Page 20 - Australian Defence Magazine Oct 2020

20 MRO ARMY
OCTOBER 2020 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
Defence says this new capability, yet to be selected, will be based on the M1 chassis, meaning the Defence sup- ply chain and industry will play a major role in its sup- port, along with sustainment of the M1A2s and the legacy Abrams while they remain in service.
Looking to the future, Defence announced in June that it is seeking companies to help design, develop, manufacture and deliver a high fidelity Immersive Tactical Trainer (ITT) for the M1A2 capability, and anticipates having a number of ITTs along with other support arrangements delivered by 2024.
The announcement did not state which SEP configura- tion was to be simulated.
TRAINING
Each trainer is to simulate a single Abrams M1A2 and in- volves commander, gunner and driver positions, an (optional) loader position that is considered important but not essential, and an instructor station to provide control of the system.
Four fixed ITTs will be located at the School of Armour at Puckapunyal while 1 Cavalry Regiment (Adelaide); 2/14 Light Horse Regiment (Brisbane); and 2 Cavalry Regiment (Townsville) will each receive a single troop of four contai- nerised ITTs.
Army’s current M1A1 fleet is sustained predominantly under the US FMS program via the Australian Manage- ment Office located in Detroit and General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS), who are the nominated US Government Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM).
The principal Australian partners include TAE Aero- space (Queensland) which undertakes rebuilds and repairs of the M1A1’s 1,500 hp AGt-1500 gas turbine engine.
From 2007 until 2016 engines requiring rebuild were re- turned to the US at a cost of about $500,000 per engine, with a turnaround of anywhere from six to nine months. TAE sub- sequently took over this work at a significantly reduced cost with a turnaround of about 30 days. The team also won an Ess- ington Lewis Award for their exceptional work on the program.
Technical and logistic support including the provision of a combined M1A1/ASLAV forward support team is pro- vided by GDLS-South Australia to the three operator regi- ments, while Rheinmetall Defence Australia supports six gunnery and one driver-trainer M1A1 simulators.
SUPPORT VEHICLES
The M88A2 Hercules, based alongside the Abrams in Ad- elaide, Brisbane, Townsville and Puckapunyal, are sup- ported by their OEM, BAE-America and BAE Australia at Edinburgh near Adelaide.
BAE supplies repair parts, rotables and specialist sub- systems. Repair capability for the M88A’s 12 cylinder, 1050 hp air-cooled diesel engine is provided by Queensland com- pany Milspec Services.
First level Hercules servicing and maintenance is con- ducted by units support, second level maintenance is han- dled at district Joint Logistics Unit maintenance depots, and third level maintenance in performed by Broadspec- trum personnel at Joint Logistics Unit Victoria – Bandiana.
ABOVE: Workers at Joint Logistics Unit - Victoria’s heavy vehicle maintenance facility in Bandiana perform maintenance on Abrams tanks.
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