Page 12 - Australian Defence Magazine Oct 2020

12 NEWS REVIEW INDUSTRY UPDATE
OCTOBER 2020 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
BECA AND VARD MARINE TO SUPPORT NZ ANTARCTIC PATROL VESSEL PROGRAM
BECA Applied Technologies (Beca), with the support of specialist naval architec- ture company Vard Marine (Vard), have been appointed by the NZ Ministry of Defence as the Technical Support Part- ner to the Southern Ocean Patrol Vessel (SOPV) project.
The SOPV project is exploring options for a ship that is designed to operate in one of the harshest environments on the plan- et. An ice-strengthened offshore patrol vessel for Southern Ocean operations will
LEFT: NZ is designing a ship to protect its interests in Antarctica.
be navigating the large distance between NZ and Antarctica, it will be traversing one of the roughest seas in the world, and must be able to operate safely in Ross Sea ice conditions. Any vessel that can meet these needs will need characteristics tai- lored to these demanding conditions.
Beca and Vard will join the Ministry’s Integrated Project Team providing systems engineering, concept design and technical logistics input for the early stages of the proj- ect as the capability is defined and specified.
Beca has been a long-standing strate- gic supplier to the Ministry of Defence and NZ Defence Force, including on the Maritime Sustainment Capability and the Dive Hydro Vessel project that contributed to the delivery of HMNZS Aotearoa and HMNZS Manawanui.
“We are delighted to be supporting the development of another critical capability for the people and Government of NZ,” An-
drew Ford, Business Director - Defence & National Security at Beca said. “The SOPV has the potential to provide much needed presence in the Southern Ocean to safe- guard NZ’s interests there. We are excited to partner with the MoD Integrated Project Team and to bring Vard’s significant polar class experience to this program.”
NZ’s Otago Class patrol vessels were designed by Vard Marine and delivered in 2010. These vessels have operated in heavy sea states and ice in the Southern Ocean, and the SOPV is intended to provide im- proved operability in similar conditions.
“Vard Marine is delighted to once again be supporting the Royal NZ Navy in devel- oping another vitally important maritime capability,” Derek Buxton, VP Business Development at Vard Marine said. “This time we very much look forward to com- bining our expertise in multi-role ships designed for high-latitude operations with the regional defence knowledge and systems engineering expertise that Beca brings to the program.”
HANWHA TO BUILD SELF-PROPELLED HOWITZERS
THE government has announced that Hanwha Defence Australia (HDA) has been chosen to build 30 self-propelled howitzers for the ADF under a sole source smart buyer decision.
The Request for Tender will be released to preferred supplier HDA to build and maintain 30 self-propelled howitzers and 15 armoured ammunition resupply vehi- cles, and their supporting systems.
“The acquisition of this capability will provide the ADF with the mobility, lethali- ty and protection required to support Joint Force operations in the land domain,” Minister for Defence Linda Reynolds said. “The self-propelled howitzers will be built in the Geelong region, with ongoing deep maintenance conducted in the same Australian facility to support the systems throughout their service life.”
The Request for Tender will progress this first phase of the Protected Mobile Fires ca- pability. For Land 8116, Hanwha has devel-
oped the Huntsman Family of Vehicles, com- prising the K9 SPH and the K10 Armoured Ammunition Resupply Vehicle (AARV) to deliver a complete mission system.
These will be designated as the AS9 SPH and the AS10 AARV respectively for the Aus- tralian market.
The Huntsman SPH is a 50 tonne, 52 calibre, 155mm platform capable of taking advantage of
current and emerg-
ing 155mm munitions
technologies. It has
a crew of four or five
depending on the con-
figuration with an am-
munition capacity of
up to 48 rounds and
RIGHT: For Land 8116, Hanwha has developed the Huntsman Family of Vehicles.
accompanying modular charge systems. The Kongsberg ODIN Fire Control Sys- tem, which sits within the broader Kongs- berg Integrated Combat System, allows passage of information to the Advanced Field Artillery Tactical Data System (AF- ATDS) forming the core of the C4I system. The AS10 AARV is a largely robotised system built on the same chassis as the K9.
HANWHA
SUPPLIED