Page 44 - Australian Defence Magazine June 2019

DEFENCE
PROJECTS
AIR
NIGEL PITTAWAY | MELBOURNE
Although Defence projects in the Air domain are arguably receding from
the spotlight, with the multi-billion dollar naval shipbuilding programs and Army’s largest ever vehicle acquisitions now underway, there is nevertheless a great deal of activity to report.
Air programs
kicking goals in 2019
THE RAAF is nearing the end of what has essentially been a complete recapitalisation of its fleets of aircraft and big-ticket items such as the Lockheed Martin F-35A Joint Strike Fighter are now well into their acqui- sition phase.
Army and Navy helicopter fleets delivered under Air, Land, Sea and Joint projects have also been completely renewed in the 15 years since the Airbus Helicopters Tiger Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter (ARH) entered service at the end of 2004 and are included with the Air projects here to provide a com- plete picture of modern ADF airpower.
Not all projects are platform acquisition projects however; the RAAF’s Air Mobility Group (AMG) for example has been quietly increasing the networked capability of its airlift fleets along the way. This is particu- larly so for the Lockheed Martin C-130J-30
tactical transport, which is undergoing in- cremental connectivity upgrades under the Plan Jericho banner.
Others, such as the acquisition of the Dassault Falcon 7X executive jet for the RAAF’s Special Purpose Aircraft (SPA) went unannounced until the first aircraft touched down in Canberra recently.
Looking to the future, it is predomi- nantly unmanned programs which will at- tract attention in coming months, from the ocean-spanning Northrop Grumman MQ- 4C Triton for Air Force to the hand-held Small Unmanned Aerial Systems (SUAS) air vehicles being acquired by Army.
Falcon 7X for RAAF
The first of three leased Dassault Falcon 7Xs for the RAAF touched down in Can- berra on April 16, after a delivery flight
from Bordeaux via the US. Apart from a media release to mark the arrival, the entire acquisition of the three business jets has gone unannounced. This is no doubt due to political sensitivities around spending money on shiny new toys to fly politicians and heads of state around – a sensitivity ar- guably exacerbated by the federal election that is looming as these words were written! It is also worth noting that all imagery of the aircraft disappeared from the Defence website after a very short outing.
The three Falcons will replace a similar number of Bombardier Challenger 604 aircraft, which have been in service with 34 Sqn, the RAAF’s SPA unit based in Can- berra, since 2002.
Commander, Air Mobility Group, Air Commodore Bill Kourelakos said the sec- ond and third Falcons will be delivered in
44 | June 2019 | www.australiandefence.com.au