Page 34 - Australian Defence Magazine October 2019
P. 34

PACIFIC
CONTEXT
“The lines between military, economic, diplomatic, intelligence and criminal means of aggression are becoming increasingly unclear.”
NEW OILER LAUNCHED IN SPAIN
The RAN is another step closer to welcoming its new fleet of support tankers into service following the successful launch of NUSHIP Stalwart at a ceremony in Ferrol, Spain.
Minister for Defence Linda Reynolds said the launch of the second Supply class Auxiliary Oiler Replenishment (AOR) vessel marked an important milestone in Australia’s $90 billion investment in the largest regeneration of Navy since WWII.
“The delivery into service of the Supply class replenish- ment vessels from next year will provide Navy with vital afloat logistics support to enable our ships to remain at sea longer,” Minister Reynolds said.
“These ships will ensure Navy can make sustained and long-term contributions to regional and international se- curity in support of our national interest, and further our strong relationships with countries across Southeast Asia and the Pacific.
“These ships will be a force multiplier for our Navy’s ca- pability in support of sustained operations across the Indo- Pacific region.”
Chief of the RAN Vice Admiral Michael Noonan said NU- SHIP Stalwart’s launch would support Navy’s readiness to conduct sustained operations at sea and position Navy as an agile, resilient and lethal fighting force.
“The Supply class AOR vessels will enable Navy to maintain a long-term presence at sea and provide combat
NUSHIP Stalwart launching from the yard in Ferrol, Spain.
support to our frigates, destroyers and combatants wher- ever they operate in the world,” VADM Noonan said.
“NUSHIPS Stalwart and Supply will extend our war- ships’ endurance and operational range by providing bulk fuels, potable water, stores and explosive ordnance to na- val vessels operating at sea.”
NUSHIPs Stalwart and Supply will replace the current re- plenishment tankers HMAS Sirius and ex-HMAS Success, which was decommissioned on 29 June.
unmanned air vehicle environment but has been operating unmanned underwa- ter vehicles for the better part of two de- cades, mainly in the counter mine.
One can also assume that the Silent Ser- vice is also living up to its name. The oft cited factoid that more than half the world submarines will be operating in our region by 2035 is of course a factor.
While there are claims about the in- creasing vulnerability of submarines to detection, these must be balanced against the realities of the environment. The sea is not yet transparent.
The Indo-Pacific sea areas are generally extremely challenging for acoustic sensors, whether passive or active. The role they have to play in grey zone operations is less clear. I would argue that Navy has not done a great job of explaining the value propo- sition of doubling the submarine fleet to the taxpayer given the billions of dol-
lars involved over the life of the program. The next major capability decision will be around mine hunting/mine counter measures/ hydrography ships. The two new ships announced by Prime Minister Mor- rison to be built at Henderson are probably
the easiest part of the answer.
He also outlined a plan to bring forward
the replacement for the Huon class mine hunters from the 2030s to the mid-2020s, with over $1 billion allocated as part of the Defence Integrated Program's Maritime Mine Countermeasures program under Sea 1905 (Editor’s note: Sea 1905 in ro- man numerals is MCMV – mine counter measures vessels. There are some Navy people smiling every time they read that I suspect). It also flagged the fact that much of the mapping work currently done by Navy will be contracted out.
“The commercial surveying sector can do the routine tasks more cost-effectively,
so it is better for Defence to focus on the difficult and dangerous hydrographic mis- sions such as supporting submarine or amphibious operations in unfriendly wa- ters,” according to ASPI’s Marcus Hellyer. “Making sure Defence retains sufficient critical mass in skilled personnel will be the challenge here, not building the ship.”
The role of autonomous systems will re- ally come into their own under Sea 1905 too – see this month’s From the Source in- terview for more on this.
Conclusion
On balance, Navy is highly trained organ- isation of dedicated people and is actively in- vesting in that training (see P36 for more on the Ship Zero concept). They are undergoing a massive transformation in the platforms they crew and support. The relationship be- tween Navy and industry, like much of the ADF, has pockets of great relationships and some that are less than efficient. They have systems and processes in place that allow for varying levels of flexibility when engaging with industry; no process is ever perfect.
Overall, Navy is in a good position to ful- fil the missions that government askes of it under current circumstances. Its resiliency would be put to the test if a black swan flew over the horizon of troubled waters.
34 | October 2019 | www.australiandefence.com.au
DEFENCE


































































































   32   33   34   35   36