Page 100 - Australian Defence Magazine Dec-Jan 2023

100 MAJOR PROJECTS REVIEW
DECEMBER 2022-JANUARY 2023 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
The RAAF is set to acquire an additional seven MQ-28A Ghost Bat (formerly known as Loyal Wingman) uncrewed autonomous aircraft from Boeing to add to the three plat- forms already contracted. Some $220 million from an ap- proved total budget of $452 million will be spent in 2022- 23 to stand up Australian production of the aircraft. Three separately-funded earlier prototypes are already involved in flight testing, and the capability is expected to enter ser- vice with the RAAF in the 2024-25 timeframe.
Developed by Boeing Australia in partnership with De- fence, the MQ-28A benefits from artificial intelligence, is claimed to have “fighter-like” performance, and is designed to operate autonomously or semi-autonomously with crewed
drawal date for the Hawk, which entered service with the RAAF in 2001, extended to 2031.
Replacing the Adour 871 with the latest Rolls Royce Adour M951 should deal with engine support issues. Other enhancements will include new mission systems with im- proved software and hardware more closely simulating the pilot interfaces and functionality of systems used on the Joint Strike Fighter, Super Hornet and Growler electronic attack aircraft. Work in 2022-23 will focus on the engine replacement including initial design incorporation on two aircraft, acceptance testing under a Military Permit to Fly, and certification activities.
IN THE LAND DOMAIN
In the Land domain, $686 million is included in 2022-23 from total approved project expenditure of $5.6 billion for the 211 Rheinmetall Boxer 8x8 combat reconnaissance ve- hicles contracted under Land 400 Phase 2. Of these, the 25 German-built Block 1 vehicles delivered in June 2021 reached IOC in October 2022. In the current financial year the project will focus on progressing the designs of the (186) Block II variants “and the commencement of pro- duction activities in preparation for the first Australian- assembled Boxer vehicle”.
Whole-of-system testing for Army’s tactical mobile short-range ground-based air defence system, including a full system flight trial, will be completed during 2022-23 under Project Land 19 Phase 7B. The capability will be an enhanced version of the jointly-developed Raytheon/ Kongsberg National Advanced Surface to Air Missile Sys- tem (NASAMS) already acquired by 11 countries, and will replace Army’s legacy RBS-70 man-portable short range air defence system.
The new system will provide ground-based air defence out to about 25km against fixed wing aircraft, helicopters, cruise missiles and unmanned aerial systems using the Raytheon AIM-120 AMRAAM (Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile) as its effector. Its Mk.2 canister launch- ers will also accommodate the AIM-9X Block 2 missile which along with AMRAAM is already in service with the RAAF for air-to-air combat.
“ACCORDINGLY, PROJECT CHANGES FLOWING FROM THE DSR, PARTICULARLY IN THE LAND DOMAIN, CAN
BE EXPECTED TO REFLECT AUSTRALIA’S CURRENT RATHER THAN EARLIER STRATEGIC CIRCUMSTANCES”
platforms to perform combat and/or surveillance operations. A variety of payloads will be carried in the MQ-28A’s recon- figurable nose and a number of sensors are now in the ground test phase.
Selection of the strategic partner to lead delivery of the $2.7 billion Joint Air Battle Management System (JABMS) under Project Air 6500 Phase 1 is anticipated in mid-2023. Lockheed Martin Australia and Northrop Grumman Aus-
tralia were chosen in August 2021 to proceed to the final stage of the competitive evaluation process for the JABMS, which will deliver the core sensing and C4I architecture of the ADF’s future integrated air and missile defence pro- gram. Although they were not down-selected, Boeing De- fence Australia and Raytheon Australia will continue to be involved in developing the JABMS and supporting the wider integrated air and missile defence program.
Some $121 million from a $1.5 billion program an- nounced in February 2021 will be spent in 2022-23 on progressing the upgrade of the RAAF’s 33 Hawk Mk.127 lead-in fighter-trainer (LIFT) aircraft with new engines and other improvements. This will see the planned with-
RIGHT: Whole- of-system testing for Army’s tactical mobile short-range ground-based air defence system will be completed during 2022-23
DEFENCE