Page 64 - Australian Defence Mag Sep 2020

64 SUSTAINMENT AIR
SEPTEMBER 2020 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
While the C-17A does not deliver many
opportunities for Australian industry in-
volvement in through life support, beyond
the support provided by the Original Equip-
ment Manufacturer (OEM) through its
Boeing Defence Australia subsidiary, other
programs enjoy more success. While the
Super Hornet was a direct FMS acquisi-
tion, Defence and industry has established
the Air Combat Electronic Attack Sustain-
ment Program (ACEASP) in Australia,
which consists of three primes (BDA, Gen-
eral Electric International and Raytheon
Australia), together with sub-contractors such as Airspeed, Martin Baker Australia, Milskil, Northrop Grumman Aus- tralia Pacific Aerospace Consulting and TAE Australia. In March this year, the ACEASP was awarded a four-year, $280 million sustainment contract extension to support the Super Hornet and Growler fleets through to 2025.
The current government is very keen to see more work being done by Australian companies within Australia and AIRCDRE van Leeuwen notes that FMS programs are an area of focus. “There are a lot of initiatives at the moment looking at bringing
work to Australia to support FMS programs and I think that has been recognised on both sides of the Pa- cific,” he said. “From both a supply chainresilienceperspectiveandsup- ply chain redundancy perspective, as well as the strategic importance of having repair capabilities in this re- gion of the world.”
Australia has entered into Co-opera- tive Programs with the US for ongoing development of the F-35A, P-8A and MQ-4C platforms and acquisition via
this methodology offers several major advantages.
Because it has a seat at the table, Australia can directly influence the development of the platforms, as AIRCDRE
van Leeuwen explains.
“The fundamental difference between a pure FMS case
and a capability acquired through a Co-operative Program is the former typically has a supplier and a customer rela- tionship, where Australia then reaches into the host service to broker its interests – whereas in a Co-operative Program you are actually part of a coalition that works inside the program itself,” he explains.
“THE CURRENT GOVERNMENT IS VERY KEEN TO SEE MORE WORK BEINGDONEBYAUSTRALIAN COMPANIES WITHIN AUSTRALIA AND AIRCDRE VAN LEEUWEN NOTES THAT FMS PROGRAMS ARE AN AREA OF FOCUS.”
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