Page 8 - Australian Defence Magazine April 2023

8 NEWS REVIEW INDUSTRY UPDATE
APRIL 2023 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
RAAF TRITON UNIT REVEALED
NIGEL PITTAWAY | AVALON
ONE of the notable events on the opening day of the 2023 Avalon Airshow was the ap- pearance of a mock-up of Northrop Grum- man’s MQ-4C Triton High Altitude Long Range Endurance (HALE) UAS wearing the markings of No.9 Squadron, RAAF.
Australia is set to receive the first of at least three Tritons on order in 2024 under Project Air 7000 Phase 1B. An announcement on further aircraft – the RAAF has a require- ment of six, and possibly seven, aircraft – is expected to be informed by the forthcoming Defence Strategic Review (DSR).
The RAAF has until now been secretive about which unit will operate its Tritons, telling ADM as recently as February that the operating unit is yet to be announced.
No.9 Squadron previously flew the Sikorsky S-70A-9 Black Hawk helicop- ter, until the RAAF transferred its rotary wing fleet to the Army in 1989 and its last commanding officer was former Chief of Defence Force Angus Houston who, with former Defence Minister Stephen Smith, is one of the architects of the DSR.
The unit has a strong maritime tradi- tion, being formed in January 1939 as a Fleet Cooperation squadron, flying Su- permarine Seagull aircraft from the Royal Australian Navy’s capital warships to pro- vide a surveillance and anti-submarine warfare capability.
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Eventually, the fleet will include eight Australian submarines built in Adelaide into the 2060s, but the federal govern- ment is leaving open the option of taking some from UK shipyards if strategic cir- cumstances change.
Mr Sunak described the AUKUS alliance as a “powerful partnership” that would see “truly interoperable” submarines.
“The Royal Navy will operate the same submarines as the Australian Navy and we’ll both share components and parts with the US Navy,” he said.
“Our submarine crews will train to- gether, patrol together and maintain their boats together.
“They will communicate using the same
ABOVE: The MQ-4C Triton mock up wearing 9 Sqn markings at Avalon
No.9 Squadron will join the RAAF’s two existing maritime Intelligence Surveil- lance and Reconnaissance (ISR) units, 10 and 11 Squadrons, which fly the Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft and the Lockheed AP-3C(EW) Orion electronic intelligence gathering aircraft respectively. No 10 Squadron is due to re- linquish its AP-3Cs in favour of the new Gulfstream MC-55A Peregrine aircraft being converted to the Intelligence, Sur- veillance, Reconnaissance and Electronic
terminology, and the same equipment.” Meanwhile, the federal government es- timates the cost of the submarine program will be between $268 billion and $368 billion over the next 30 years. Of that, $8 billion will be spent on upgrading and ex-
panding HMAS Stirling.
In the 10 years to 2032-3 the program
will cost between $50-$58 billion. Through to the 2050s, it will annually cost an aver- age of around 0.15 per cent of GDP.
Australia will also contribute $3 billion over the next four years to US and UK pro- duction lines, with the bulk of that money going to the US.
Acquiring nuclear powered submarines (SSNs) as a whole-of-nation undertaking
Warfare (ISREW) role by L3 Harris in the United States.
“Congratulations to the RAAF on the reactivation of the historic No. 9 Squad- ron,” said Jane Bishop, Vice President and General Manager, global surveillance, Northrop Grumman. “We’re honoured the squadron will be operating Australia’s MC-4C Triton uncrewed aircraft for their most demanding maritime ISR missions, and we look forward to delivering the first RAAF Triton in 2024.”
is expected to create around 20,000 direct jobs over the next 30 years across industry, government and Defence.
At its peak, building and sustaining SSNs in Australia will create up to 8,500 direct jobs in the industrial workforce. A further 500 direct jobs are expected to be created to sustain the SRG-West.
Although Port Kembla has firmed as the most likely location for an east coast sub- marine base, Defence Minister Richard Marles said on the day of the announce- ment that no decision has yet been made.
Radioactive waste generated through the program including spent nuclear fuel would be managed on Defence land, he confirmed.
NIGEL PITTAWAY