Page 27 - Australian Defence Magazine March 2019

COMPANIES wishing to participate in Australia’s largest ever investment in capa- bility in the Land domain had to have their bids in the box on March 1. The Common- wealth is expected to release the names of companies shortlisted for further evalua- tion in the third quarter of this year.
Land 400 Phase 3 is seeking to acquire up to 450 tracked IFVs to replace the ob- solescent M113AS4 Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs) which, although upgraded in recent years, have nevertheless been in the inventory since the Vietnam War in the mid-1960s. In Army-speak the new vehicles will, “Allow Army to successfully sustain mounted close combat operations against emerging and future threats, as part of a Joint force.” This has otherwise been referred to by some observers (with tongue in cheek) as, “The last 500 metres of govern- ment diplomacy”.
Given the timing of bid closure, bidders themselves and the Commonwealth are un-
Lynx in action
derstandably reluctant to discuss the project in any great detail with ADM at the present time, but here is what is known so far.
Overview and timeline
Land 400 Phase 3 (Mounted Close Com- bat Capability) is a natural follow on to the earlier Phase 2, valued at $5.2 billion, which is delivering a fleet of Rheinmetall Boxer 8x8 Combat Reconnaissance Vehicles to replace Army’s Australian Light Armoured Vehicle (ASLAV).
The Phase 3 project seeks to acquire a fam- ily of tracked IFVs and a Manoeuvre Sup- port Vehicle capability for combat opera- tions in high threat environments, therefore it must be able to provide mounted soldiers with a high level of protection and provide support to them when they are dismounted.
Under the terms of the RFT, Defence will acquire up to 450 IFVs capable of ful- filling a number of roles, together with 17 Manoeuvre Support Vehicles.
A Request for Tender (RFT) was released to industry on August 24 last year and this was followed by an industry briefing at the 2018 Land Forces conference in Ad- elaide the following month.
“The project is currently fo-
cussed on preparation for evalu-
ation of the tenders. While Defence is not in a position to
provide comment on potential contenders in accordance with
the Commonwealth Procurement Rules, there has been a positive response from in- dustry, including through engagement at Land Forces 2018,” a Defence spokesper- son told ADM in early February.
The Phase 3 process has incorporated les- sons learned from the earlier Phase 2 jour- ney, including listening to feedback from industry, but it is nevertheless following a similar pathway.
“This includes significant market re- search undertaken into capabilities sought under this RFT, with industry helping to shape requirements through a Request for Information (RFI) released in 2015, un- solicited proposals from industry received by Defence in 2017 and feedback from the draft RFT package prior to its release,” Defence said.
Commonwealth requirements
Defence says that it has listened and re- sponded to industry feedback, which has resulted in the extension of the proposed ve- hicle mobilisation period for the Risk Miti-
gation Activity (RMA) from six months to 12 months. This it says, will provide the tenderers with a more reasonable timeline in which to manufacture and prepare test vehicles to the configuration required.
“The project has reduced the burden on tenderers during Stage 1 – Detailed Evaluation requirements for the Austra- lian Industry Capability (AIC) plan,” the spokesperson said. “The tender seeks a ‘plan for a plan’, which articulates the proposed approach to deliver the final AIC plan over the course of the Stage 2 RMA.”
This approach will leverage the devel- opment work done through engagement with industry during the RMA and is intended to reduce both the cost and the impact on resources for industry and the Commonwealth. Defence says this will al- low the shortlisted tenderers and the Proj- ect Office to optimise Australian industry content and participation throughout the life of the project.
Defence also states very clearly that in- cumbency (referring to the successful Phase 2 bidder in Rheinmetall) will neither be an advantage of disadvantage regarding the Phase 3 RFT process.
“Defence deliberately de-linked phases 2 and 3 of the program in 2014 to ensure that ‘best of breed’ solutions be fully ex- amined for each of the program’s key plat- forms, the CRV in Phase 2 and the IFV and MSV in Phase 3,” the Defence spokes- person explained.
Each submission against the Phase 3 RFT will be considered for the best capabil- ity outcome within value for money consid- erations, but the document only lists three essential requirements. These are the abil- ity of the IFV to carry six dismounts, the capability of it to be strategically deployed by the Navy’s two Canberra-class Landing Helicopter Dock (LHD) ships and the abil- ity of it to be carried aboard RAAF C-17A strategic airlifters.
The RFT is seeking options from indus- try to reduce costs over the lifecycle of the
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“Defence also states very clearly that incumbency will neither be an advantage of disadvantage regarding the Phase 3 RFT process.”
RHEINMETALL