Page 122 - Australian Defence Magazine Dec-Jan 2023

122 DEFENCE BUSINESS
VIEW FROM CANBERRA
DECEMBER 2022-JANUARY 2023 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
VIEW FROM CANBERRA
This is prospect heretical to the submarine community, but much of which the new nuclear boats are expected to do could also be done by a few long-range stealth bombers, such as the new Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider.
A SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT | CANBERRA
IMAGINE a future conflict in which island bases in the South China Sea needed to be neutralised, starting with suppression of their air defences.
Using the RAAF’s B-21 squadron, missions could be staged from the Australian mainland around the clock, using standoff missiles to obliterate SAM positions and supporting warships.
The coup de grace could be delivered by a couple of plane- loads of Mk.82 iron bombs. Many details of the B-21 haven’t been released but predecessor B-2A Spirits could each carry 80 Mk.82 bombs – a total load of 18 tonnes.
B-21s wouldn’t be cheap but they would be a whole lot cheaper than a nuclear submarine and only require a crew of two. Much of the infrastructure to support their opera- tions already exists.
It’s not as though Australia has never operated long range bombers. We did during WW2 and only in 2010 did we re- tire the last F-111s.
Australia’s potential acquisition of B-21 has been well canvassed by ASPI’s Marcus Hellyer who observes that Australia needs effective strike capability soon, which B-21 could deliver long before new submarines enter service.
Conceivably we could have B-21s and nuclear subma- rines. Northrop Grumman is now building six B-21s for the USAF with total acquisition of maybe 100. First flight will likely be early next year.
The cost – maybe $1 billion per bomber. Realistically, would we ever acquire such exquisite and expensive aircraft?
The answer is probably not but right now, who knows?
Anyone sprouting the prospects of Austra- lia acquiring nuclear submarines on Septem- ber 14 last year would have received the usual dismissive response along the lines of, no way, won’t ever happen.
The very next day, to the astonishment of most everyone, the government announced the AUKUS agreement and Australia’s pro- posed acquisition of nuclear submarines.
Maybe the upcoming Defence Strategic Review 2023 to be released in first quarter will feature just such a surprise.
From what Defence Minister Richard Mar- les says, the new DSR will be strong on Aus- tralia acquiring capabilities for “impactful projection” of power.
“...increasingly we’re going to need to think about our defence force in terms of being able to provide the country with im- pactful projection – impactful projection, meaning an ability to hold an adversary at risk much further from our shores,” he told the Submarine Institute of Australia confer- ence in Canberra.
Nuclear submarines could easily provide im- pactful projection of power, but so could Navy’s six Collins-class boats and, to a lesser extent, the RAAF’s F-35s, Super Hornets and P-8s.
How about another DSU surprise? In April, the former coalition government re- vealed it had canned Project Air 7003 Phase
1 which would have equipped the RAAF with a dozen General Atomics MQ-9B SkyGuardian armed UAVs.
This is a capability Defence has long sought and at $1.3 billion, not that expensive. The government preferred to di- rect those funds to Project REDSPICE to upgrade national cyber defences.
Considering recent cyberattacks on the Australian econ- omy, it’s hard to argue that this funding wasn’t necessary. It may be that the new Labor government will conclude we can have both.
Otherwise, the ADF will be fielding a few very big UAVs – the Triton for broad area marine surveillance and a larger number of smaller Army and Navy tactical UAVs. But there’s nothing in between.
Cancellation of SkyGuardian came just as the Ukraine conflict ramped up, with both sides making extensive use of UAVs for reconnaissance and attack.
The ADF may view very small armed UAVs as a capabil- ity not really worth acquiring – surely any lurking tank is deserving of a Hellfire missile from a SkyGuardian rather than the uncertain effect of a tiny bomblet.
Ukraine has certainly highlighted the likely ubiquity of small UAVs in any future conflict and right now the ADF has the capacity to look but not act. ■
ABOVE: Artist’s rendering of a USAF B-21 Raider stealth bomber
NORTHROP GRUMMAN