Page 10 - Australian Defence Magazine Oct 2020

10 NEWS REVIEW INDUSTRY UPDATE
OCTOBER 2020 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
ARMY RELEASES VEHICLE UPGRADE ROADMAP
JULIAN KERR | SYDNEY
THE Land Combat and Protected Vehicles and Technology Upgrades Plan recently released by the Commonwealth offers a future technology roadmap at an indus- trial capability level.
Published on 13 August, the plan does not focus on any single industry organisa- tion or any specific future or ongoing De- fence tender process.
Rather, it outlines the underlying critical industrial capabilities and enablers neces- sary for Australian industry to upgrade, up- date and modify land combat and protected vehicles, including on-board technologies.
“This will be essential if current and fu- ture ADF fleets are to take advantage of the technological evolutions enhancing survivability, situational awareness, le- thality and mobility,” the plan states.
Australia seeks to have access to or control over certain elements of each of four vital industrial capabilities, and to support or in- fluence related defence industry investment.
These capabilities comprise (in no par- ticular order of priority or importance) protection technologies; integration, net- working and communications; vehicle and systems upgrades; and sustainment.
Within the 2021-2022 timeframe, Defence will improve how it communi- cates requirements to industry through a wide range of fora including brief- ings to State government and industry groups, the Land Environment Working Group (LEWG), Land Forces conference, project industry briefings, and specific project-related Australian industry work- shops, the plan states.
Further, by the end of 2021 capability- based Land Force Support Models will be developed in collaboration between the Capability Manager (Chief of Army) and CASG in order to optimise proactive in- vestments from both Defence and indus- try, and streamline activity.
“These support models are designed at Gate 0 and evolved throughout the Capa- bility Life Cycle. Army will continue to work with CASG, Joint Logistics Com- mand and industry to refine these models
ABOVE: An Australian Light Armoured Vehicle is seen driving to the Wide Bay Training Area, Queensland.
ahead of finalising capability support ar- rangements.”
Within the initial three to five years of the plan, the design and development of sensors, autonomous and robotic systems, high-density power supplies, efficient ve- hicle transmissions, and alternative ve- hicle track materials was expected to be- come increasingly common.
Later technology evolutions for indus- try focus were forecast to include satellite communications on the move, high as- surance cryptographic equipment, adap- tive networking wideband waveform, and semi-automated context-based distributed information management systems.
Further anticipated areas for industry interest included composite and smart ar- mour solutions for evolving ballistic and blast threats; combined arms teams simu- lation; and third/fourth generation active protection systems.
CCTV INSTALLED ON LLCS
CCTV has been installed on the first LHD Landing Craft (LLC). The installation was a success for the Amphibious Combat and Sealift Systems Enterprise and was the re- sult of cooperation between the Navantia Australia team, the Amphibious Combat and Sealift Systems Program Office (ACSS- PO), and Naval Ship Management Austra- lia, the asset class prime contractor for the Landing Helicopter Dock (LHD) program.
Navy personnel are also reportedly pleased with the new capability. The first LLC was fitted with the cameras and passed the ‘Set To Work’ conducted by Navantia Australia engineers and So- fraco at the end of January. The Na- vantia Australia team consisted of en- gineers from the Melbourne Design
and Engineering Centre, supported by the LHD Field Engineering team in Sydney.
ABOVE: The new system is based on Power Over Ethernet rugged COTS cameras.
“I’m really impressed with how it’s turned out. To get that level of capability more or less out of the box is excellent,” Navantia Australia’s Combat Systems Lead Aidan Crees said.
The new system is based on Power Over Ethernet (POE) rugged COTS cameras and provides operators with a high resolu- tion and simple interface to monitor haz- ards in the engine and jet rooms.
The remaining LLCs have since also had the CCTV capability installed and fitted in conjunction with the new Bulkhead Up- grade, also designed by Navantia Australia.
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DEFENCE