Page 86 - Australian Defence Mag Sep 2020

86 FROM THE SOURCE SIMON STUART CONTINUED FROM PAGE 90
make sensible decisions. But that’s a couple of decades off. If we come back to what we have now and the two spe- cific aircraft that you asked about, with regard to the Tiger Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter, we’re in our second de- cade of operations now. We know that it won’t be able to be successful in the operating environment over the next two decades. In the Defence White Paper of 2016, Government told us to replace it in the mid-2020s, and this was further confirmed in the 2020 FSP. We are progressing along that line and Government will make a decision later in the year.
ADM: Is a business case being put together for an up- grade of the Tiger at all? Is that being explored?
STUART: There are a range of options that have been pre- sented as part of the Land 4503 process and that is all I can say, given where it’s at right now. There isn’t a commercially available next version of the current aircraft at the moment.
We are proceeding in accordance with Government di- rection to replace the Tiger with a capability that is going to be able to operate in the kind of complex and lethal en- vironment of the coming decades, and ensures we’re not forced by obsolescence into early and high-
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STUART: You’d be aware that we’ve got a solid amphibious capability at the moment. What the FSP has announced in terms of Army operated watercraft is an extension to the depth and the utility of that amphibious system. There are four key components, and I’ll start with the big ones and work my way down to the smaller ones.
One is a replacement for the old landing craft heavy which was a very significant ship to shore connector but also capable of independent operations and able to carry our tank or other large vehicles, a company of soldiers or resupplies, those kinds of things.
The next level down will be a replacement for the LCM- 8 and we’re calling that the Independent Landing Craft, which as part of the amphibious system will also be capable of some fairly significant independent operations, but in a littoral, brown water environment. So in other words, you don’t have to take assets from the current amphibious sys- tem and allocate them; we’re adding to its depth and its utility. The littoral is really important, particularly when you look at the Defence Strategic Update and a focus on our archipelagic region. By littoral I mean roughly 200 km either side of the beach, which is where most of the popula- tion lives globally. Throughout the region there’s some re- ally difficult terrain and so when combined with aircraft,
risk future investment decisions.
With regard to the Multi-Role Helicopter, theTaipan,we’realwayslookingattheBattle- field Aviation Programs as a program of in- vestment that seeks to balance capability with cost of ownership - that’s really important, we have to be able to afford it and live within our means; what is going to deliver the best out- come from an Australian industry perspective
and where can we generate some innovation. Those four drivers are the lens that I look at things through. If we can get in that sweet spot, that’s probably the area we want to be going. It’s no surprise that the MRH
“WEHAVEWHATWECONSIDER TO BE AN UNDER-SIZE FLEET IN 10 CHINOOKS AND, AS I SAID, WE’RE ALWAYS LOOKING FOR THOSE OPTIONS AND I DON’T THINK IT’S ANY SURPRISE THAT ARMY WOULD LIKE
TO HAVE SOME MORE.”
vehicles, and our people, these platforms are another way enabling access.
The next level down are the riverine craft. These are smaller, shallow draft boats that are able to move up some fairly small rivers and, again, they provide an- other way of accessing hard to get to areas.
The fourth piece is the amphibious ve- hicle, a replacement for the LARC-V, that almost unbeatable design that has lasted forever and has been seen on operations around the world, including in Antarcti- ca supporting our scientific missions We think that’s probably likely to look quite similar but an upgraded version.
hasn’t delivered the availability that we have contracted for, and it’s expensive to operate. We continue to work to try and get the best availability out of that aircraft, but we’re always looking for options to improve operational capability, reduce cost of ownership and improve Australian industry content.
ADM: And what about the Chinook fleet?
STUART: That, frankly, has just been a fantastic workhorse for us. It’s very reliable, it has very good cost of ownership. We have what we consider to be an under-size fleet in 10 and, as I said, we’re always looking for those options and I don’t think it’s any surprise that Army would like to have some more Chinooks. The question is how do we do that within the overall strategy; get the right mix of types and numbers and live within our means.
ADM: The FSP and Defence Strategic Update (DSU) have flagged more of a maritime role for Army with an expand- ed riverine capability. What are you looking to achieve there and how?
All of this we want to make sure is built in Australia and that’s what we’re seeking to achieve. In summary, it’s about expanding our utility, our access in the littoral and optimis- ing our amphibious system so that it is able to have better range, better effect and use the major fleet units for their core purpose.
ADM: The shape, deter and respond theme that runs through those two key policy documents means that ca- pabilities need to be focused more on Southeast Asia and the Indo-Pacific. Do you think the current crop of pro- grams that we have in play already and some of those outlined in them are the right capabilities?
STUART: I think what you see in the FSP represents some- thing that is suitable for the environment that we find our- selves in and the way we think the environment is going to continue to trend. Things like uncertainty; we know that the environment is more lethal, we know that cyber and space are warfighting domains and happen across that spectrum of cooperation, competition and conflict. Some-