANGES
RANGES AROUND THE COUNTRY New South Wales – Evans Head air weapons range; the only air weapons range suitable for air-to-ground gunnery and inert bombing operations within training radius of RAAF Amberley. Salt Ash air weapons range, close to RAAF Williamtown, has been operational for more than 60 years supporting gunnery and bombing training. Queensland – Saumarez Reef air weapons range is a shipwreck on a reef outside the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park east of Gladstone. The range is a maritime representative target which supports practice weapon employment. Star air weapons range is located in the Army’s Townsville ield training area. Townshend Island air weapons range is located on the Townshend and Raynham Islands in the Shoalwater Bay joint training area. Under an agreement reached in May 2016, Singapore will pay $2.25 billion to upgrade facilities at both the Shoalwater Bay and Townsville training areas for use by up to 14,000 Singaporean troops for 18 weeks each year.
The only details so far released refer to infrastructure, of which the air weapons range is a vital element. South Australia – The North-Northeast Rocks supports air weapons range in the Spencer Gulf facing the Great Australian Bight supports Air Warfare Centre test and evaluation activities. Western Australia – The Learmonth air weapons range supports application and tactical application training, strike, offensive air support, integrated ire, laser operations, operational test and evaluation, and weapon prooing explosive weapons. Range infrastructure will beneit from the $180 million to be spent over the next decade on RAAF Learmonth. Muchea air weapons range allows limited use of inert ordnance close to RAAF Base Pearce. Yampi Sound training area is a 5,600 sq km joint training area northwest of Derby. An upgrade by 2020 was announced in the 2016 Defence White Paper, although enhancements may be limited by environmental issues.
“The DSCA said Australia had initially requested the sale of two Electronic Warfare (EW) Range Systems, valued at US$79 million, to conduct EW and electronic surveillance training.” (the irst two are expected in February), the focus at the sprawling Delamere air weapons range in the NT is currently on the delivery and installation of an AEA-18G Electronic Warfare Range System and related infrastructure. US State Department approval for the sale of two such systems at an estimated cost of US$115 million was disclosed by the US Defence Security Cooperation Agency in December 2016, but not the anticipated delivery dates. he DSCA said Australia had initially requested the sale of two Electronic Warfare (EW) Range Systems, valued at US$79 million, to conduct EW and electronic surveillance training. An additional request 72 | February 2017 | www.australiandefence.com.au
valued at US$36 million had subsequently been received for classiied technical data and sotware, system integration and testing, tools and test equipment. Informed sources said one EW range system would be deployed near the Oakey Army Aviation Centre but operated from RAAF Amberley, while the second, programmed for more advanced EW training for the ADF and visiting forces, would be located at the Delamere facility. Both the new EW ranges, as of January still in acquisition, will incorporate Mobile hreat Training Emitter Systems (MTTES) that appear to be their major element. hese will realistically simulate electronic emissions from a range of sur-
face-to-air threats, including anti-aircrat artillery and both single and double-digit Russians SAMS. With the IIP including funding of $200-$300 million up to 20162021 the MTTES capability – which includes an adaptable coniguration to handle threats not yet ielded – clearly seems destined for expansion.
Threat emitters Last year’s Exercise Pitch Black saw a Northrop Grumman Joint hreat Emitter (JTE) system, provided by the US Air Force, temporarily deployed to the Delamere range. hat system comprised two hreat Emitter Units (TEUs) and a command-and-control unit. Although this was not necessarily the system under acquisition, its speciications as published provide a general insight into a MTTE capability. According to Northrop Grumman, each JTE can simulate up to six threat systems simultaneously. Multiple JTEs can be integrated and controlled in a coordinated manner to simulate hostile Integrated Air Defence Systems (IADS). If required, one Command and Control unit can control up to 12 diferent TEUs.
DEFENCE
Australian Army soldiers from 1st Aviation Regiment prepare the rocket launcher for iring during the trials at Woomera.
One of the TEUs deployed to Delamere was a Block 0 system capable of being programmed at any one time for one of six different threats. he other was a wideband unit which emulates the EW threats across the spectrum needed by training and test ranges when less than full Efective Radiated Power is suitable. Extensive infrastructure work on greenield sites is already underway at Delamere to ready it for the new EW range and its MTTES capability, including construction of a hybrid solar/diesel central power station. Along with the Delamere range, the vast Bradshaw Field Training area 600 km southwest of Darwin is utilised by the US Marine Corps rotational force during its six months in Australia as well as by the ADF for air weapons training and joint ires integration training in addition to ground defence exercises. Bradshaw already includes a dirt airstrip used by RAAF and USAF C-17 strategic transports. Upgrades costing $20 million over the next decade will improve basic infrastructure at the facility for an anticipated increase in use by Australian and US aircrat and troops. www.australiandefence.com.au | February 2017 | 73
AIR AIR 6500
Integrated Air Missile Defence
for the ADF THERE are roughly 40 programs that will provide the broad church that is ADF-wide IMD. he best known of these programs come under two banners: Air 6500 from the Air Force and Land 19 Phase 7B from Army. he irst is about IAMD in the medium to long-range environments, while Air 6500 has a focus more on the medium to long-range threats. here is a ith generation focus in the Air 6500 realm; making the most of the mountain of sensors that a range of platforms and capabilities will provide. Warighting will be less about the fog of war and more about navigating a sea of data.
KATHERINE ZIESING | CANBERRA AND HUNTSVILLE
What does Integrated Air Missile Defence (IAMD) look like for the RAAF, indeed, what's the next step of Integrated Missile Defence (IMD) for the wider ADF?
As ADM has previously mentioned, a restricted brieing to four US primes (Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and Northrop Grumman) took place last year. his was the irst oicial time Defence and industry sat in the same room to compare notes on what IMD and IAMD looked like. Industry sources from all four companies have been impressed with the program ofice approach to get an idea of what technology is out there now; also its understanding of how doctrine combined with such technology can evolve to meet the threats posed by a world characterised by transient advantage or the third ofset.
To get an idea of the thinking from the industry side of the house, ADM approached all four primes to explain their thinking behind the concepts that underpin Air 6500. here are common themes throughout the responses, but one element is clear: there is no single of the shelf system to achieve the outcomes the ADF is looking for.
Lockheed Martin Australia Air 6500 will enable the RAAF, and by extension, the ADF, to take full advantage of 5th Generation platforms to create a superior operational environment in face of unpredictable asymmetric threats,
DEFENCE
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according to Lockheed Martin Australia’s head of Mission Systems Neale Prescott. “It will create a fully networked ‘system of systems’ that synchronises air and missile defence operations in joint and coalition environments, improving situational awareness and enhancing the speed of decision making in the joint engagement zone,” he said. Lockheed Martin has a track record integrating air, land, sea, space cyber domains for governments around the world, from developing the enterprise system that directs air operations for the US military forces, to enabling the Ballistic Missile Defence system to operate as a global network. Prescott said the company would bring this experience to Australia and, by leveraging an extensive knowledge of open architectures and cross domain solutions, it will enable the ADF to shit away from proprietary, closed, contractor-owned systems to develop a modular, government-owned enterprise that easily interoperates with legacy solutions and supports Joint, Allied and Coalition interoperability. “We know there is no ‘of the shelf’ solution for delivering what the Australian Defence Force requires for Air 6500,” Prescott said. “Developing solutions to achieve the Air 6500 vision will take collaboration and a team that is committed to research and development to design systems that are unique. For Air 6500, we will partner with RAAF to lead the critical design work, including with other defence primes, to develop solutions that meet Australia’s speciic defence requirements.” Prescott also referred to the company's extensive research and development backbone which allowed it to draw upon its global network to bring leading edge technologies and innovations to Australia. A key initiative in the Lockheed Martin approach is the establishment the Science Technology, Engineering Leadership and Research Laboratory (STELaRLab), a world-class multi-disciplinary facility to be established outside of the US for Lockheed Martin. heir approach includes: • Convergence of operations and intelligence environments • Vertical integration of strategic, operational & tactical domains • Horizontal integration across Air, Land, Sea, Space, and Cyber As the prime developer and system integrator of the two 5th Gen assets, the F-22 and the F-35, Lockheed Martin, according to a statement from the company, is capable of 76 | February 2017 | www.australiandefence.com.au
AIR AIR 6500
“Warighting will be less about the fog of war and more about navigating a sea of data.” developing the innovative systems that achieves the Plan Jericho vision of a seamless, network centric joint battlespace environment. “We are continually advancing ways to reduce the ‘data to decision cycle’ by developing sophisticated artiicial intelligence products that automate the intelligence cycle and enhance real time situational awareness,” Prescott said.
Raytheon Australia “Raytheon has proven experience delivering advanced C4I solutions both in the US and internationally,” Raytheon Australia managing director Michael Ward explained to ADM. “Furthermore, we design and build many of the advanced sensors and the core integrating technologies which characterise the next generation battlespace, and generate the situational awareness and decisionmaking superiority necessary to deliver future operational success.” Despite asking for information in regard to Air 6500, information from Raytheon was keen to highlight their oferings in the Land 19 Phase 7B area, with a focus on Australian content via CEA Technologies 78 | February 2017 | www.australiandefence.com.au
radar technology. Details on their Air 6500 technology and thoughts were not forthcoming. “Central to Raytheon Australia’s ofering for Air 6500 will be MEDUSA, speciically responding to Army’s Land 19 Phase 7B program,” Ward said. “It is our solution based on the proven National Advanced Surface to Air Missile System (NASAMS) system that is ielded in seven nations, including the US. “Demonstrating our commitment to building and strengthening Australia’s sovereign defence industry, Raytheon Australia believes that we can achieve 50 per cent local content for MEDUSA. his includes the option to include a truck mounted CEA Technologies radar and in other areas of the program, including: • Launcher Assembly • Launcher Structure & Sub-Systems • Racking & Cable Systems • AESA Radar • Vehicles • Vehicle Integration • Sensor Housing • Missile Loader System Ward said that MEDUSA is capable of performing multiple missions, including indirect ire protection and C-RAM sense and warn, and provides interoperability with the current and future Australian Integrated Air Defence System, and with coalition forces.
DEFENCE
Air 6500 focuses on medium and long range threats while Land 19 Phase 7B looks at short and medium range missile defence.
Boeing Defence Australia “Resonating with Defence's enquiries regarding evolutionary acquisition, one approach proposed by Boeing was to accelerate the current evolution of the in-service Air Defence Ground Environment (Vigilare),” Bill Madley, general manager of BDA's Command, Control, Communications & Information (C3I) Solutions division explained to ADM. “his approach would allow project funding, schedule and technical efort to be focussed on enhancing and acquiring necessary new elements and minimise the Commonwealth’s exposure to associated major program acquisition challenges.” Madley noted that Vigilare already incorporates a comprehensive national surveillance capability that meets the core information processing needs for Air 6500. Since accepting Vigilare earlier this decade, RAAF’s 41 Wing and Surveillance & Control System Program Oice have adopted a highly collaborative relationship with industry. his relationship, which has evolution as a core principle, ensures Vigilare remains operationally efective in the changing battlespace and ofers a proven framework for it to evolve as part of the future IAMD system of systems. “Due to the nature of the IAMD capability sought by Defence, industry will need to work together and leverage both local capability and international expertise,” Madley said.
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AIR AIR 6500
here is much more an open architetcture/ C2 focus coming from the team, led by Kenn Todorov as Director, Global Air and Missile Defense at Northrop Grumman. As former deputy of the US Missile Defence Agency, Todorov brings a unique perspective to the table. It was under his leadership that the agency proclaimed that all new C2 systems coming online from 2012 onwards have an integration capacity with the wider system of sensors and related technologies. Speaking in mid-January from Huntsville, Alabama, he was keen to highlight the beneits of a modular approach with open architecture that is able to provide a development pathway in a transient advantage world. A focus on relational awareness, above and beyond situational awareness, was key. Relational awareness encompasses not just situational awareness but also how elements within a battlespace afect one another on a timeline. In essence, what do I need to know when?
Cyber security of any IAMD system is crucial.
he company is now at the point where they can attest to the workings of the system with three successful test lights in the last 18 months and another scheduled in 2017 in order to hit milestone C, the inal decision US point before manufacturing. he system replaces seven legacy systems in a cohesive manner. he air and missile defence systems that will be integrated via IBCS include: • Patriot anti-air missile system; • Surface-Launched Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile (SLAMRAAM); • Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor (JLENS); • Sentinel radar, and (if the US Department of Defense approves); • Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD); and • Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS). It is worth noting that Raytheon developed four of the systems that IBCS will integrate – Patriot, JLENS, SLAMRAAM, and THAAD. he focus on 5th generation information operations in that the ‘any sensor, best shooter’ approach is integral to Northrop Grumman’s thinking on Air 6500; modular means opportunity. “We don’t want to buy a box today that
“Issues such as ‘left of launch’ (a term only coined two years ago in a US context) are relatively new in ADF thinking.” In terms of counter rocket and mortar (CRAM) capabilities, Northrop Grumman already has form with the ADF under Land 19 Phase 7A. he various C4I programs sitting between the radars and WAVES (a loud siren system urging you to kiss the dirt right now!) included AMDWS (air and missile defence workstation) and FAAD C2 (Forward Area Air Defence Command and Control), were acquired via the FMS route. he company plans on leveraging the work they’ve done in the US under the Army’s Integrated Air and Missile Defense Battle Command System (IBCS). A US$577 million, ive-year, cost-plus-incentive-fee/ cost-plus-ixed-fee contract was originally awarded in 2010. he contract was contested against an ofering from Raytheon. IBCS is intended to connect the current arsenal of stand-alone systems into a greater whole, one in which any shooter – including potential future weapons such as lasers – can get iring data from any sensor. 80 | February 2017 | www.australiandefence.com.au
DEFENCE
Northrop Grumman
closes a door tomorrow,” Rob Evans, Northrop Grumman’s Director, International IAMD, concluded.
Thoughts At this stage thinking in this space is also being supported by he Sir Richard Williams Foundation who are developing both an internal and external report for RAAF on IAMD, based on a series of closed workshops and wider research eforts. his in turn will be supported by a seminar in April this year on the issue. Issues such as ‘let of launch’ (a term only coined two years ago in a US context) are relatively new in ADF thinking. A let of launch strategy is based on a pre-emptive strike with new non-kinetic technologies, such as electromagnetic propagation, cyber as well as ofensive force to defeat missile threats before they are launched. he concept also has a strategic signalling efect to the adversary. he opportunities ofered by the adoption of ith generation thinking, supported by a range of technologies, can be realised by the ADF in the 2020s and beyond if the right building blocks are in the foundation. Note: The writer travelled as a guest of Northrop Grumman to the US. She is also a board member of The Sir Richard Williams Foundation.
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SME SPOTLIGHT APA
DEFENCE
With the new MH60Rs acquired under FMS, APA will maintain their engines under direct contract to the US Navy.
APA leads the way PHILIP SMART | ADELAIDE
For Brisbane based Asia Paciic Aerospace (APA), winning the contract to maintain the General Electric T700 engines on the new Royal Australian Navy Seahawk Romeo helicopter has included some new experiences.
82 | February 2017 | www.australiandefence.com.au
UNDER the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) system by which Australia has acquired the Romeos, the Brisbane turbine engine specialist that has long maintained Australia’s Blackhawk, Seahawk and Kiowa helicopter engines will now do the same for the new machines, but under contract to the US Navy. “he US Navy asked us if we would contract directly with them,” Asia Paciic Aerospace general manager Terry Brown said to ADM. Even to Brown, an aerospace industry veteran and former employee of the likes of Boeing, Litton and CAE with experience of the US Navy being a customer, the process was a challenge, if ultimately successful. “To say it’s been an entertaining exercise would be an understatement, but you can imagine an SME dealing with the US Navy, which is just so massive,” he said. “My ex-
perience was to some advantage, but as an SME you still don’t have the clout of a Boeing or a Litton. But having said that, I think the US Navy did very well by us and NASPO, the Australian Navy Aviation System Project Oice were incredibly supportive. hey certainly understood that as an SME we don’t have an army of lawyers and accountants. “GE has also been extremely supportive. As an OEM they couldn’t have been more gracious to an SME.” As prime contractor and Approved Maintenance Organisation for the Australian Defence Force’s GE T700 helicopter engines since 2002, APA had a performance track record and the data to back it up. Under the ADF’s scorecard contractor performance system, APA hasn’t scored
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SME SPOTLIGHT APA
less than a “green” (contractor meeting all requirements) in 15 years and found its latest scorecard audit also peppered with “purples” (exceeding some or all requirements, providing beneits to Defence). Under its ADF contract, APA stores an agreed number of engines at ADF locations and receives units for scheduled and unscheduled maintenance, foreign object damage repair, failure analysis and test. he company also provides line replaceable units such as engine starters and electronic control units and a comprehensive list of spares and consumables for the engines in service. “here’s a whole list of assets that we have to keep available for them so that if they have an engine go down they’ve got an engine that they can swap out,” Brown said. Asia Paciic Aerospace was born from a Papua New Guinea helicopter operator’s dissatisfaction with the engine support he was receiving from industry. Initially sited at Brisbane Airport, the facility moved to Pinkenba when the airport site was redeveloped. The facility includes two manufacturer-correlated test cells, meaning test data from an engine tested at APA will match that produced if the same engine is tested at GE’s or Rolls Royce’s own headquarters facility. The company also supports the Rolls Royce 250 and Honeywell LTS engines.
“Defence can be dificult to deal with when you’re bidding or trying to win that irst contract, but once you’ve got a contract they’re probably the best customer you’re ever going to have.” It also includes an innovation born from APA’s desire to become an approved maintainer for the Rolls Royce 250 engine found in the ADF’s Bell Kiowa and civil Bell helicopters around the world. In order to gain the capability to go beyond normal maintenance and move in to refurbishing the engines, APA acquired a robotic thermal spraying system allows APA to add the protective coatings that are so much of a modern engine’s makeup with precision and safety. “Having the robotic arm removes personnel completely from the area where the spray is taking place, so nobody has to be holding a gun that’s got God knows how many degrees of temperature on it,” Brown said. “It also means we can be far more consistent in the application of spray and do things a lot more quickly. In doing that for
the (Rolls Royce) 250, that has opened up a capability which we can then apply to other aerospace components. “We now have an agreement with Dowty for repair and refurbishment of propellers and related components for the Dash8400 aircrat and we’re also talking to other aerospace companies in the area who have a need for this. hey don’t have to send their components overseas for this because we can now do it locally. “Once we had the ability for the thermal spray we then went and bought a new milling machine to enable us to more quickly and accurately machine back down to the appropriate sizes on those components. So in getting the capability to restore components for the 250 engine, we’ve now been able to apply that to other components.” Asia Paciic Aerospace’s thermal spray system reapplies internal coatings during engine rebuilds.
84 | February 2017 | www.australiandefence.com.au
SME SPOTLIGHT APA
Asia experience APA’s civil customer base is largely Australian, but Australia’s proximity to Asia, and the fact that the company’s test cells are the only correlated examples in the region, have also created a significant market from Asian operators. APA has an office in Singapore, and the company is also working to penetrate the Japanese market. The ADF contract provided initial stability and cash flow for APA, allowing the company to branch out in to other markets. In addition to civil market development, APA is about to deliver its irst GE T700 for the Royal NZ Navy’s Kaman Seasprite helicopters, which were purchased from Australia along with various spares and ordnance.
“GE has also been extremely supportive. As an OEM they couldn’t have been more gracious to an SME.” “We’ve also done some T700s for Malaysia and hailand, and that’s an area we’re hoping to build. We’re doing some work with GE and they’re helping us to support those markets,” Brown said. Brown’s advice to potential defence suppliers is that the stability such a contract can bring is well worth the efort, particularly as Defence as an existing customer is a diferent kettle of ish from Defence as a prospect. “Defence can be diicult to deal with when you’re bidding or trying to win that irst contract, but once you’ve got a contract they’re probably the best customer you’re ever going to have. hey pay on time, they’re very pragmatic. Once they get bedded down you rarely ever hear a complaint about a sustainment program in Australia. As long as you’re doing the right thing by the OEM and the customer, they’ll support you.” 86 | February 2017 | www.australiandefence.com.au
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AIR C2
DEFENCE
Corporal Michael Armstrong consults his laptop computer while installing a new computer network at Camp Smitty in southeast Iraq.
Making the most of a consolidated C2 framework IDEALLY, this information should be converted to knowledge and insight that supports tactical, operational and strategic decision making, provided staf have full and easy access to the information and can apply efective metric based analysis reporting. Computer based C2 systems are not solely restricted to operational information and processing as many also include training courses, asset management and personnel status. his in turn opens up access to historical information relating to unit currencies, personnel currencies, asset utilisation, course results and much more. Unlocking the historical trove of information within these systems will allow the savvy operator to identify trends, determine the impacts of procedural change and perform “what if” analysis to assess potential future changes. Unfortunately, this information remains locked within a system unless staf are able to easily extract the information as and 88 | February 2017 | www.australiandefence.com.au
GRANT MCHERRON | MELBOURNE
As Defence Forces around the world increasingly utilise computer based Command and Control (C2) systems, they are accumulating an enormous amount of information relating to operations at the unit level within their databases. when they require, and in a format to suit their need. While most C2 systems are installed on a Force’s servers and networks, in many cases their information can only be accessed through the system’s screens and existing reports. A handful of data extract reports are then provided which produce spreadsheets that are subsequently used by staf to perform further reporting. Additional updates made by staf to these spreadsheets can introduce errors and omissions if information
is manipulated incorrectly or by accident. Staf must be able to produce and run ad hoc reports directly on a system’s database using applications such as Crystal Reports or Microsot SQL Server Reporting Services, and not incur the costs and delays associated with engaging the system vendor for each new or changed report. Staf also require a data dictionary that describes the data elements and their relationships within the database in order to facilitate efective report production. Your
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AIR C2 Predeployment training can also beneit greatly from enhanced C2 systems.
C2 system vendor should be able to provide training and guidance for staf in the use of these tools and the best way to navigate the data elements and relationships within their system. Once established, these tools will allow trained and authorised staf to produce and quickly tailor reports that best suit the changing needs of the Force.
Meaningful comparisons
DEFENCE
With access to information and reporting tools in place, it is important to be able to perform comparisons across units and asset types using common assessment elements such as availability, utilisation and readiness. To facilitate this, senior managers must avoid creating silos of information around assets or divisions. If a C2 system is only managing a speciic asset or division, signiicant efort will be required to include its information in whole-of-Force reporting. An additional barrier to information analysis across an entire Force is a lack of common structures and classiications for assessment elements such as qualiications, mission outcomes and training results. he speciication of common assessment elements must be driven from the headquarters level and used by all units to provide resources into the creation of a single, whole-of-Force information store. Referred to as a data warehouse, such a system will receive or extract information from the various C2 systems and apply business rules to convert each system’s assessment element classiications into the common values established previously at the headquarters level. he creation of a data warehouse involves determining which systems will be involved, specifying the business rules associated with transforming their information and negotiating with vendors to set up regular extraction processes. he data warehouse will require its own computer hardware with associated maintenance and backups and will require ongoing reviews and updates as business rules are impacted by changes in processes and C2 systems. he efort required to produce a data warehouse can be considerable but is oten the only solution when attempting to provide whole-of-Force reporting and analysis without a common C2 system. Once the necessary tools, training, au-
“New C2 systems must be assessed against their ability to interface with existing systems to avoid the creation of information silos.� a solid foundation for common reporting across the entire Force. Having a shared C2 system for all assets and divisions with centralised management will facilitate this. Removal of information silos and the establishment of a common classiication system will enable comparative benchmarking across the entire Force, facilitating the identiication of issues that may have common organisational root causes or be speciic to a given asset or division. Without this environment, signiicant efort will be required to produce reports and perform detailed analysis of the information contained within C2 systems. Defence Forces that are unable to remove the silos created by separate C2 systems or incompatible classiications for assessment elements are faced with the need to invest 90 | February 2017 | www.australiandefence.com.au
thorisations and access to whole-of-Force information in place, the focus can then be placed on producing efective reports. Reports must be aligned with the key objectives of the unit, division and entire Force to avoid an overload of information that will hinder the insights and knowledge that can support tactical, operational and strategic decision making. Efective metrics and comparisons are necessary to highlight the patterns and issues contained within the information.
Operational gains From an operational perspective, key metrics such as asset availability, asset utilisation and mission loss rate including cancellation reasons can highlight the impacts of changes to maintenance processes and spares management. Comparisons and benchmarking across units and divisions can identify areas of improvement, highlight developing issues or provide evidence of the impact of aging assets on availability. While it is likely that vendor assistance and development may be required to report automatically against complicated Force Readiness Directives, efective reviews of operator currencies and qualiications can
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AIR C2
be generated to assist with assessing readiness at all levels of the Force. Well-designed reports that monitor operator hours and missions will ensure opportunities are balanced across all available operators. Training assessment metrics are capable of going beyond simply reviewing failure rates and general course results as the information captured can be used to gauge exam efectiveness and analyse responses to individual questions. hese advanced level analytics can identify questions that need to be re-written and course materials that should be updated. hey can also identify students who are struggling to pass and improve consistency across instructors. Selection of the relevant metrics to use when assessing information from C2 systems is best performed by the Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) within a Defence Force. Working together with trained reporting staf the SMEs can apply metric analysis to extract the insights and knowledge that support decision making across the entire Defence Force.
92 | February 2017 | www.australiandefence.com.au
As experience is gained using the reports, the SMEs and report producers can rapidly improve, replace and expand the reports to derive additional beneits without requiring the ongoing costs and delays associated with vendor-developed reports. Computer based C2 systems in use with Defence Forces globally contain a wealth of information that can support strategic, tactical and operational decision making across the entire Force. he application of efective metrics aligned with the Force’s objectives can produce insights and knowledge from that information when they are applied across all the Force’s assets and divisions. he application of metrics via wholeof-Force reporting is facilitated by having trained, authorised staf using reporting tools and by the elimination of information silos through common C2 systems and assessment elements.
Value of consolidation Given this, Defence Forces should be considering their computer based C2 systems
and consolidating them where possible across all assets and divisions. New C2 systems must be assessed against their ability to interface with existing systems to avoid the creation of information silos. If a single C2 system is not possible, a data warehouse will be required to ensure whole-of-force reporting and analytics can be achieved. Defence Forces should also be providing selected staf with the tools and training necessary to facilitate the rapid production of reports to extract information from their C2 systems. Insights and knowledge can be obtained from the information in C2 systems but the identiied issues must be addressed to facilitate access and analysis through the application of efective metrics. Grant is a Project Manager with Ocean Software, a Melbourne based provider of software and services for military and commercial aviation organisations around the world. Grant has a passion for aviation combined with an extensive career in the production and delivery of information systems.
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SME SPOTLIGHT ORBITAL
Orbital:
little engines with big plans
PHILIP SMART | ADELAIDE
In December 2016 Perthbased Orbital Corporation announced it had signed an agreement to provide engines for Boeing’s Insitu UAV division, maker of the ScanEagle UAV.
94 | February 2017 | www.australiandefence.com.au
IN a deal worth up to $120 million, Orbital’s UAV business will supply its small piston-engine N20 propulsion system, co-developed with Insitu, for the next three years. But all involved are confident this is just the beginning of a longer-term relationship, underlined by Orbital’s intent to establish an operating base near Insitu’s Oregon plant to support, refurbish and perhaps later manufacture the engines. “It’s inevitable that if that’s where the customer is, that’s where the requirement is,” Orbital CEO and managing director Terry Stinson said to ADM. “We want to be strategically close, logistically close to them so we can address any issues that arise and make sure we are providing the best level of customer satisfaction.
“But also these propulsion systems can be rebuilt two or three times. he UAV will come back to Oregon from wherever it is deployed so we want to be close there, because taking that engine unit and shipping it all the way back to Perth doesn’t make any sense. But from an Australian industry perspective, our plan is to keep our core here. We’ll have capabilities in both places.” Both companies see good reason to establish a relationship for the future. he US Department of Defence estimates that between 2015 and 2035 the leet of drones operated by US Government agencies alone will grow from a few hundred to around 10,000. he global market is expected to be worth US$28 billion by 2022, with the military sector tipped to grow at around 38 per cent per year to US$13.9 billion by 2026.
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Insitu’s ScanEagle UAV is a small, long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle that can be launched from land or sea platforms.
Orbital bills its N20 propulsion system as the irst reciprocating internal combustion engine designed speciically for UAV applications. “he new technology delivers enhancements not available on other aircrat in the same class, including real-time monitoring and diagnostics of all critical systems, sensor and actuator redundancy and extensive ‘black box’ recording ability,� Stinson said. “he engine is integrated with Orbital-designed and supplied compact fuel and oil tank modules in to a complete stand-alone propulsion system, simplifying the assembly of the UAV and allowing easy in-ield servicing.�
History Orbital is the descendant of the company started by inventor Ralph Sarich in the www.australiandefence.com.au | February 2017 | 95
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SME SPOTLIGHT ORBITAL
Orbital UAVE head of engineering John Tubb (left) and CEO and managing director Terry Stinson with an N20 propulsion unit destined for an Insitu ScanEagle UAV.
ORBITAL
1970s to develop his radical “orbital engine”. Rather than reciprocating pistons, Sarich’s design saw a prism-shaped rotor orbiting inside a housing, with the rotor’s motion alternately sealing of sections of the chamber that would be charged with an air/fuel mixture for combustion to produce power. Rather than rotate like a rotary engine, the rotor would “orbit” inside the chamber. Technical diiculties, including issues of cooling and lubrication, prevented the engine from ever reaching production. But feeding an air/fuel mixture to such a precisely-controlled system required a fuel injection unit that was way ahead of its time. Ironically, it was the fuel injection unit that helped the company prosper. “At the time it was radical in the sense that it mixed air with fuel and injected it directly in to the cylinder,” Stinson, who came to know Orbital as head of advanced product and process development for Mercury Marine engines, said. “Today many
its irst big break was to Insitu competitor Textron for its Aerosonde UAV. “We did a system for Textron that performed very well, and that got the attention of Insitu, so it evolved from one customer to the next.” “We’re experts at small, lightweight twostroke engines,” Stinson said. “We’ve designed many of them, some for customers which they brand name themselves.” Orbital’s fuel injection system has also solved traditional fuel consumption and eficiency issues with the humble two-stroke engine, putting the company at the front of the pack for the ever-growing UAV market. “If you’ve got the best combustion system then you’re going to get the endurance,” Stinson said. “But there are other factors related to that, such as a good power-toweight ratio. “he control we have over our fuel injection also allows us to have state-of-the-art altitude compensation. We run great at 3,000 feet, we run great at 5,000 feet and at 10,000. “And another is the ability for cold start. With many of these applications, especially in defence, you end up in a very cold place and you have to launch the UAV. To start a spark-ignited piston engine that is running
“The control we have over our fuel injection also allows us to have state-of-the-art altitude compensation." engines have that, but back then direct injection was state of the art. You have to have a quantum leap in processing power to be able to put the fuel and air in to the cylinder with such precise timing to be able to do it every cycle. And if you look at what that can deliver from an eiciency point of view it’s very signiicant.” Mercury wanted the system on its engines, but Orbital didn’t have the manufacturing capability to supply, so the two companies formed a joint venture. he system was a success, in some cases demonstrating up to 50 per cent improvement in fuel economy on Mercury’s high-end outboard engines. It also proved very adaptable, as shown by a later project to convert a US military Polaris all terrain vehicle to run on heavy fuel and in motorcycle and jet ski applications for companies such as Aprilia, Piaggio and Seadoo. Orbital then expanded in to lightweight engines of its own design as well as research and development for customers. Ironically, 96 | February 2017 | www.australiandefence.com.au
on heavy fuel when it’s below zero is diicult when the fuel is so thick. Our competitors’ technology doesn’t allow them to start in, say, 20 below zero. We can.”
Future growth Orbital has plans to pursue other market sectors, including larger UAV aircrat. “We’re now on very small engines, but our technology will scale up to larger engines. he Mercury Optimax (marine outboard) engine goes up to 400 horsepower. So the next segment of the market is the planes that are larger. One of the most famous of course is the Predator from General Atomics. “he other market we are actively pursuing is vertical takeof and landing, which is the fastest growing part of the market. “We’re inquisitive and we’re looking at other high-value, high-tech niche type products where we can add value. Just in the UAV, we’re on the cusp of a few diferent product launches. UAV is well on its way now, and the plan is to grow Orbital and to realise what it was always expected to realise, to be a big, successful Australian company. “But we don’t want to lose our Australian core. We have the largest small-engine test facility in the southern hemisphere. We’re going to keep the capability to do the current product that we have, where we can build both products for current customers. We want to keep that capability in Australia.”
AIR SME SPOTLIGHT
PATRICK DURRANT | SYDNEY
Since signing the Jet Aircraft Support Contract in 2015 for ADF training support tasks including Aerial Target Towing, Air Affairs Australia has been experiencing a period of exponential growth.
It’s an Air Affair ESTABLISHED in 1995, Air Afairs Aus-
tralia (AAA), is a fully Australian owned aviation operations and engineering company based in Nowra, NSW. Since then it has become a leader in the provision of specialised airborne and engineering services, operating a leet of special mission Learjet and Kingair aircrat, and providing specialised air training support services to the ADF. Managing director Chris Sievers told ADM the company is looking forward to providing more services during a period of very high operational demand on Australian forces. Recently, in October last year, AAA was also awarded the Common Services Support (CSS) contract with the Commonwealth. “Award of this long term contract will en-
able Air Afairs to further expand its aviation presence and provide employment for highly skilled technicians in regional NSW,” Sievers said, adding the company had already hired 35 additional employees as a result of the earlier Jet Aircrat Support Contract. he CSS contract will require AAA to provide the Commonwealth with aviation life support equipment, non-destructive testing, logistics support, ground support equipment, aircrat battery support and helicopter corrosion control services as well as ad hoc workshop support. “he majority of these services will be delivered from new purpose built facilities within our aviation precinct located at Albatross Aviation Technology Park in Yerriyong, NSW,” Sievers said.
Local content In keeping with AAA’s philosophy to promote Australian Industry, it will be supported by two Australian subcontractors – Red Baron
An Air Affairs Learjet 35A with a MTR-101 reeling machine itted, towing a TGX target. 98 | February 2017 | www.australiandefence.com.au
Aviation Life Support and BEAK Engineering (Aust). “his has removed the risk of service disruption by maintaining local support networks while carefully choosing subcontractors with proven experience and performance in supporting the RAN for the applicable work scope,” Sievers added. he Yerriyong facility, according to Sievers, provides a complete design through to manufacture and certiication capability. “It currently supports the manufacture and support for the MTR-101 Reeling Machine, AIRPOD 101 Utility Airborne Pod system and an array of airborne tow and drone target systems,” he said. One of these target systems is the Phoenix Unmanned Aerial Target Drone, which was developed and manufactured by AAA and now provides an extremely cost efective unmanned target drone solution for the ADF. With its extensive design and manufacturing capabilities, and as an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) for several products required for Defence operations, AAA supports maintenance and repair activities. “We also provide design and development support directly to Navy Aviation System Program Oice for repair schemes for obsolete parts, including development of new parts and development of installa-
Air Affairs developed and manufactures the Phoenix target drone displayed here along with launcher system.
tion designs for equipment to be itted into RAN aircrat,” Sievers said. “We’re also ISO 9001 Quality Certiied, Australian Defence Security cleared and provide aircrat operations and maintenance under full CASA certiication,” he said.
Civil ISR Aside from the special missions to support ADF training, AAA’s Learjets and Kingair aircrat also fulil other roles, including turn-key high altitude bushire reconnaissance services. he company recently secured a contract for provision of Airborne Strategic Intelligence and Reconnaissance (ASIR) services, for the NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) and the Victorian Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP). “he contract, negotiated through the National Aerial Fireighting Centre, provides for a total of four high altitude Learjet and Kingair aircrat conigured with Infrared Line Scanning Systems and satellite communications equipment providing a
full turn-key service primarily to the NSW and Victorian ire authorities,” Sievers said. hrough a more lexible aircrat utilisation arrangement, the aircrat will be accessible for support ASIR services to other ire authorities throughout Australia during bushire emergencies. Indeed, AAA has been providing ASIR services in Australia since 1994, and recently committed to developing and further enhancing the ASIR capability, speciically for bushire and other emergency light operations. With focus on systems developed for fast, high altitude platforms, the service uses multiple Learjets as primary response aircrat. “hough Air Afairs have utilised Learjets previously for high altitude bushire surveillance on a Call When Needed (CWN) basis, it is the irst time a high performance jet aircrat has been used under contract for bushire ASIR services in Australia,” Sievers said. “It is also the irst time an ASIR capability has been provided to multiple states in Australia, under a sole service provider arrangement.”
Littoral Superiority LONG RANGE SURVEILLANCE
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DEFENCE INDUSTRY PROFILES
NSW
Getting the good oil system is overcoming the barriers faced by traditional oil analysis methods and adherence to hours-based maintenance schedules. By introducing real time oil analysis, System 7 ofers the ability to adopt a proactive condition-based maintenance regime based on quantitative data as opposed to inferior, qualitative methods that can result in over maintenance and increased equipment downtime. Utilising a proactive oil condition monitoring system increases equipment availability and reliability leading to improved productivity and equipment life cycle costs. Oil is the lifeblood of any piece of equipment and the instant it is used, its condition starts to deteriorate, caused by general stress of use and the introduction of contaminants such as acid, water, coolant, soot and particles. As it wears, the oil’s chemical properties change and produce polar compounds, which are associated with and a sign of oil degradation. As the oil deteriorates, so too does its performance, with a direct and material efect on the equipment of increased wear and reduced eiciency. Poor quality oil can cause major reliability and eiciency issues resulting in signiicant maintenance costs and reduced productivity.
SYSTEM 7
SYSTEM 7s real time condition monitoring
Previously a number of technologies have allowed for a degree of real time oil analysis to be performed. hese sensors are categorised into Speciic Reading Sensors, which focus on a single parameter such as particle count, or Broad Spectrum Sensors which focus on the overall condition of the oil. Speciic Reading Sensors give a speciic output for a single parameter. hey are lim-
FOR DEFENCE STAFF ONLY.
ited in their application as they focus on a single parameter only, whereas in reality, oil quality is very complex. Broad spectrum sensors use a complex measurement system to assess overall oil condition. he System 7 Oil Quality System is a broad spectrum sensor that uses a unique patented measurement method to measure the ratio between conductance (the ability
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to conduct current) and capacitance (the oil’s ability to store energy) to give an accurate single index value of oil condition. Which brings us back to the polar compounds produced throughout degradation of oil. he relationship between the capacitance and conductance directly correlates to the polar compounds within the oil. he ratio of these two factors (the loss factor) is measured in order to determine the change (and therefore damage) that has occurred to the oil. Unlike other sensors, the System 7 Oil Quality System processes all the data at source in order to export a simple overall condition igure of an oil. his data can be used to detect and prevent equipment failure as each failure mode displays a unique trend and pattern. his access to real time oil condition data has a signiicant efect on the type of maintenance schedule planning chosen, and we are seeing a shit from traditional timebased maintenance planning, to a more proactive and efective condition-based maintenance planning. he constant challenge for any equipment operator is the balance of maintenance whilst in operation. he more maintenance, the less wear and breakdowns, but less productivity and increased costs – with the opposite being the case when maintenance schedules are extended. he ability to accurately and reliably measure the condition of a machine’s oil in real time whilst in operation enables operators to make maintenance decisions based upon condition rather than an hours-based schedule. he technology also beneits operators using hours-based servicing, as it is common for intervals to be disrupted due to lack of available resources. In most instances it is via random selection as to which piece of equipment will be serviced and which will be pushed beyond the service interval. Using real time oil condition monitoring allows for informed decision to be made as to which items get serviced and which can have their intervals extended. Real time oil analysis ofers the ability to adopt a proactive condition-based maintenance regime based on quantitative data as opposed to inferior, qualitative methods that result in over maintenance or increased equipment downtime. Utilising a proactive oil condition monitoring system can increase equipment availability and reliability leading to improved productivity and equipment life cycle costs. www.australiandefence.com.au | February 2017 | 101
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DEFENCE INDUSTRY PROFILES
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Advantage Wollongong Level 3, Block E 84 Crown St Wollongong, NSW 2500 Tel: (02) 4222 8338 Key Contact: Rob Little Mobile Phone: 0407 666 109 Email: rob.little@industry.nsw.gov.au Web Address: www.advantagewollongong.com.au Wollongong is a city transformed. It has a well-developed and sophisticated innovation ecosystem that places it at the cutting edge of applied research and industry collaboration. This focus on innovation ensures that that the ADF maintains its’ technological edge. The ADF’s submarines, frigates, Air Warfare Destroyers and Bushmasters all relying on Wollongong research, technology and advanced manufactured product to operate effectively and keep our service people safe. Learn how the Wollongong advantage can translate into your defence advantage.
Austest Laboratories 2/9 Packard Ave Castle Hill NSW 2154 Tel: (02) 9680 9990 Key Contact: Martin Garwood Email: austest@austest.com.au Web Address: www.austest.com.au AUSTEST LABORATORIES is a product and component testing company, offering fully accredited DO-160 and MIL-STD Testing covering EMC emissions (up to 40GHz), susceptibility (up to 200V per metre to 18GHz), environmental standards from vibration and shock, temperature and humidity, UV, Ingress Protection, corrosion, altitude and pressure, plus electrical safety serving the aerospace and defence sectors.
Australian Aerospace Engineering Pty Ltd 635 Dights Forest Rd Table Top NSW 2640 Tel: (02) 6026 2614 Key Contact: Adam Johnston Mobile Phone: 0428 572 461 Email: aaepl@austaerospace.com Web Address: www.austaerospace.com Strategically located in Albury NSW and established in 2005, AAE is a premier ly in, ly out helicopter maintenance repair and overhaul facility with manufacturing capability and aeronautical product distribution. AAE specialises in deep-level airframe maintenance, structural repair, dynamic and structural component maintenance and aeronautical product manufacturing. 102 | February 2017 | www.australiandefence.com.au
AAE warehouses a parts store with over 15,000 line items and is a distributor of aerospace and mil-spec hardware with overnight dispatch.
Bohemia Interactive Simulations Building A, Unit 2 1 Technology Place Williamtown NSW 2318 Tel: (02) 4984 2559 Key Contact: Jett Russell Email: jett.russell@bisimulations.com Web Address: www.bisimulations.com Bohemia Interactive Simulations is a world leader in providing simulation technologies and integrated training solutions for military and civilian organizations around the globe. Virtual Battlespace (VBS), our signature product, has evolved over the years to a sophisticated open platform affording customers virtual environments for multi-participant training across a wide range of critical areas.
The University of Newcastle University Drive Callaghan. NSW 2308 Tel: (02) 4921 8777 Key Contact: Ian Dick Mobile: 0408 431 850 Email: ian.dick@newcastle.edu.au Web Address: www.newcastle.edu.au Stand Number: 2G6 University of Newcastle (UON) is a research-intensive institution with an exceptional record of achievement. Ranked in the top 3% of universities in the world, we are achieving research outcomes and excellence that registers on the global stage through collaboration with research peers, industry and the community. Defence and Security Research and Innovation Hub, http://www.newcastle.edu.au/research-and-innovation/ innovation/clusters/defence/about • Defence growing research focus. • Encourages greater engagement between researchers and Defence. • Offers support for innovative solutions and research translation from concept to systems. • Defence Industry Scholarships
VARLEY Group 21 School Drive Tomago NSW 2322 Tel: (02) 4964 0400 Key Contact: Victor Ugarte – General Manager, Defence & Aerospace Mobile Phone: 0419 267 846 Email Address: defence@varleygroup. com Web Address: www.varleygroup.com Stand number: 2G6
Varley is a leading Australian supplier of innovative engineered solutions to Defence & Aerospace customers. Varley specialises in the deployment of tactical mission systems and logistics assets by air, land and sea, and has extensive experience in Design, Development, Manufacture and Through Life Support of Aircraft Ground Support Equipment, Military Hard Shelters, Vehicle Bodies, Modules & Fit Outs, Lightweight & Heavy Trailers and Specialised Storage & Transport Containers.
QLD
AIR360 (Pty) Ltd Unit 5, 28 Newheath Drive Arundel QLD 4214 Tel: 1300 442 916 Key Contact: Jason Hazell Mobile Phone: 0416 593 540 Email: jason@air360.com.au Web Address: www.air360.com.au Stand Number: 2F24 AIR360 provides parts manufacturing, consulting and aerospace technical support to governments, defence contractors, non-government organisations and commercial aviation. We have a reputation for delivering an agile, cost effective and responsive service. We are CASA approved to manufacture a range of new aircraft parts including any type of machined metal parts, sheet metal parts, cabin loorboards, stowage’s, carpets and curtains. We also provide audit services, author QMS manual suites, conduct aerodrome inspections and deliver aerodrome development solutions.
Ferra Engineering Pty Ltd 344 New Cleveland Road Tingalpa, Qld 4173 Tel: (07) 3907 9800 Key Contact: Kevin Rutter Mobile Phone: 0448 502 329 Email: kevin.rutter@ferra-group.com Web Address: www.ferra.com.au For almost 25 years, Ferra has partnered with commercial aerospace companies and defence forces to develop programs, establish platforms and provide an everincreasing range of highly specialised products and engineering services. Specialising in designing, manufacturing and assembling fully integrated aerospace structures and sub-systems, we have advanced to the point where we are now one of the largest and most successful independently owned Australian manufacturers. We are now a fully global organisation with ofices in Los Angeles, Oklahoma, Bangalore, and Australia.
Photo © 2017 Lockheed Martin Corporation.
NSW DEFENCE STRONG, SMART AND CONNECTED STRONG 80+ Defence bases and facilities 30% of Australia’s military and Defence civilian personnel Australia’s largest state economy with strong prime contractor presence
SMART World-class research and development institutions Leading number of Defence-related skilled workers Diversified skills base, aligned to Defence growth key areas
CONNECTED Internationally competitive supply chain World-leading infrastructure Extensive regional Defence and Defence industry presence
Visit us at Avalon 2017
STAND # defence.nsw.gov.au
2G6
DEFENCE INDUSTRY PROFILES
L3 Micreo 7 Hi-Tech Court Eight Mile Plains Qld 4113 Tel: (07) 3340 6200 Key Contact: Mark Pezaro (Business Development Manager) Mobile Phone: 0408 038 868 Email: mark.pezaro@micreo.com Web Address: www.L3T.com/micreo Stand Number: 2F24 L3 Micreo is a world leader in high quality design and production of RF and photonic products for radar and electronic warfare systems. Acquired by L3 TRL in 2016 (part of L3 Technologies, a leading US defence supplier), L3 Micreo is located in Brisbane. With AS9100C compliant cleanroom manufacturing space and advanced test and assembly equipment, L3 Micreo has the critical infrastructure and services to design and manufacture complex aerospace-grade electronics hardware.
Orion Solar Pty Ltd 36/30 Mudgeeraba Road Worongary QLD 4213 Tel: (07) 5559 1666 Key Contact: Richard Holliday General Manager Mobile Phone: 0414 982 116 Email: richard@orionsolar.com.au Web Address: www.orionsolar.com.au Orion Solar Pty Ltd has been supplying and supporting solar powered LED lighting solutions for aviation, marine, roads, public areas and remote work sites throughout Australia since 2004. Orion partners with worldwide defence suppliers including the following: • Carmanah Technologies Corp., Canada • Sabik Marine, Finland • Sol, US • plus other suppliers from Europe and China. Orion operates a development, assembly and support centre from Worongary Queensland and has supplied solar lighting solutions throughout Australia, NZ, Papua New Guinea and the Paciic Islands.
TAE Hangar 71, Aviation Street RAAF Base Amberley QLD 4306 Tel: (07) 3282 9911 Key Contact: Andrew Sanderson, CEO Mobile Phone: 0411 680 696 Email: Andrew.Sanderson@tae.com.au Web Address: www.tae.com.au Stand Number: 2F24 TAE is an aerospace company which operates globally from headquarters in Australia. We specialise in gas turbine engine 104 | February 2017 | www.australiandefence.com.au
QLD
TAE launches new fountx wearable technology IN February, Australian-based aerospace company TAE released its new fountx wearable technology to the aerospace and defence markets. fountx is based on many years of groundbreaking human factors research by the CSIRO. It is unique, wearable technology that gives workers access to a virtual pair of expert eyes, ears and hands to guide them through complex tasks. Unlike wearable technology designed for entertainment or the consumer market, fountx is purpose built for use in complex industrial environments. Moreover, the technology can be used straight away unlike many virtual and augmented reality systems that require much behind the scenes programming before being useful. he basic system comprises an operator headset and an expert station with multiple systems able to be connected together. hese run sotware that allows for fully immersive real-time communication. In particular, fountx allows the use of intuitive gesturing which delivers a natural user experience and greatly enhanced level of interaction unmatched by technologies of its type. he expert station can run as a standalone system or be connected to an existing network to integrate with existing systems. In a maintenance environment, fountx allows organisations to undertake repairs
and maintenance without the need to send specialists ofsite, thus saving time and money. It also enables organisations to make greater use of their existing trained staf as well as allowing those with only minimal training to perform highly specialised tasks, thus greatly improving the productivity and usefulness of even junior technical staf. fountx also enhances the quality and scope of technical support as staf can easily access information and resources that they could not historically have had onsite. he technology is also inding application in training environments where it allows organisations to efectively and eiciently train large groups of staf and enhance training outcomes. With fountx, a wide range of complex technical and engineering tasks become faster, cheaper and easier. Overall, it promises to reduce maintenance downtime and improve service quality. fountx is a welcome new addition to TAE’s line-up of services including a provider of gas-turbine engine MRO services as well as engine test cell design and support, low cost health and usage monitoring systems, advanced manufacturing, avionics, fuel and electrical component maintenance, aircrat wheels and brakes and materials sales.
Department of State Development
Q UEENSLAND FOR DEFENCE INDUSTRIES Visit us at Avalon 2017 to learn more about Queensland’s capability (Stand number 2F24, Hall 2) alll Email Visit
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DEFENCE INDUSTRY PROFILES
QLD
Frequentis in the air FREQUENTIS designs, manufactures and
DEFENCE
integrates safety and mission-critical communication and information systems for the Royal Australian Air Force, US Military and coalition forces worldwide. In Australia, Frequentis supports key systems for Vigilare and TADRS and will provide the communication systems for Defence as part of the OneSKY program. ADM asked Martin Rampl, Managing Director of Frequentis Australasia, how the company perceives future opportunities in Australia? “Frequentis Australasia provides in-country expertise for project management, solution design, system integration and logistics
MRO; aerospace component MRO and manufacture; specialised engineering support and the design, development and upgrade of gas turbine engine test cells. We also provide enabling technologies for the aerospace and defence industries. A recent innovation is fountx, our new augmented-reality wearable technology to help you reduce aircraft maintenance downtime and associated costs. You can be among the irst to experience fountx at Avalon. Come and see us at Stand 2F24.
South Australia
Airspeed Pty Ltd 2-6 Douglas Drive Mawson Lakes Technology Park SA 5095 Tel: (08) 8262 3111 Key Contact: Steve Barlow Email: admin@airspeed.com.au Web Address: www.airspeed.com.au Stand Number: 3L19 Extensive experience in the design of composite structures using empirical methods, inite element analysis, computational luid dynamics and RF transmissivity analysis tools. Aerospace manufacturing using our multi-axis ilament winder, autoclave and curing ovens for cored or monolithic carbon, aramid and glass structures. OEM for a suite of airborne equipment pods qualiied on military aircraft including F/A-18 'Classic' and Super Hornet, Hawk, F-111 & PC-9.CASA Part 21 delegation approved modiications to civil-registered aircraft.
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APC Technology 991 Port Road Cheltenham SA 5014 Tel: (08) 8363 0400 Key Contact: Kevin Young Mobile Phone: 0414 951 346 Email: kyoung@apctechnology.com.au Web Address: www.apctechnology. com.au Stand Number: 3L19 APC Technology use advanced manufacturing techniques to design and manufacture state of the art computer & control technology solutions. With 30+ years of proven capability, we supply MIL-SPEC & GVA compliant COTS, MOTS and custom solutions to the aerospace, aviation and defence sectors. Capabilities include in-house design, manufacture and testing; sustainment options & cutting edge prototyping. Solutions include consoles, panel PCs, displays, mission systems, sensor fusion and quality of life systems. APC Technology has a MOU with ST Aerospace and is a member of the Australian Aerospace Alliance.
Codan Defence Electronics 2 Second Avenue Mawson Lakes, SA 5095 Tel: (08) 8305 0311 Key Contact: Mike Holmes Mobile Phone: 0423 783 230 Email: mike.holmes@codandefence. com.au Web Address: www.codandefence.com.au Codan Defence Electronics is a robust,
support. Together with support from our Global Headquarters and Frequentis USA, in-depth expertise in system design and certiied Red/Black communications networthiness are provided to our Australian customers. We have US contracts in place with USAF, USN, US Army and FAA.” “We look forward to continuing our trusted partner relationship with the RAAF with planned upgrades of current operational systems and under the emerging program of Air 6500. Frequentis’ forward leaning technology and investment in research and development, will facilitate the implementation of the most advanced secure communication systems in the world.” independent strategic partner who can design, develop, deploy and support world-class electronics solutions to address unique technology challenges. Headquartered in Adelaide, South Australia, Codan Defence Electronics is uniquely positioned to solve complex electronic challenges through agile engineering, advanced manufacturing, and comprehensive through-life support. Codan Defence Electronics is well qualiied to bring 3rd party systems to the Australian Defence market, backed up by our support infrastructure and technical support team.
DEC Workforce PO Box 561 Glenelg SA 5045 Key Contact: Shane De Clouett Mobile Phone: 0428 673 449 Email: shane@decworkforce.com.au Web Address: www.decworkforce.com.au Stand Number: Defence SA DEC Workforce is an Australian owned and operated company specialising in the supply of aircraft personnel to the aviation industry both nationally and internationally. A leading provider of support personnel in aircraft maintenance facilities and line maintenance operations throughout Australia and the Paciic, DEC Workforce currently employ highly skilled engineers and support personnel in all sectors of the industry including military, commercial and civil aviation. Maintaining our own internal policy and procedures set out in our QMS/
SOUTH AUSTRALIA STANDS READY TO PARTNER WITH DEFENCE AND INDUSTRY TO DELIVER FIFTH GENERATION AEROSPACE CAPABILITIES With leading-edge research and training facilities, skilled workforce and world-class defence industry, :(·5( :(// (48,33(' With a major Defence presence, unique test and training ranges and proven track record of delivering complex defence projects, :(·5( :(// 35(3$5(' With total State commitment and a supportive and competitive business environment, :(·5( :(// 6,78$7(' :KHQ \RX·UH ZHOO HTXLSSHG ZHOO SUHSDUHG DQG ZHOO VLWXDWHG \RX·UH LQ WKH EHVW VWDWH WR GHIHQG $QG WKH EHVW VWDWH LV 6287+ $8675$/,$ ² 7+( '()(1&( 67$7(
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DEFENCE INDUSTRY PROFILES
DEFENCE
ISO9001 certiication. Our engineers receive ASIC cards, Human Factors training and DAMP testing prior to placement delivering a very high standard of engineer.
Dexata Corporation Suite 51 Innovation House Mawson Lakes Boulevard Mawson Lakes, SA 5095 Tel: (02) 4013 1891 Key Contact: Boris Novak Mobile Phone: 0407 984 402 Email: boris.novak@dexata.com Web Address: www.dexata.com Dexata is a proven supplier of breakthrough analytic capabilities within Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance and Command & Control. Experts in real time analytics at big-data scale, our systems convert huge volumes of sensor data into qualiied, actionable intelligence. We maximise the value of your existing ISR infrastructure, intelligence and people, to dramatically raise your comprehension of unfolding events.
Flinders University GPO Box 2100, Adelaide SA 5001 Tel: (08) 8201 3911 Key Contact: Tony Kyriacou Defence Partnerships Director Mobile: 0411 132 690 Email: tony.kyriacou@linders.edu.au Web Address: www.linders.edu.au/defence Stand: 3L19 Flinders University ranks amongst the world's top two per cent of universities, with a proud reputation for innovative research and excellence in teaching and learning. Strengths include defence and aerospace, engineering, and nanoscale technology. Ninety per centof Flinders University's research is ranked at or above world standard by Excellence in Research Australia. Its high tech innovation campus at Tonsley houses the Flinders New Venture Institute and engages students with leading business enterprises.
Mincham Aviation Hangar 51 Anderson Drive Paraield SA 5106 Tel: (08) 8283 2388 Key Contact: Darryl Mincham Mobile Phone: 0412 057 783 Email: darryl@minchamaviation.com Web Address: www.minchamaviation. com Mincham Aviation was established in 1996 and has rapidly grown to become one of Australia’s leading Aerospace &
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RUAG Australia 836 Mountain Highway Bayswater Vic 3153 Tel: (03) 9721 1300 Key Contact: Paul Donald Email: paul.donald@ruag.com Web Address: www.ruag.com.au Highly skilled in MRO, manufacturing, engineering, research & development and special processing, RUAG Australia serves as the partner of choice for customers seeking the best value expertise and services in component manufacture and support. RUAG Australia is dedicated to working collaboratively with trusted partners and is proud of its continued involvement in the JSF programme. Combining authentic Australian innovation with Swiss precision, we ensure the highest availability of your aircraft.
Space Industry and R&D Collaborations Military Fabrication, Repair, Manufacturing & Design Technologies SMEs. We focus on supporting the Civil Aerospace and Defence communities with CASA/AS9100 and ISO accredited specialist competencies and skills in: • Advanced Composite/Sheet Metal Component Repair/Manufacture • Fabrication Technologies (Welding/ Machining/Heat Treatment/Metal Forming/Structures) • Advanced Surface Treatment (Electroplating/Painting) • Innovative Engineering Design/Approvals/Test and Evaluation
Norseld Pty Ltd 18 Lowe Street Adelaide SA 5000 Tel: (08) 8231 9000 Key Contact: Peter Shute Email: petrs@norseld.com Norseld has a world leading specialty coating capability referred to as Diamond Like Carbon (DLC) called CoolDiamond DLC. Our specialised capability can be applied across all four Defence domains. The Norseld process is unique in its superior quality and speed as well as being performed at room temperature. Norseld is an ISO9001:2008 holder and ISO13485:2003 holder (medical devices). Norseld is currently in discussion with a number of Defence Primes to undertake specialised coatings.
Defence SA PO Box 3643 Rundle Mall SA 5000 Level 4 151 Pirie Street Adelaide SA 5000 Tel: (08) 8463 7140 Key Contact: Nicola Sasanelli Mobile Phone: 0488 565 938 Email: nicola.sasanelli@defencesa.com Web Address: www.defencesa.com/capabilities/space Space Industry and R&D Collaborations at Defence SA fosters the growth and development of a vibrant innovation ecosystem in South Australia by supporting high-tech industries, universities, educational and research organisations in the space sector. The Space Innovation and Growth Strategy (South Australia): Action Plan 2016-2020 details the implementation through three key approaches (knowledge dissemination and awareness, industry and innovation, engaging international partnerships). The South Australian Space Capability Directory showcases more than 40 South Australian based organisations with space expertise.
Walter Breunig Intelligent Platforms Pty Ltd 11 Blackwood Park Blvd Craigburn Farm SA 5051 Tel: (08) 8278 9140 Key Contact: Walter Breunig Mobile Phone: 0417 075 517 Email: walter@wb-ip.com.au Web Address: www.wb-ip.com.au We provide COTS (Commercial Off
The Shelf) products required by system integrators who build or maintain embedded computing systems for difficult environments such as extreme temperature, shock, vibration, humidity, electromagnetic interference. Our products • Are based on open standards like VPX, VME, CompactPCI and others • Reduce time to market • Extend the lifetime of already deployed systems • Add functionality into existing operational systems • Satisfy size, weight and power demands
Victoria
Aerospace Materials 2/6 Ovata Drive Tullamarine Vic 3043 PO Box 188 Tullamarine Vic 3043 Tel: (03) 9338 6995 Key Contact: Lisa Mayoh Mobile Phone: 0439 187 701 Email: sales@aerospacemeterials.com.au Web Address: www.aerospacematerials.com.au Aerospace Materials is Australian Distributor for: • Hysol structural adhesives, • Hysol fairing and potting compounds • Turco, Bonderite and Loctite Maintenance Chemicals • PR&PS sealants • Alodine, Bonderite and Turco Surface Treatments • Aircraft Metals including Aluminium, Steels and Titanium • Airframe and Instrument Bearings • Windsclean anti Virus cleaners and window cleaners • Time and Temperature Sensitve and Dangerous Goods specialists • Products are fully traceable and cer tified to AS9120RevA & AS9120:2008 Hundreds of other chemicals in stock.
DESERT CAMO SERIES
OLIVE DRAB SERIES
All Sat Communications Unit 18, Knox Business Park, 111 Lewis Rd Wantirna South Vic 3152 Tel: 1300 747 587 Key Contact: Ian Veitch Mobile Phone: 0428 567 678 Email: sales@allsat.com.au Web Address: www.allsat.com.au Established in 2000, P I Plus Pty Ltd, trading as All Sat Communications, has developed into an industry leader for
NAVY BLUE SERIES
MASTEROFG.SHRIRO.COM.AU www.australiandefence.com.au | February 2017 | 109
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Constraint Technologies International Level 7, 224 Queen St Melbourne Vic 3000 Tel: (03) 9604 9800 Key Contact: Julian Warner Mobile Phone: 0409 969 187 Email: info@ constrainttec.com Web Address: www.constrainttec.com Constraint Technologies International Pty Ltd (CTI), is a software solutions provider to the Aviation and Rail marketplace. CTI provides mission critical 24x7 solutions plus optimisation platforms that enable customers to both generate future resource plans and generate recovery solutions that react to disruption events in real time. Our Situational Awareness solutions utilise our High Availability Layer & Rule Engine to provide industry leading visualisations, analysis and predictions of future problems.
Frazer-Nash Consultancy
expertise and knowledge in satellite communications in all applications. Our team has an extensive background in the Search & Rescue, Defence and Marine industries.
Amaero Additive Manufacturing 13 Normanby Road Notting Hill, Vic, 3168 Tel: (03) 9905 9847 Key Contact: Ben Batagol Mobile Phone: 0408 518 900 Email: Info@Amaero.com.au Web Address: www.amaero.com.au Amaero Additive Manufacturing is a global leader in 3D printing in metal. We focus on a range of markets including Aerospace and Defence sectors. We are able to build and repair large format components with a range of additive manufacturing technology. We have extensive experience working with multinational primes in Defence and Aerospace including with ITAR and secure projects. We have extensive experience in optimising and designing parts for Additive Manufacturing.
Cablex Virginia Park, Unit 8 South Drive 236-262 East Boundary Road East Bentleigh Vic 3165 Tel: (03) 9575 3088
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Key Contact: Paul Stokes Email: paul.stokes@cablex.com.au Web Address: www.cablex.com.au Cablex is Australia’s leading globally recognised AS9100 manufacturer and exporter of Defence and Aerospace products to Germany, France and the US including complex wiring harnesses, electromechanical assemblies, avionic bays, consoles and box build electrical enclosures. Cablex has significant experience in developing and building electrical systems for harsh environments and developing solutions where electrical noise is a critical factor.
Capral Limited 151 Barry Road Campbellield Vic 3061 Tel: (03) 9930 1500 Web Address: www.capral.com.au Capral is Australia's largest manufacturer, stockholder and distributor of aluminium products, including extruded and rolled products, hardware and value add inished product solutions. Capral's Campbellield site operates the largest industrial press in Australia and its twelve inch press can extrude lengths up to 17m. Campbellield also offer a complete range of VA solutions including the new seven axis robotic CNC.
Level 11,385 Bourke Street Melbourne Vic 3000 Tel: (03) 9037 2200 Key Contact: Steve Holloway Mobile Phone: 0413 042 773 Email: s.holloway@fncaustralia.com.au Web Address: www.fncaustralia.com.au Stand Number: 3L19 Frazer-Nash are an independent consultancy with extensive aerospace safety assurance experience in Australia and the UK. They provide engineering and technical services with the sole objective to deliver value to their customers through the application of leading subject matter experts, systems engineering skills and aerospace domain knowledge. Frazer-Nash have ofices in Adelaide, Melbourne and Canberra and are currently involved with a number of defence and civil projects across aerospace, rail, maritime, power and oil & gas sectors.
H&H Machine Tools 45 Fordson Rd Campbellield Vic 3061 Tel: (03) 9359 2000 Key Contact: Mobile Phone: 0411 141 819 Email: thegmann@h-h.com.au Web Address: http://www.h-h.com.au/ H&H is an Australian Company, based on Melbourne that designs and manufactures medium to large Five Axes Machine Tools. It is specialised in Precision ive axis gantry milling machines (PMM) for trimming and drilling of composites and machining of aerostructures from aluminium or titanium. H&H's are used for trimming and drilling of components for Boeing 787, 777X, A3xx for wing structures and engine cowlings.
Hofmann Engineering 292 Bay Road Cheltenham Vic 3192 Tel: (03) 8585 1800 Key Contact: Len Rogan Mobile Phone: 0418 312 961 Email: len.rogan@hofmannengineering. com Web Address: www.hofmannengineering.com Hofmann Engineering is a globally recognised engineering solutions provider to the aerospace industry, offering a range of specialised tooling to support the manufacture of metallic and composite components and aero structures, together with the machining of composite and metallic components. We are committed to provide high quality, on-time delivery of cost competitive goods and services for the aerospace and associated industries.
Latrobe Regional Airport 75 Airield Rd Morwell Vic 3840 Tel: (03) 5174 4702 Email: latrobe@latrobe.vic.gov.au
Web Address: www.latrobe.vic.gov.au/ Business_and_Investment/Latrobe_Regional_Airport/About_the_Latrobe_Regional_Airport The Latrobe Regional Airport is located 150 km south-east of Melbourne, between the cities of Morwell and Traralgon and is home to Mahindra/GippsAero Airvan 8 aircraft manufacturing facility. Latrobe Regional Airport has long been committed to development of new business opportunities for the area and the planned Latrobe City Aerospace Precinct is one component of a broader strategy building on the regions long history and reputation as the engineering capital of Australia.
LEAP Australia Pty Ltd Suite 6, 750 Blackburn Road Clayton North Vic 3168 Tel: 1300 88 22 40 Email: info@leapaust.com.au Web Address: www.leapaust.com.au LEAP is a leading provider of engineering, simulation and enterprise software and services for many industries including Aerospace and Defence. Since 1996, LEAP has assisted companies across
Australia and NZ to implement best in class technology solutions to modernise their product development tools and processes. Partnerships with leading global technology providers including ANSYS and PTC has recently expanded LEAP’s capabilities to include innovations such as the IoT and Augmented Reality.
Marand Precision Engineering 153 Keys Rd MOORABIN Vic 3189 Tel: (03) 8552 0600 Key Contact: Tony Ellul Mobile Phone: 0419 365 864 Email: tony_ellul@marand.com.au Web Address: www.marand.com.au Marand is a leading global supplier of precision-engineered solutions to a range of industries including Aerospace, Defence, Rail, Automotive and Mining. Marand customer base is predominantly blue-chip organisations including Lockheed Martin, BAE Systems, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto for which it designs and manufactures complex innovative equipment.
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Email: sales@pennantaust.com.au Web Address: www.pennantaust.com.au Pennant Australasia supplies professional integrated logistics and specialised training solutions for commercial and defence organisations throughout Australasia. Software Services: Facilitate the minimisation of operational costs whilst maximising eficiencies in the operation and support of complex equipment using OmegaPS and Analyzer. Training Systems: A turnkey service including training needs analysis, design, development, deliver and support its many training solutions, with a wide range of training technologies.
Ronson Gears
Memko 455 Bourke St Melbourne VIC 3000 Tel: (03) 8605 7777 Key Contact: Miro Miletic Mobile Phone: 0418 997 810 Email: info@memko.com.au Web Address: www.memko.com.au MEMKO provides design engineering approvals and continued airworthiness services and training to civil and military aircraft operators. Additionally, MEMKO is a leading provider of design, simulation and product data management software solutions, implementation services and training. Software supported includes brands such as CATIA, DELMIA and ENOVIA. Underpinning the business operation is our AS9100, and ISO9001 Quality Management System and CASA Part 21 approval.
Nezkot Pty Ltd 15 Enterprise Drive Bundoora Vic 3083 Tel: (03) 9467 8100 Key Contact: Adrian Sansonetti Mobile Phone: 0412 821 650 Email: adrian.sansonetti@nezkot.com Web Address: www.nezkot.com Nezkot is Australia’s Premier Precision Tooling and Engineering Company. Our dynamic range of precision engineering
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experience has enabled us to position ourselves as an industry innovator at the forefront of engineering services and complex manufacturing solutions. With outstanding supplier performance on a range of Aerospace & Defence programs, Nezkot has the technical expertise and the passion to deliver exceptional results.
No Bolt Operations Pty Ltd 29 Union Road Dandenong South Vic 3175 Tel: (03) 8710 3900 Key Contact: Will Collie (Managing Director) Email: Will.Collie@nobolt.com.au Web Address: www.nobolt.com.au No-Bolt provides consulting, design and product solutions to address height safety issue during MRO. We have provided solutions for the maintenance of both ixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft and have designed a number of refuelling options for overwing and underwing applications. In addition to our access range, we also offer a range of GSE solutions.
Pennant Australasia Suite 6, 334 Highbury Road Mt Waverley Vic 3149 Tel: (03) 9886 7977 Key Contact: David Stephan
18 Teton Ct Highett Vic 3190 Tel: (03) 9276 8900 Key Contact: Stephen Bell Mobile Phone: 0425 738 886 Email: sbell@ronsongears.com.au Web Address: www.ronsongears.com.au Ronson Gears is a highly innovative supplier of high end, high value gears and power transmission solutions. We manufacture precision gears, machined components and assemblies for Prime customers including Boeing Defence, Raytheon, Lockheed Martin and BAE Systems. Ronson Gears is AS9100C accredited delivering on programs such as the Evolved Seasparrow Missile, JDAM-ER program and the F-35 Engine Removal and Installation (R&I) Mobility Trailer for our partners Marand Precision Engineering.
SYPAQ Systems Level 5, 441 St Kilda Road Melbourne Vic 3004 Tel: (03) 9867 2565 Key Contact: George Vicino Mobile Phone: 0407 150 397 Email: info@sypaq.com.au Web Address: www.sypaq.com.au Founded in 1992, SYPAQ is a leading Australian consulting, systems integration and support company serving all branches of the Australian and Asian Defence, Aerospace and Homeland Security markets. SYPAQ has a proven track record of providing world-class services to the Australian Department of Defence, Australian defence primes, and the Australian Aerospace sector. SYPAQ is also a regional partner for several global OEMs.
Titomic (Advanced Robotics Australia) 1/1284 South Rd Clovelly Park SA 5042 Tel: 0425 725 315 Key Contact: Jeff Lang
Web Address: www.titomic.com Email: info@titomic.com Titomic is an Australian specialist in advanced manufacturing and additive manufacturing. Titomic with the CSIRO, developed a process by which products can be manufactured to virtually any shape and size via their proprietary Titomic Kinetic Fusion process (TKF). Titomic TKF process is the fastest additive manufacturing process for metals in the world. Titomic has positioned itself to provide manufacturers with the world’s first industrial scale additive manufacturing process for metal.
Victorian Defence Alliances Aerospace Tel: (03) 9886 9278 Key Contact: Jack Kormas (Chair of the VDA-Aerospace Committee) Email: admin@victoriandefencealliances.org.au Web Address: victoriandefencealliances.org.au /index.php/aerospace-alliance The Victorian Defence Alliance - Aerospace supports Victorian industry to
secure work in domestic and international aerospace supply chains through advocacy, networking, collaboration and mentoring. The Alliance is industry led and has been established to support Victorian companies seeking work in aerospace programs. The Alliance showcases Victoria’s defence aerospace industry capacity and capabilities. It also provides a gateway for Primes to engage with defence industry in Victoria.
Victorian Defence Alliances – Digital Tel: (03) 9886 9278 Key Contact: Paul Chase (Chair of the VDA-Digital) Email: admin@victoriandefencealliances.org.au Web Address: victoriandefencealliances.org.au/index.php/digital-alliance The Victorian Defence Alliance - Digital supports Victorian industry to secure work in the defence and government digital systems industry through advocacy, networking, collaboration and mentoring. The Al-
liance is industry-led and has been established to support Victorian companies seeking work in defence and government digital systems programs. The Alliance showcases Victoria's digital-industry capacity and capabilities. It also provides a gateway for Primes to engage with the digital sector in Victoria.
Wellington Shire Council 18 Desailly Street Sale Vic 3850 Tel: 1300 366 244 Key Contact: Sharyn Bolitho Mobile Phone: 0422 220 645 Email: sharyn.bolitho@wellington.vic. gov.au Web Address: www.wellington.vic.gov.au Wellington Shire Council's West Sale Airport will soon be upgraded as part of State Government and Council's ongoing support as the auxiliary airfield to the Air Force's major officer and initial training base, RAAF Base East Sale. West Sale has prime industrial and recreational aviation opportunities available.
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www.australiandefence.com.au | February 2017 | 113
DEFENCE BUSINESS VIEW FROM CANBERRA
Will history
repeat?
A SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT | CANBERRA
Here’s an intriguing scenario. The administration of Donald Trump has decided it doesn’t need so many F-35s and Australian Prime Minister Bill Shorten decides the bargain price on offer is too good to miss. WITH Trump facing election and polls predicting a Democrat landslide, Australia needs to act fast lest an incoming Democrat administration speedily reverse he Donald’s JSF downsizing, which it has promised to do. So Australia agrees to buy two dozen surplus USAF F-35A aircrat, without actually consulting the RAAF on whether this is a good idea. Sounds utterly implausible? Yet that’s pretty much what happened in 1993 when the Keating Labor government decided to buy surplus USAF F-111 aircrat to supplement the RAAF leet, then comprising 21 F-111C aircrat of which 19 were usually on line. he result was 15 second hand F-111Gs, the best of what was available but with different engines and avionics to the RAAF’s unique F-111Cs. hese were two decade-old aircrat – the youngest irst lew in May 1971 – but still two years younger than the youngest RAAF aircrat. Cabinet documents for 1993, released by the National Archives of Australia, 114 | February 2017 | www.australiandefence.com.au
show this opportunity emerged as the US planned to retire more than 250 F-111s in post-Cold War force reductions, retaining just 151 in service at the end of 1993. hen Defence Minister Robert Ray took this proposal to cabinet, citing many beneits, especially extending the life of type of the F-111 leet from 2010 to 2020 and maybe even beyond. Ray said long term support of Australian F111sdependedonhowlongthetyperemained in US service, then planned for 2010. Costs would start to become prohibitive about a decade ater the USAF retired its last aircrat. US F-111G aircrat originally formed part of their nuclear force, and so lacked the Pave Tack laser designator which gave Australia’s aircrat a precision strike capability – when you are lobbing nukes, surgical accuracy isn’t that necessary. Neither could they carry Harpoon or AIM-9 missiles. Ray said the F-111Gs could be used to deliver conventional unguided bombs or laser-guided munitions if operating with F111Cs as part of a strike package.
DEFENCE
A RAAF F-111C performing a dump and burn.
He cited an all-up cost of $144.3 million, of which half was for actual aircrat, a bargain for sure. Australia also bought up all the USAF inventory of G-unique spares and support equipment. And so the RAAF acquired the 15 greypainted F-111Gs, with the irst – A8-259 arriving in October 1993. As it turned out, the USAF retired its last F-111 in 1998. he RAAF’s last F-111 made its inal light in December 2010. While Ray’s cabinet submission implies he was pushing an idea that had come from the RAAF, retired Air Commodore Mark Lax, in his excellent history of RAAF F-111s, says this reallycamefromnoneotherthanPaulKeating. Former Defence Minister Kim Beazley recounted Keating had a long fascination with technology and especially the F-111. So when alerted that there were F-111s going cheap in the US, he insisted Australia act. his wasn’t wholly a pointless Keating whim. RAAF F-111s couldn’t last forever and with the existing leet upgraded at great cost and approaching peak capability, a life of type extension would be useful while a replacement was considered. But Lax says the irst the RAAF knew of the F-111G deal was when Ray invited then RAAF chief Ray Funnell over to parliament for a brieing. Keating wasn’t thinking small – he wanted 52. he RAAF prudently whittled that down to 36, then 18 and inally 15. his was an era of great inancial stringency. In their comments on Ray’s cabinet submission, the Prime Minister and Cabinet Department and the Treasury both quibbled about forking out $78.3 million supplementation to the defence budget for this deal. With inances tight and Defence needing new equipment, Australia surveyed other surplus US stuf. Someone’s eye surely lit up on spotting 20-year-old US landing ships which could replace HMAS Jervis Bay and HMAS Tobruk at a fraction of the cost of new vessels. So we acquired vessels which became HMAS Manoora and HMAS Kanimbla for US$40 million. Taking the lustre of this deal, both vessels required extensive repairs which took the inal cost to more than $400 million. Buying advanced military equipment on the say-so of the prime minister seems quaint and very 1990s but surely nothing like this could happen now, could it? Well, maybe it could. Did Tony Abbott really do a handshake deal with Japan’s Prime Minister Abe to buy Japanese Soryuclass subs? We may not know until his cabinet papers are released in 20 years.
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BOOKS OF INTEREST
ON OPS LESSONS AND CHALLENGES FOR THE AUSTRALIAN ARMY SINCE EAST TIMOR Edited by Tom Frame & Albert Palazzo Published by UNSW Press RRP $39.99 in paperback ISBN 9781742235097 On Ops is an insightful collection of essays exploring the lessons and challenges that have arisen for the Australian Army since 1999 when its peacekeeping task force was deployed to East Timor. As Tom Frame writes in his introductory chapter, “when the Cold War ended in 1990, no one could (or did) predict
THE LAST FIFTY MILES AUSTRALIA AND THE END OF THE GREAT WAR By Adam Wakeling Published by Viking/Penguin RRP $35.00 in paperback ISBN 9780670079148 The title of this book refers to the distance between VillersBretonneux and Montbrehain, the 50 miles that General John Monash and his 200,000 plus force would have to traverse to defeat the German army. Within this multi-national force were the five Australian divisions combined into an all-Australia Corps of 110,000 men, fighting as one unit. But around this time,
that over the next 25 years, Australian Army personnel would be deployed to Rwanda, Cambodia, Somalia, Bougainville, East Timor, Afghanistan, Iraq or the Solomon Islands”. The book is divided into six sections: The bigger picture; Views from the other side of the hill; Operational and ready; Views from the media; On ethics and morality; and Final assessments. A diverse array of contributors examine how the Australian Army performed in various situations. According to Craig Stockings, the deployment to East Timor was dogged by a “creaky logistics system”. This theme was echoed by David Beaumont who asserts that the Army’s logistics success over the past 15 years has been “more a factor of good luck than good planning”. This is in large part due to the Army “consistently deferring investment in logistics, giving preference to other areas”. March 1918, the German High Command launched a massive offensive involving 2 million German soldiers, with the aim of splitting the British and French forces. The British line buckled at VillersBretonneux. The Australians were thrown in to help stem the advance. The line was saved but what followed was a succession of hard-fought victories as they breached the German defensive lines at the battles of Hamel, Amiens, Mont Saint-Quentin, the Saint-Quentin Canal and finally at Montbrehain. These victories enhanced the reputation of Monash and his men, but came at a cost to the Australians. The last 50 miles cost the AIF 5,500 men with 18,500 wounded. Wakeling also examines the situation at home during the final year of the war. Society had been divided by the two conscription referendums causing bitter political divisions within parliament.
116 | February 2017 | www.australiandefence.com.au
VOICES FROM THE AIR THE ABC WAR CORRESPONDENTS WHO TOLD THE STORIES OF AUSTRALIANS IN WWII By Tony Hill Published by ABC Books RRP $39.99 in hard cover ISBN 9780733335020 The advent of war in 1939 ushered in a new role for the ABC. Prior to this time, the ABC had only a limited news service and no experience in radio broadcasting from theatres of war. To overcome the difficulty in transmitting reports from the battlefields, the ABC developed an ingenious solution for their
ECHOES OF GALLIPOLI IN THE WORDS OF NEW ZEALAND’S MOUNTED RIFLEMEN By Terry Kinloch Published by Exisle Publishing RRP $39.99 in paperback ISBN 9781775592624 First published 10 years ago, Echoes of Gallipoli tells the tortuous journey of the NZ Mounted Rifles (NZMR) Brigade from mobilisation in August 1914 through to their evacuation from the Gallipoli peninsula in December 1915. Initially sent to Egypt, the NZMR Brigade was called into action at Gallipoli as infantry reinforcements because of
correspondents in the Middle East and North Africa. It created specialised ‘field units’ comprising a large cumbersome mobile studio van weighing three tonnes, fitted out with recording gear and a smaller utility truck with portable recording gear. Chester Wilmot was prominent among the correspondents reporting fearlessly from Bardia and Tobruk before being reassigned to New Guinea where he and Dudley Leggett accompanied troops on the Kokoda Track. Reporting was also hampered by the censorship imposed by the Army. Tony Hill has included copies of original scripts to illustrate the limitations and difficulties encountered in getting scripts passed for broadcast. The outstanding work undertaken by the ABC correspondents during WWII led to the establishment of the independent ABC News service in 1947. mounting losses. Within a week the brigade had their first taste of full-scale trench warfare when 40,000 Turks attacked the Anzac front line. But it was on the hilltop of Chunuk Bair that the Brigade’s reputation was established. Thrown into support the depleted Wellington Infantry Battalion, the battle raged over two days and came at a terrible cost. The NZMR Brigade was 1,900 strong, bolstered by the addition of 500 reinforcements during the fighting. But after being withdrawn from the hilltop, the brigade had lost nearly 700 men, 200 of whom were dead. The casualty rate of mounted riflemen at Gallipoli between May and the end of August was truly staggering, at almost 60 per cent. Perhaps Charles Bean summed it up best when he wrote, “the magnificent brigade of NZ Mounted Rifles … had been worked until it was almost entirely consumed”.
BOOKS OF INTEREST www.militarybooksaustralia.wordpress.com
COMPILED BY PETER MASTERS | BRISBANE
FIRST DAY OF THE SOMME THE COMPLETE ACCOUNT OF BRITAIN’S WORST EVER MILITARY DISASTER By Andrew Macdonald Published by Harper Collins RRP $34.99 in paperback ISBN 9781775540403 In this book, NZ military historian Andrew Macdonald limits himself to just one day, 1st July 1916, the first day of the Battle of the Somme. At the conclusion of that day, 19,240 British soldiers lay dead with a further 35,493 wounded and 2,737 recorded as missing – the British Army’s greatest ever one-day loss. The attack
THE SECRET COLD WAR THE OFFICIAL HISTORY OF ASIO 1975-1989 By John Blaxland and Rhys Crawley Published by Allen & Unwin RRP $49.99 in hard cover ISBN 9781760293215 This is the inside account of Australia’s national security intelligence organisation as it grappled with continuing espionage and the rise of terrorist attacks during the years of the Fraser and Hawke governments. This is the third volume of the Official History of ASIO – the first being The Spy Catchers and the second The Protest Years.
came as no surprise to the German High Command. By early June, aware of the British build-up, they had prepared their defences accordingly. For seven days prior to the troop offensive, the British gunners belted out one shell after another with the aim of neutralising the enemy’s artillery and defences. The German artillery strength was severely dented but the bombardment in reality caused more damage to the surrounding towns and villages. When the bombardment ceased and the British infantry emerged from their trenches, the German machine guns cut a swathe through the British lines. Besides examining the battle geographically, Macdonald also explores the day’s proceedings from the German perspective. His objective: to write a detailed and balanced Anglo-German history of that fateful day, which I believe he has achieved. The basis of the work was that the authors were given full access to government records, with no censorship, which does not of course mean that full disclosure of ASIO information and techniques was permitted. The expected topics of terrorism, subversion and espionage are covered in detail, as is the transition of the organisation under, first, the Fraser government and then the Hawke government. The table of terrorist incidents on pp.336-337, including the assassination of the Turkish Consul-General in Sydney in December 1980, remind us that acts of terrorism are not recent innovations. The admission in Chapter 19 that the Russian Intelligence Service succeeded in penetrating ASIO merely confirms decades of suspicion. Reading this book, I can’t help but agree with the authors in that the challenges of old “bear an uncanny resemblance to those of today”.
DODGING THE DEVIL LETTERS FROM THE FRONT GALLIPOLI, FROMELLES & BULLECOURT By George Martindale; Commentary by Nicolas Dean Brodie Published by Hardie Grant RRP $29.99 in paperback ISBN 9781743792155 George Martindale, born in Dimboola in 1887, enlisted on 21 August 1914. He served for over three years and witnessed some of the worst battles of WWI. From the very beginning, he wrote home, documenting his daily life in the war – the events, his feelings and opinions
GUY BURGESS THE SPY WHO KNEW EVERYONE By Stewart Purvis & Jeff Hulbert Published by Bitback; Distributed by New South RRP $49.99 in hardcover ISBN 9781849549134 This is a fascinating look at one of the infamous Cambridge spies, Guy Burgess, who, along with Maclean, Philby and Blunt, supplied Russian intelligence with British and American secrets for many years. Recruited to work for the KGB in 1935 because of his political leanings, his network of friends in high places,
– sending these messages and photographs back to his family in Melbourne. From training in Egypt, he was sent to Gallipoli and fought in the battle of Lone Pine, eventually being evacuated when the troops were pulled out. Next stop: France, where he participated in the infamous battle of Fromelles. He went on to Bullecourt, where he was seriously injured, putting an end to his army career. His letters tell his story beginning with the excitement of signing up and sailing across the world to fight the enemy, to world weary after having seen so much death and destruction. In one, he describes Charles Bean as ‘a liar’. I find first hand accounts of war compelling reading and the level of literacy of men from ordinary walks of life striking. A hundred years on, I do wonder if the Twitter and texting generation would be quite so articulate! and because the Russians felt he was too liberal with his tongue to be left outside the organisation, Burgess became a valuable purveyor of intelligence. He worked variously for the BBC, MI5, MI6, the War Office and the Ministry of Information during his time as a KGB agent. Burgess was arguably a drunk and a promiscuous homosexual at a time when neither was acceptable in Britain. But as an Eton and Cambridge old-boy, he was forgiven his shortcomings because he came from the wealthy upper classes. And it was this same cloak of respectability which gave him access to people and places and allowed him to go undetected and unsuspected for years as a Russian spy. Ironically, he evaded suspicion because his drinking and erratic behaviour led the authorities to believe him too ‘unreliable’ to be a Russian spy.
www.australiandefence.com.au | February 2017 | 117
EVENTS
KATHERINE ZIESING | CANBERRA UTS/SADIG/AIDN DEFENCE COLLABORATION FORUM Date: 15 February 2017 Location: Sydney Website: www.events. catalystevents.com.au A forum for Defence, NSW universities and industry to gather, network and coordinate their collective capabilities in order to address critical national defence priorities.
DCNS FUTURE SUBMARINE INDUSTRY BRIEFING Date: 16 February 2016 Location: Sydney Venue: National maritime Museum of Australia Website: www.eventbrite. com.au Australian companies as well as R&D and educational institutions will be attending the briefing in Sydney to hear from representatives of the future submarine enterprise in regards to opportunities available in the Future Submarine Program.
HUMS2017 Date: 27 February – 2 March 2017 Location: Melbourne Website: www. humsconference.com.au Email: Wenyi.Wang@dsto. defence.gov.au HUMS2017 is an established biennial international conference featuring health (condition) and usage monitoring and management systems for mechanical plant, land vehicles, marine vehicles, helicopters and fixed wing aircraft. Details will be added to our website as they are decided. There will be 2 days of presentations at the Congress (MCG) from 27-28 February, followed by technology presentations and day visits to Avalon Air Show on 1 or 2 March.
AVALON 2017 Date: 28 February – 5 March 2017 Location: Geelong Website: www.airshow.com. au/airshow2017/TRADE/ index.asp AVALON 2017 will again present a unique opportunity to showcase products, technologies and services to an informed target audience and to demonstrate a marketing presence in this vibrant and vital region. High levels of economic growth and
technological development have resulted in growing demand for aviation and aerospace services, products and technology, right across the spectrum from General Aviation to airlines, air forces and space. ENDS
AUSTRALIAN SIMULATION CONGRESS (FORMERLY SIMTECT)
ADM’S NORTHERN AUSTRALIA DEFENCE SUMMIT
Date: 28-31 August Location: Sydney Website: http://www. simulationcongress.com/
NATIONAL MANUFACTURING WEEK 2017
Simulation Australasia, the national body for those working in simulation in Australasia, will once again bring together the SimHealth and SimTecT streams for the 2017 Australasian Simulation Congress (ASC) with opportunities for a number of joint sessions of mutual interest.
Date: 25-26 October Location: Darwin Convention Centre Website: http://www. admevents.com.au/defenceconference/northernaustralia-defence-summit
Date: 9-12 May, 2017 Location: Melbourne Website: www. nationalmanufacturingweek. com.au/ National Manufacturing Week (NMW) 2017 will once again showcase thought leaders in manufacturing in its central R&D Hub presentation theatre, Safety First theatre, and a range of colocated special events.
IMDEX ASIA Date: 16-18 May Location: Changi Exhibition Centre, Singapore Website: http://www. imdexasia.com/ For close to two decades, IMDEX Asia has served the maritime defence community by providing the ultimate avenue for high-profile stakeholders, key industry players and naval engineering professionals to network, exchange ideas and do business. Organised by Experia Events Pte Ltd and supported by the Republic of Singapore Navy and the Defence Science and Technology, the event is recognised globally as a choice platform for the industry to address challenges, co-create solutions and stay abreast of the latest trends and technologies.
DEFENCE + INDUSTRY Date: 14 June Location: Canberra Convention Centre Website: http://www. defence.gov.au/casg/ DoingBusiness/Industry/ Findingopportunities/ defenceindustryconference/ The Defence + Industry (D+I) Conference continues to be a key event for Defence and industry collaboration. The 2017 event will again bring together keynote speakers, decisionmakers, equipment operators, project managers and prime and small to medium enterprises from across the Defence and security sector.
118 | February 2017 | www.australiandefence.com.au
ADM DEFENCE ESTATE AND BASE SERVICES SUMMIT Date: 21 September Location: QT Canberra Website: http://www. admevents.com.au/defenceconference/defence-supportservices-summit Faced with the biggest reform for 40 years, budget cuts and organisational change, Defence is presented with a new paradigm - how to effectively innovate and deliver value for money services to support our armed forces in the wake of a changing fiscal and operating environment. Effective partnering between defence and industry will continue to be critical to fostering a culture of innovation, constructive reforms and the achievement of mutually beneficial outcomes in the provision of defence support services. A theme and focus on 'Innovation, Management and Integration of the Defence Estate' and will examine the 2016 White Paper, the First Principles Review and what this means, current & future reforms, total asset management, BIM in defence and non-materiel procurement.
PACIFIC 2017 Date: 03-05 October 2017 Location: Sydney Website: www.pacific2017. com.au/ PACIFIC 2017 will be a comprehensive showcase of the latest developments in naval, underwater and commercial maritime technology. The expo will again provide the essential showcase for commercial maritime and naval defence industries to promote their capabilities to decision-makers from around the world. There is a Call for Abstracts for the PACIFIC 2017 International Maritime Conference program.
As Northern Australia continues to establish itself as a key military and strategic region for the ADF and its partners, further investment is needed to support the multitude of major defence projects and the necessary infrastructure, maintenance and sustainment required for their operation. With defence industry contributing almost 7% of economic growth of the top end, the region continues to maximise the benefits as the ADF's gateway to Asia and as a strategic base for long term defence collaboration and force posture.
MILCIS Date: 14-16 November 2017 Location: Canberra Convention Centre Website: http://www.milcis. com.au/ The annual Military Communications and Information Systems (MilCIS) Conference welcomes military and government organisations, academia, and defence industries to contribute to the future direction of military communications and information systems.
NZDIA FORUM Date: 14-16 November Location: Viaduct Events Centre, Auckland Website: http://www.nzdia. co.nz/ NZ’s premier Defence event for the Defence and Defence Industry community.
4TH SIA SUBMARINE SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND ENGINEERING CONFERENCE 2017 (SUBSTEC17) Date: 14-15 November Location: Adelaide Website: http://www. submarineinstitute.com/siaconferences/ The technology-based program will include a range of speakers, tours and conference proceedings.
FROM THE SOURCE AIR MARSHAL LEO DAVIES
Continued from page 122
international engagement. We describe the ways and means that we will accomplish or complete work on those vectors and we’ve identiied the outcomes that we plan to achieve by 2027. ADM: he Air Task Group that moved to the Middle East in September 2014 under Operation Okra self-deployed there, and is self-sustaining. How long can that capability be maintained? DAVIES: I don’t see a limiting factor. here’s not one thing at the moment that would preclude Air Force providing what we currently provide to the coalition and to government for an extended period. When we were initially asked for what options we could provide to government to ight ISIS we were very clear on what a sustainable model would look like. here are no aircrat limitations in terms of capability or fatigue or hours other than the need to manage the Classic Hornet leet as we transition to F-35. herefore the jets that are getting higher on hours we bring home and those that are high on fatigue and low on hours we send over. ADM: What lessons are being learnt? DAVIES: he irst lesson that jumps out for me is the absolute necessity of us remaining close to our coalition partners. We arrived in the Middle East for Okra ready to ight on Day One and that’s because we invested appropriately in integration.
he second is that is there is a combat value in maintaining your systems to at least a contemporary standard. As we went through the Hornet Upgrade Program (HUG) a lot of naysayers were asking how much did this cost, why did it take so long, and what do we get out of it if we’re going to retire the Hornet in the 2020s? I would say now the upgraded Classics are almost purpose-built for the dynamic targeting role that they currently have. It would be darned hard work for the Hornet drivers to be able to deliver the effects they’ve got from the legacy Hornets if they had not been upgraded. ADM: How many Gulfstream G-550 special mission aircrat will the RAAF be acquiring? DAVIES: here’sstillsomeworktodoonthe actual number; we’ve said quite clearly that two won’t be enough; somewhere between two and ive is probably the right answer and we’ll be going through those options with government. ADM: You’ve said the G-550s will be used as ‘ the conductor of the ISREW (intelligence/surveillance/reconnaissance/electronic warfare) orchestra’. DAVIES: Correct. ADM: Will that be an oversight role or a consolidation role? DAVIES: In days gone by we had aircrat that were ighters who got airborne, went to a target area, found a target on radar or visual, ired a missile and came back.
We then had ighters that had a radar warning receiver so they would be able to detect electronically and then locate a radar, shoot and return. We now ind, as we go towards the F-35, that these aircrat are also ISR, SIGINT, EW assets. You need someone able to coordinate that information. Who do you of-board it to and how quickly do you need to do that? hat is a space that is not being illed. he G-550 will take all those disparate inputs and then farm out the right pieces to the right aircrat and/or ship, and/or land manoeuvre element to be able to use that information as quickly and efectively as possible. ADM: Would that data also go to ground stations for redistribution? DAVIES: We’re looking at how we get the right bit of information to the right asset for the right efect at the right time. It’s the next step, it’s the Fith Generation step. A lot of the G-550 information will go back to the ground station and it will build the picture for the next mission; that is still valid. I’m talking about the immediate turnaround of that one packet of data that’s needed in the Wedgetail or in the P-8A or to the Air Warfare Destroyer to make the next decision; that’s the bit that is exciting and the bit we want to explore. ADM: Butthere’dbenoanalysisfromthat. DAVIES: Very limited analysis, that’s correct.
www.australiandefence.com.au | February 2017 | 119
FROM THE SOURCE AIR MARSHAL LEO DAVIES
Continued from page 118
ADM: And what about the skillset for the G-550s; will that be a new capability? DAVIES: We think there’s signiicant overlap at the moment between what we’re doing with Wedgetail and what we’ve begun to learn about our EA-18G Growler operations. When you say brand new skill sets, I think it’s a diferent application of the same skill set. We will need to grow numbers, that is true, but the basis of our training and skill set for G-550 will be quite similar to Wedgetail. ADM: When do you anticipate a decision on the armed medium-altitude UAS being considered under Project Air 7103? DAVIES: hat decision has already been made. It’s now about determining which one and in what timeframe. ADM: Where would that capability sit – Air Combat Group or Surveillance and Reconnaissance Group? DAVIES: hat’s a very valid question and it’s one that we’re going through right now.
that’s largely from the data management intelligence side of the house. he actual operation will be less. We need a crew of 10, 11 or 12 on an AP-3C. We’ll only have 8 or 9 on the P-8A and we’ll have four but in shits on Triton, so the numbers work out about even. For the armed UAS, there’ll be movements of 10s and 20s out of various Force Element Groups (FEGs). ADM: Is Air Force under pressure in absorbing its new capabilities while maintaining its existing commitments? here’s a lot happening. DAVIES: I think about that aspect most oten – the transition period across multiple FEGs where, quite rightly, the Prime Minister, the Defence Minister and the Secretary of Defence will say, “Hey Leo, we still need to do our Okra work. We still need to do Resolute. We still need to have international engagement and we still need to provide all the exercises and training.” And you can’t let up on that while you transition. So that is a real pressure point for Air Force. It’s one that we stay close to and it’s one that indicates to me that at some point here in some FEGs we’ll have to say no to some things. So where we might go on an exercise every year and have done for the last 10 years, we might skip one year to allow us to have one crew do a transition. But having said that, if you look at how quickly we transitioned our irst three crews to the Poseidon – two crews complete and a third starting to P-8, for the crews - and I spoke to them when we picked up the irst P-8 from Avalon for its oicial welcome in Canberra last year - transition was relatively easy because the machine was good. hese young folk are used to iPhone 6s, they’re used to technology and using it and being lexible. So there’s not six months of learning every nut and bolt and every checklist item, the machine does it for us. We’re discovering a much simpler transition period; we’ve just got to give these
“We’re looking at how we get the right bit of information to the right asset for the right effect at the right time.” Our irst thought might be because it’s UAS and because it’s an ISR platform largely that perhaps RAAF Edinburgh and SRG is the logical home. Equally you could say that it’s a kinetic opportunity and the dynamics of its role being an overland ground manoeuvre support mechanism or vehicle make it better suited for ACG in Williamtown. hat’s a great debate to have and I would welcome input. ADM: Where will workforce for the armed UAS and the Triton MQ-4 high altitude long endurance UAS come from? DAVIES: he Triton numbers will come from within 92 Wing at Edinburgh – there is a pretty much net zero. he White Paper and the Integrated Investment Plan give us a few extra people but 120 | February 2017 | www.australiandefence.com.au
young folk the opportunity to be able to learn quickly. he risk is mitigated by the improvement in technology. ADM: As Chief of Air Force, how do you pull all these things together? DAVIES: If you asked me to run a marathon tomorrow I couldn’t do that but if the target to run that marathon was a year out, I would be able to accomplish that, barring injuries. In all three services and our agencies we grow leadership. It starts from corporal, it starts from light lieutenant and we expose people to decision-making and prioritisation, management techniques and resilience and that, I think, stands us in good stead. I am surrounded by extraordinarily-talented people who help me make decisions and provide options. I get tremendous guidance from the CDF and Secretary. he current leadership team – Angus (Campbell, Chief of Army), Tim (Barrett, Chief of Navy) and I get on extraordinarily well. We share information and decision-making. VCDF and CJOPS are a vital part of that leadership group. I think the current environment and current cultural standards allow us to focus on the important bits without worrying too much about less important details. hat provides a bit of capacity.
FROM THE SOURCE AIR MARSHAL LEO DAVIES
JULIAN KERR | SYDNEY
Chief of Air Force Air Marshal Leo Davies is implementing a far-reaching modernisation program and an accompanying strategy intended to make the RAAF the world’s irst fully ifth-generation air force. He spoke with ADM Senior Correspondent Julian Kerr about the organisational journey.
Air Marshal Leo Davies AO, CSC Chief of Air Force
PROFILE | AIR MARSHAL LEO DAVIES 2015
Appointed Chief of Air Force
2012
Appointed Deputy Chief of Air Force
2011
Air Attache Washington
2008
Director General Capability Planning, Air Force Headquarters
2008
Director General Capability, Air Force Headquarters
2004 Oficer Commanding, No 82 Wing 2002 Commanding Oficer, No 1 Squadron 2000 Capability Systems, Defence Headquarters 1990 Exchange with US Air Force, lying F-111D 1988 Completed pilot training and F-111 conversion 1979 Joined RAAF as cadet navigator, subsequently graduated to ly P-3B, P-3C
ADM: Plan Jericho was launched nearly two years ago. How’s progress? DAVIES: As our practical methodology to begin to implement Fith Generation Air Force, Jericho is accomplishing everything we expected of it and probably a little more. What we’re trying to achieve has had signiicant resonance with a number of other air forces and, indeed, across the ADF. Editor’s note: see P18 for more on Plan Jericho achievements to date. ADM: What are the practical outcomes to date? DAVIES: here are multiple practical outcomes. One of them that you might argue is both practical but also somewhat theoretical is that Jericho has been successful in giving all members of Air Force and those agencies and other services that we work very closely with, an opportunity to advance a particular concept or a capability. We’ve got 14,000 plus airmen who are all saying, “I reckon I can do better at that” and Jericho says, “Tell ‘em they’re allowed to have a go.” ADM: What Jericho initiatives are in the process of being coordinated with the rest of the ADF? DAVIES: We had a very successful close air support construct at Puckapunyal, getting a Super Hornet, an Abrams tank and
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a Tiger armed reconnaissance helicopter to talk to each other. When those three systems were not able to share data, the trial took about 25 minutes or so to evolve to the point of us having the combat efect we needed. When we included modern technology that was in some respects an electronic coordinator of those three datalinks the same scenario took ive minutes to complete. he next step, of course, is not Jericho’s to deliver; it’s for the ADF to deliver through future datalink generation. he irst phase of Jericho was to educate or at least expose to Army, Navy, Air Force, VCDF Group, DSTG, CASG, that Jericho was not the answer, Jericho was a catalyst for providing an answer. ADM: Plan Jericho was to be driven by two energetic Group Captains, a small group of Wing Commanders and some senior Non-Commissioned Oicers. Is that still the case? DAVIES: hat’s correct. I’ve taken a leaf out of my predecessor’s book here. As Air Marshal Geof Brown oten said, if you want to have an efect, give it to a small team well resourced with a clear mandate. he two day-to-day leaders are Deputy Chief of Air Force and the Air Commander. hey coordinate and approve activities and resource usage and the two group captains and their teams do the day-to-day business. ADM: You said last year that Jericho was focused on war ighting so a broader and more easily accessible strategy document was still required. What’s its status and intent? DAVIES: he Air Force Strategy 20172027 is complete and I’ll be releasing it at the time of the Avalon airshow. In trying to communicate those important next steps that would deliver a Fith Generation Air Force, we didn’t have a coherent document. We needed priorities and some methods of communication to the Air Force in particular, but to the ADF more broadly, to say here’s what we’re focusing on, here’s what we need to do over this next 10 years in order to deliver that Fith Generation Air Force. So we’ve written that and it basically encompasses ive vectors - joint war ighting capability; people; communication and information systems; infrastructure; and Continued on page 119
QUESTIONABLE FASHION, UNQUESTIONABLE RESULTS Nova Systems has been involved with the Australian C-17 Program since inception, continuing our partnership with both the CASG and Air Force to support the delivery of every aircraft into service. Post Service Release, Nova has continued to plan and conduct Role Expansion activities, including capability evaluations for equipment and personnel airdrop, aircraft life support systems equipment and the Aeromedical Evacuation (AME) capabilities. Nova Systems – solving the problems that really matter. Nova contact: General Manager, Aerospace & Surveillance – Jeff Perry I Telephone: +61 8 8252 7100
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