Page 13 - Australian Defence Magazine July-August 2021

JULY-AUGUST 2021 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
LAND FORCES 2021 13
LAND FORCES BIGGER THAN EVER
There was a big turnout at Land Forces 2021 despite the on-going lockdown in Victoria, a scheduling clash with Senate estimates, and protests both outside and inside the venue.
EWEN LEVICK | ASSOCIATE EDITOR
718 COMPANIES participated and the industry exhibition was 30 per cent larger than the 2018 iteration. 12,766 people at- tended the show over three days, which the organisers said was ‘one of the largest single industry engagement events any- where in the world since the onset of the COVID pandemic.’
A slew of announcements were made in the first two days, including news that Austal will bid for the program to re- place Army’s LCM-8 landing craft and LARC-V amphibi- ous resupply fleets under Land 8710 Phase 1. Navantia and Rheinmetall also announced that they will be partnering on a separate bid for the same program.
Another major announcement was the down-select for Land 125 Phase 4. So far Babcock and Team Sabre (which includes Safran Electronics & Defense Australasia, Nova Systems Australia & NZ, and BAE Systems Australia) have said they have been chosen for the next stage in the pro- cess, although ADM understands the Commonwealth is also looking at other proposals.
Land 125 Phase 4 will deliver an integrated soldier sys- tem (ISS) integrating all elements and subsystems that are used, worn or carried by soldiers in any operational context or environment, for up to 72 hours without resupply. It ex- cludes personal weapons and communications equipment, which are managed by separate, related projects.
Mick Burgess, head of Business Development, Babcock Australasia, said that the company would use what he called a ‘prime vendor model’ for Land 125 Phase 4, which it uses with Defence for CBRNE work under Land 3025 and in its ADF ground support equipment asset management program.
“This is a supplier agnostic approach,” Burgess explained. “Under this model, all suppliers, particularly Australian suppliers, get an equal opportunity to put their product on the table and have them considered fairly. Second, we don’t make any products in the land domain – suppliers won’t be competing with a Babcock product.”
Meanwhile, Brad Yelland, Chief Technology Officer for BAE Systems Australia, said Team SABRE will be looking to best-of-breed robotic and autonomous solutions.
“Team SABRE will collaborate to deliver an optimal sov- ereign ISS solution. We are committed to bringing our di- verse expertise in autonomous technologies and putting the best robotic and autonomous systems in the hands of the warfighter,” Yelland said.
The request for tender on that program is due in a month and is expected to close towards the end of 2021 for a Com-
ABOVE: Rheinmetall’s Lynx IFV.
RHEINMETALL