Page 30 - Australian Defence Magazine Oct 2020
P. 30

                      30 HELICOPTERS   BATTLEFIELD AVIATION
OCTOBER 2020 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
  WHAT’S ON THE HORIZON FOR ADF HELICOPTERS?
Army Aviation is undergoing somewhat of a renaissance with a few new helicopters on the horizon. From Special Forces moving from Black Hawks to Taipans and a yet to be named platform to a Tiger Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter (ARH) replacement, the Battlefield Aviation program covers not only helicopters but also unmanned solutions.
KATHERINE ZIESING | CANBERRA
    FOR THE sake of convenience, this article will focus on the helicopter side of the house rather than unmanned. Having said this, it must be acknowledged that any ADF platform operating in the future will have a manned/unmanned teaming element attached to it. The Force Structure Plan has recognised this reality and planning is underway to support this effort.
“The Australian Army’s Battlefield Aviation Program is focussed on providing lethality and mobility to the joint force as part of Army’s combined arms team, while con- tributing to the Australian Defence Force’s joint networked force,” Brigadier John Fenwick, Director General Army Aviation explained to ADM.
“The Battlefield Aviation Program includes current and future projects for both in-service manned and unmanned platforms. The projects within the program are designed to ensure Army is future ready, while remaining sympathetic to the principles learned from acquiring and operating our current aviation platforms.
“The key program design principles are to seek proven and mature capabilities, with robust and well-understood supply chains.
“The Battlefield Aviation Program design provides Army the opportunity to take advantage of any future develop- ments in vertical lift capabilities within the 2040-2050
timeframe. While we continue to gather an understand- ing of what Next Generation Rotorcraft technologies could possibly look like or how we could fight, it is the potential for significant advances in aircraft performance, network- ing and human machine teaming that most interest Army.
“Army sees the future of aviation capability encapsulated in the technologies being posited under the US Future Verti- cal Lift Program. Army wants to be able to adopt it when the capability is mature. Army’s current understanding of future technologies is best informed by the modernisations program in some of the US Army fleets,” BRIG Fenwick explained.
In terms of keeping up to date with partners and allies, Australia is keeping a weather eye on what international pro- grams are up to, in particular the US Future Vertical Lift Program. Army maintains regular informal liaison with both Australian Industry and the US Future Vertical Lift Program to improve its understanding of emerging capabilities.
“Army, in partnership with Defence Science and Technol- ogy Group, are working together to informally understand how the US Future Vertical Lift Program’s development is progressing, the maturity of technologies and the commer-
ABOVE: There are still issues with the MRH90 Taipan that are being addressed by all parties.
   



















































































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