Page 46 - Australian Defence Magazine June 2019

PROJECTS
AIR
“Project Land 2097 Phase 4 will oversee the acquisition of at least 16 helicopters for Special Operations.”
as well as our ability to monitor and secure Australia’s maritime approaches,” Minister Pyne said when announcing the purchase of the second aircraft. “The Tritons will also be able to undertake enhanced intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) tasks to support whole of government operations.”
Shortly after the Triton announcement the RAAF took delivery of its eighth Boe- ing P-8A Poseidon maritime surveillance aircraft, the manned component of the manned/unmanned maritime ISR capabil- ity being acquired under the overarching Air 7000 program.
Twelve Poseidons are being acquired under Phase 2B of Air 7000 and the 2016 DWP has signalled the possibility of an ad- ditional three aircraft in the coming decade.
“Aircraft number eight has been identi- fied as the RAAF’s long-term fatigue man- agement aircraft and had been fitted with a raft of diagnostic equipment,” Minister Pyne said. “This specially-equipped aircraft will allow the RAAF to collect useful data to analysis the life of the aircraft and iden-
fence’s joint warfighting networks, pro- viding a critical link between platforms, including the F-35A Joint Strike Fighter, E-7A Wedgetail, EA-18G Growler, Navy’s surface combatants and amphibious assault ships and ground assets to support the warf- ighter,” Minister Pyne said.
“The aircraft will be based at RAAF Ed- inburgh in South Australia – yet another piece in the broader ISR precinct being de- veloped at the super base, which is already home to our Poseidon maritime patrol air- craft. RAAF Base Edinburgh will also serve as the headquarters for our Tritons and armed (GA-ASI MQ-9) Reaper variant.”
The 2019-20 Defence Portfolio Budget Statement projects that the first aircraft is expected to fly 300 hours during the 2022- 23 financial year, its first year of operations with the RAAF.
An unmanned future
While Defence has selected the General Atomics (GA-ASI) MQ-9 Reaper against its requirement for an armed medium altitude,
long endurance (MALE) UAS capability under the aegis of Air 7003 Phase 1, it has yet to specify which version will be acquired.
Between 12 and 16 aircraft will be acquired under the acqui- sition program, which is priced at between one and two billion dol- lars, depending on negotiations with GA-ASI. A decision on a preferred variant will be made
at the Second Pass gate which, according to sources close to the program, is expected in the second half of this year.
The choice is between the MQ-9 Block 5 Reaper currently in production for the US Air Force, or the MQ-9B Skyguardian (pre- viously known as the Certifiable Predator B) now under development for the UK.
At the time of the original announce- ment last year, Minister Pyne said the government would request pricing and availability data from the US to support future decisions regarding acquisition of a preferred variant and he revealed that ini- tial deliveries were expected to begin in the 2020-2021 timeframe, with an entry into service two years later.
“The 12-16 aircraft and the $1-2 billion depends on the negotiations with General Atomics, because obviously this is a single source acquisition,” Minister Pyne said.
The Royal Australian Navy also has a UAS program underway, to acquire a sys- tem capable of being operated off the decks
of its surface combatants. Sea 129 Phase 5 (Maritime Tactical Unmanned Systems) is seeking a prime industry contractor – re- ferred to as the Platform Systems Integrator (PSI) - to supply a system capable of oper- ating from all Navy’s surface warships, but primarily the new Arafura-class offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs).
Although the timing for Sea 129 Phase 5 is not yet set in stone, Navy is looking to re- lease a Request For Tender (RFT) to indus- try in the first half of next year, with entry into service in the middle of the next decade.
Army too is looking to acquire a tactical UAS under future acquisition elements of Land 129 Phase 4. It is currently introduc- ing the AeroVironment RQ-12A Wasp AE SUAS under Land 129 Phase 4A but, given the pace of technological development in small unmanned systems, it will acquire more vehicles in the future under Phase Land 129 Phase 4B.
At the Avalon Airshow in late February, SYPAQ announced it had won seed fund- ing to further develop its Corvo X Small Unmanned Aerial Systems (SUAS) capa- bility under Phase 4B and was expected to demonstrate a capability to Army in the first half of 2019.
Special Operations Helicopter
Army’s Project Land 2097 Phase 4 will oversee the acquisition of at least 16 heli- copters for Special Operations support, following a Request for Information (RFI) was released to industry at the end of Sep- tember 2018.
The future timeline calls for an RFT to follow in the fourth quarter of 2019 and deliveries to begin in the 2022 timeframe. While the size of the proposed helicopter was not specified in the RFI, Army has pre- viously discussed a helicopter in the four- tonne class.
The RFI calls for a helicopter which is optimised for urban operations and able to be rapidly deployed by the Royal Australian Air Force’s C-17A Globemaster III fleet. Four helicopters and any removed compo- nents are required to uplifted by one C-17A.
Airbus Australia Pacific managing di- rector Andrew Mathewson confirmed in March that the company has responded to the RFI with a proposal based on the H145M helicopter and other contenders are likely to include Bell and Hawker Pacif- ic (Bell 407GX or 429), Boeing (AH-6i or Little Bird), Leonardo (AW109 Trekker), MD Helicopters (MD530G) and North- star Aviation (B407MRH Lightning).
tify what can be done to sustain it further.” Also, in March, more than two years after the first contracts were signed, the Austra- lian Government formally announced the acquisition of four Gulfstream MC-55A
Peregrine electronic surveillance aircraft. Minister Pyne said the $2.46 billion ac- quisition will enable Defence to “actively strengthen Electronic Warfare (EW) support to naval, air and land forces for operations in
complex electromagnetic environments.” The four MC-55As will replace two Lock- heed AP-3C(EW) Orions, the existence of which was only formally acknowledged by the RAAF at the end of 2018, after more than 20 years of service. These two aircraft will remain in service until the Peregrines
are operational, ADM understands.
The Gulfstreams are being acquired un- der Project Air 555 Phase 1 and are being modified for the ELINT role by L-3 in
Greenville Texas.
“The Peregrine is a new airborne EW
capability that will be integrated into De-
46 | June 2019 | www.australiandefence.com.au