Page 14 - Australian Defence Mag Sep 2020

14 NEWS REVIEW INDUSTRY UPDATE
SEPTEMBER 2020 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
DEFENCE DELAYS LAND 200 PHASE 3
EWEN LEVICK | SYDNEY
THE Department of Defence has sought to delay first pass approval for Battlefield Com- mand Systems under Land 200 Phase 3.
The pause is until ‘at least’ February 2022. The Department attributes the de- lay to ‘overall movement in committee pro- cesses and Covid-19’.
The Land 200 program is designed to transition Army command from paper to digital, providing real-time situational awareness, combat planning tools and combat messaging. In 2017, then-Chief of Army LTGEN Angus Campbell de- scribed the program as the ‘highest pri- ority’ in the Army.
Phase 1, which included a Battle Man- agement System (BMS) for vehicles under Land 75, a BMS for soldiers under Land 125 Phase 3A, and vehicle comms under JP 2072 Phase 1, achieved Final Opera-
tional Capability in the first quarter of 2015, two years behind schedule.
Phase 2 includes radios under Land 2072 Phase 3 and BMS upgrades under Land 125 Phase 4, and achieved con- tract signature in 2017. It is expected to achieve Final Operational Capability in 2022. This part of the program came under fire from the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) in May 2019 for exceeding original budgetary and capa- bility remits.
Phase 3 includes expansion of the BCS across Army and select RAN and RAAF elements, a beyond line-of-sight comms ca- pability, a dismounted battlefield command systems capability, and more. It is forecast to cost $1-2 billion with sustainment worth $60-90m annually over 15 years.
Defence says it will conduct its next in- dustry engagement on Land 200 Phase 3 via an information session during Mil- CIS 2020.
ABOVE: Australian soldiers conduct radio checks at the Taji Military Complex, Iraq.
DARONMONT SECURES ITS LARGEST-EVER DEFENCE CONTRACT
A NEW five-year, $65 million contract with Australian-owned Daronmont Technolo- gies is creating 10 new positions and will support the Mobile Control and Reporting Centre based at RAAF Base Darwin.
“This contract will enable the Mobile Control and Reporting Centre to be a deployable system providing vital surveil- lance, battlespace management, and com- munications services,” Minister for De-
fence Industry Melissa Price said. “With over 96 per cent Australian industry content, Daronmont’s team of 35 highly skilled software, electronics, IT, mechani- cal and systems engineers are supporting Defence’s air operations and interoperabil- ity with allied and coalition forces.”
The Mobile Control and Reporting Cen- tre is stationed at RAAF Base Darwin, while the simulation system and supporting com-
munications assets are distributed across multiple RAAF sites in Australia.
Daronmont CEO Ben Norris welcomed the signing of Daronmont’s largest Defence contract to date with CASG and Air Force.
LEFT: The Mobile Control and Reporting Centre is based at RAAF Base Darwin.
“This contract will build on the strong existing relationship between CASG, Air Force and Daronmont in support of 114MCRU in garrison and on deployments at home and opera- tions overseas,” Norris said. “Daron- mont’s existing services include pro- vision and maintenance of deployable systems and on-site field service rep- resentation and will now expand to support ABM-wide Voice Communica- tions and Simulation Systems.”
“This long-term contract provides the ideal base for us to develop our suite of Australian designed and built light- weight, containerised C4I, simulation and laboratory systems for a number of significant additional ADF programs,” Business Development Manager Lee Stanley said.
The Mobile Control and Reporting Cen- tre system has previously deployed to Af- ghanistan in 2007-2009 and most recently to Papua New Guinea in Dec 2018 in sup- port of operation APEC Assist.
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