Page 30 - Australian Defence Magazine Feb-Mar 2023

30 DEFENCE BUSINESS C-390 MILLENNIUM
FEBRUARY-MARCH 2023 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
THE NEW MILLENNIUM
In a media release that somewhat pre-empted the forthcoming Defence Strategic Review, Defence announced in November 2022 that the government will “expand and replace” the RAAF’s current Lockheed Martin C-130J-30 Hercules fleet with more C-130J-30s.
NIGEL PITTAWAY | MELBOURNE
EMBRAER
I N the release, the department said that “Defence has identi- fied that the new C-130J aircraft represents the only option that meets all of Australia’s capability requirements and assures Defence’s medium air mobility capability without introducing substantial cost, schedule and capability risk.”
In the Defence, Foreign Affairs & Trade Senate Esti- mates hearing on 9 November, Chief of Air Force Air Mar- shal Robert Chipman defended the selection of the Her- cules as the RAAF’s future Medium Air Mobility Aircraft (MAMA), stating that the Airbus A400M, Embraer C-390 Millennium, and Kawasaki C-2 were also evaluated.
“We had a look at those four aircraft over 22 different
requirements. They related to aircraft performance, certi- fication across the roles in which we expect to utilise the aircraft and the ease with which we might transition the aircraft into service,” he testified.
At an industry briefing for aircraft sustainment under the MAMA (Air 7404 Phase 1) program held in Canberra on 2 December, Defence revealed that a “number of manu- facturers” were approached via a Request for Information (RFI) in 2021 and the merits of each aircraft were assessed against Australia’s capability requirements.
According to Defence therefore, the C-130J won out on cost, risk, schedule and capability. Defence however pro-