Page 12 - Australian Defence Magazine Oct 2018

NEWS REVIEW
INDUSTRY UPDATE
Boxer contract
for Land 400
Phase 2 signed
The Boxer contract for Phase 2 of Land 400 has been inked.
lian industry will contribute over 75 per cent for sustainment of the vehicles.
In a statement, former Minister for De- fence Industry Christopher Pyne said that the workforce that will deliver the Boxer vehicles will continue to be used to support sustain- ment, progressive development and upgrades as well as potential export opportunities.
The first vehicles, to be produced in Ger- many to meet the agressive timeline, are ex- pected to be available for training in 2020.
THE government has officially signed the contract with Rheinmetall for the delivery of 211 armoured combat reconnaissance ve- hicles, the largest acquisition project in the history of the Australian Army.
The vehicles will provide mobility, lethal- ity and protection capability for the Army, and the build program will create 1,450 high-tech jobs across Australia.
The Boxers replace the ASLAVs (Austra- lian Light Armoured Vehicle), which are more than 20 years old. Fitted with modern sensors and communications equipment, their role is to locate, monitor and engage
with enemy forces and provide security to Australian forces.
The vehicles will fill seven different roles on the battlefield including reconnaissance, command and control, joint fires, surveil- lance, ambulance, battlefield repair and recovery.
The total acquisition cost of the vehicles is $5.2 billion. The Australian industry content of the project was raised significantly through the tender process to over 50 per cent. Austra-
New F-35 maintenance facility for Queensland
TAE Aerospace will develop a turbine en- gine maintenance facility in Bundamba, south-east Queensland, which will support in-country sustainment of Australia’s fifth- generation F-35 fighter jets.
The facility will enable deeper-level main- tenance, where engine modules are disassem- bled, repaired and reassembled for testing.
Former Minister for Defence Christo- pher Pyne said the new facility is a testa- ment to the strength of Australia’s defence industry and the its contribution to the global F-35 Program.
“TAE Aerospace’s new facility will sup-
F-35 maintenance will be a huge industrial effort around the nation.
port maintenance, repair, overhaul and upgrade (MRO&U) activities for not only Australian F135 engines but also engines from around the Asia Pacific region and the world,” Minister Pyne said.
TAE Aerospace’s new facility will sup- port maintenance, repair, overhaul and upgrade activities for not only Australian F135 engines but also engines from around the Asia Pacific
TAE Aerospace is 100 per cent Austra- lian-owned with 237 employees at several sites across Australia, with contracts to support Classic Hornet, Super Hornet,
Growler and M1 Abram tank engines. The addition of the F135 engine MRO&U ac- tivities will add a minimum of 15 aerospace technician jobs to its workforce and up to 85 additional jobs as part of the future F-35 Global Support Solution.
The ADF is acquiring 72 F-35A JSF air- craft to replace the current fleet of 71 ageing F/A-18A/B Classic Hornets.
Australia's first two Australian F-35s, AU-1 and AU-2, are expected to arrive in Australia in December, and Lockheed Martin plans to deliver the next eight Aus- tralian aircraft, AU-3 to AU-10, to Luke Air Force Base in Arizona this year. The aircraft will then be delivered to Australia in pairs and are expected to achieve initial operat- ing capability in 2020.
Australia will also be home to the F-35 South Pacific Regional Warehouse, oper- ated by BAE Systems at RAAF Base Wil- liamtown. Ejection seat manufacturer Mar- tin Baker has also set up at Williamtown in advance of the F-35 arrival.
“The global F-35 Program has had a posi- tive impact on Australia’s growing defence industry, which has collectively been award- ed in excess of $1 billion in production con- tracts and will support up to 5,000 Austra- lian jobs by 2023,” Minister Pyne added.
12 | October 2018 | www.australiandefence.com.au
LOCKHEED MARTIN