Page 8 - Australian Defence Magazine June 2019
P. 8

DEFENCE
DEFENCE
NEWS REVIEW
INDUSTRY UPDATE
Deployable health program moves forward
Assembly of a field hospital takes place at Batchelor Airfield during Exercise Pitch Black 2018.
Saab, Aspen Medical, Philips, Marshal, and Broadspectrum; Airbus Defence and Sie- mens; Leidos Australia; and Mobilis Medical.
ADM understands that the Saab team is the preferred tenderer with negotiations un- derway, with Leidos waiting in the wings. The news was fatal for Mobilis Medical, which intends to wrap up operations over the next few months.
The RfT gave a generous timeframe to allow companies to collaborate on the so- lution as no individual company is able to deliver the full requirement.
“The Risk Mitigation Activity stage ex- plores, reduces or eliminates areas of un- certainty and risk associated with the ten- der process through a series of workshops and deliverables,” a Defence spokesper- son said to ADM.
“Defence is unable to provide further de- tails on which companies/bidding teams have successfully moved to the Risk Mitiga- tion Activity stage as it relates to an ongoing Tender Evaluation. The Deployable Health Capability program’s next major deadline is planned for early 2020 when Defence will seek Government approval.”
EWEN LEVICK | SYDNEY
THE ADF Deployable Health Capability program under JP2060 Phase 3 has moved to the risk mitigation activity phase, with bidders notified whether they are still in the running.
The program is for a completely deploy- able health facility that allows for three lay- ers of healthcare: primary, triage (including surgery, labs, pharmacy) and specialist (in-
cluding surgery, diagnostics and lab), includ- ing physical structures, power, water, waste disposal facility, the generation, storage and distribution of oxygen and the supply and support of all medial and dental equipment. The solution must be modular in order to evolve as health technology changes.
At the time of the Request for Tender (RfT), the integration of acquisition and support of the capability from the outset was a novel approach.
Known bidders for JP2060 Phase 3 are:
Tiger deploys overseas
NIGEL PITTAWAY | MELBOURNE
THE Australian Army Aviation Corps (AAvn) has deployed its Tiger Armed Recon- naissance Helicopter overseas for only the second time in its 15-year operational history.
Four Tigers were embarked aboard HMAS Canberra in Southeast Asian wa- ters to participate in Indo-Pacific Endeavour (IPE) 2019. The helicopters, from AAvn’s 162 Reconnaissance Squadron/1st Aviation Regiment based in Darwin, used the em- barked period to work up an ARH amphibi- ous capability under Plan Kestrel – Army’s roadmap for the development of an amphibi- ous Air Combat Element (ACE), comprising Tiger ARH, MRH90 Taipan and CH-47F Chinook helicopters.
“The purpose of the deployment of the ARH Tigers is to develop an ARH capabil- ity as part of Plan Kestrel. This is in prepa-
ration for Exercise Sea Series 19, where it is expected the Australian Amphibious Force, under Joint Project 2048, will achieve Final Operational Capability (FOC),” Brigadier Stephen Jobson, Commander 16th Avia- tion Brigade, said.
“The embarkation of the 1st Aviation Reg- iment detachment facilitates the develop- ment of ARH interoperability with Austra- lia’s two Landing Helicopter Dock (LHD) ships and the deck landing qualification and proficiency for the 1st Aviation Regiment aircrew. Additionally, the deployment will increase the deck handling proficiency of the HMAS Canberra crew through the familia- risation with ARH deck operations.”
The four helicopters were flown to Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) Base Subang, on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, from Dar- win aboard an RAAF C-17A transport and af- ter reassembly they embarked aboard HMAS Canberra, then alongside at nearby Port Klang.
A Tiger ARH lands on HMAS Canberra's flight deck during Indo-Pacific Endeavour 2019.
Commanding Officer of the 1st Aviation Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Dan Bartle, said the Tiger deployment during IPE 19 follows on from the recent successful First of Class Flight Trials (FOCFT) with the LHD. The focus of 162 Recce Sqn is the deck land- ing qualifications of young aircrew and inte- grating maintenance, mission support and armament teams into the ship’s aviation de- partment to increase the safety and efficiency of embarked ARK operations.
8 | June 2019 | www.australiandefence.com.au


































































































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