Page 22 - Australian Defence Magazine April 2023

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DEFENCE BUSINESS
AVALON 2023
APRIL 2023 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
Russia, India and China have all conducted destructive ASAT tests, which created enormous debris clouds that threat- ened other satellites and even the International Space Station.
A number of states have also invested in less destructive anti-satellite capabilities, such as jamming, lasers and even in-space orbit manipulation. China’s Shijian-21 satellite, for example, used a robotic arm to dock with dead satellites and drag them into a disposal orbit. Only the US has dem- onstrated this ‘space tug’ capability, which could be used to drag civil-military satellites – such as those the ADF relies on for communications – out of orbit.
In a briefing at the Avalon Air Show, Defence Space Commander Air Vice-Marshal Cath Roberts said that Aus- tralia is ensuring it has the ability to deter this sort of attack and ‘have some impact’.
“SJ-21 has the ability to tow a non-cooperative satellite out of orbit,” AVM Roberts said. “We are working on mak- ing sure we’ve got a capability that can deter an attack on our satellites by non-kinetic means, so that we can have some impact.”
AVM Roberts also said there is ‘no clear timeline’ in re- gards to a down-select for JP9102 – a program which will de- liver a sovereign military satellite comms system to the ADF.
“What I can say is that JP9102 is in the finalisation of the tender evaluation,” AVM Roberts said. “It's just as we go through that process, we don't have a clear timing on it.”
GLSDB FOR UKRAINE
Saab executives at Avalon confirmed that the US had de- cided to supply Ukraine with the ground-launched small diameter bomb (GLSDB), a weapon that can double Kyiv’s strike range, as part of its latest military aid package.
ABOVE: Bell sees a future for its V-280 Valor and 360 Invictus beyond the US FVL program
The GLSDB, developed jointly by Saab and Boeing, will allow Ukrainian forces to address Russian mili- tary targets up to 150km away with an accuracy of around one metre. The longest-range missile provided to Ukraine by the US to date, the Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS), has a reach of about 90kms.
A one-third model of the innovative GLSDB was displayed by Saab Australia at the 2021 Land Forces exposition in Brisbane. There it was being pitched as a complement to Project Land 8113’s long-range fires requirement.
The GLSDB combines an M26 rocket motor from the MLRS with a 250lb GBU-39B Small Diameter Bomb (SDB) featuring a 57.6kg penetrating blast and fragmentation warhead for deep penetrating or prox- imity height-of-burst.
The GLSDB can be ground-launched from a vari- ety of platforms including the Lockheed Martin High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), which has already been provided to the Ukraine and was se- lected in January to meet the requirements of Land 8113 Tranche 1.
INS-navigated and supported by a jam-resistant GPS, the weapon is capable of conducting 360-degree reverse slope engagements and has terrain avoidance and cave-breaching capabilities – similar to those of the 3,900 air-launched SDBs acquired for the RAAF’s F-35A Joint Strike Fighters several years ago.
BELL EYES FVL OPPORTUNITIES IN AUSTRALIA
While Australia is buying 40 Sikorsky UH-60M Black Hawks to replace Army’s MRH 90 Taipan helicopter fleet, the US Army has just decided to replace its own fleet of more than 2,000 Black Hawks with the Bell Textron V-280 Valor tiltrotor.
The decision has been appealed to the US Government Accountability Office by Sikorsky-Boeing, whose coaxial rotor SB-1 Defiant was the V280-Valor’s sole competitor for the coveted Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft program which could be worth $US70 billion over its lifetime. An outcome is expected in early April.
Either way, Carl Coffman, Bell’s Vice-President Military Sales and Strategy, told ADM that the company would con- tinue V-280 development, and would be carefully monitor- ing any new ADF requirements notwithstanding Canber- ra’s Black Hawk decision.
“What would you get with a V-280 Valor that you wouldn’t get with a Black Hawk?” he asked rhetorically.
“How about twice the speed and twice the range and an expeditionary capability within or outside the continent of Australia – you don’t have to rely on refuelling points, you don’t have to rely on being shipboard, you don’t have to rely on strategic airlift.”
The twin Rolls-Royce AE 1107F-powered aircraft is de- signed to carry 12 passengers and a crew of four and cruise at 519km/h over a combat radius of 1,481 km.
Prototype delivery is scheduled for 2025 and the US Army is planning for its first fully-equipped unit in 2030, Coffman said.
BELL