Page 18 - Australian Defence Magazine May 2022

18 NEWS REVIEW INDUSTRY UPDATE
MAY 2022 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
FIRST CAPE CLASS PATROL BOAT FORMALLY ACCEPTED
DEFENCE has formally accepted its first evolved Cape class patrol boat.
Minister for Defence Peter Dutton said this is another significant milestone in the overall contract with Austal Ships to deliver a total of six evolved Cape-class patrol boats to the Royal Australian Navy.
“The six vessels will boost Navy’s cur- rent patrol boat capability as we await the introduction into service of the newer and larger Arafura-class offshore patrol ves- sels. We are now one boat closer to estab- lishing that vital capability,” he said.
“The new patrol boats will also be the first vessels to be maintained at Region- al Maintenance Centre North East, in Cairns. This further develops sovereign sustainment capability and promotes Aus- tralian industry involvement,” Minister Dutton said.
To coincide with the acceptance of the first evolved Cape-class patrol boat, Chief of Navy, Vice Admiral Michael Noonan, revealed the names of the six new vessels.
“They will be named Australian De-
fence Vessels (ADV) Cape Otway, Cape Peron, Cape Naturaliste, Cape Capricorn, Cape Woolamai and Cape Pillar.
“Each name continues the lineage of the Cape-class patrol boats, all named after significant Capes around Australia.
“The first boat, Australian Defence Vessel Cape Otway, will be home-ported at HMAS Cairns by mid-2022. It will be joined by another evolved Cape-class pa- trol boat and four Arafura-class offshore patrol vessels by the end of 2028,” VADM Noonan said.
Managing Director Rohde & Schwarz Australia Gareth Evans congratulated both Austal and the Rohde & Schwarz team for exceptional performance in de- livery of the company’s Naval Integrated Communications System (NAVICS).
“It’s a great day for Austal and Navy, but also for Rohde & Schwarz Australia, which as Communication Systems In- tegrator (CSI) has achieved a number of record milestones that have significantly contributed to this day becoming a real-
ABOVE: Assistant Minister for Defence Andrew Hastie (centre) talks with Patrick Gregg (right), Chief Executive Officer Austal, and Ben Wardle, General Manager of Australian Shipbuilding.
ity,” Evans said. “Within just five months of contract execution we completed the design of our customised NAVICS inter- nal and external communications solution for the Cape-class.”
The second of the six evolved Cape- class patrol boats will be formally ac- cepted by Defence in July this year. The remaining boats are under construction at Henderson shipyard in Western Australia and the final boat is expected to be deliv- ered by May 2023.
Australian suppliers will directly sup- port critical capabilities for UAS growth and sustainability through the life of the system, including sensing and software, advanced materials and propulsion, and seamless integration with existing and planned ADF systems.
The introduction of Integrator builds on Insitu Pacific’s experience with Sca- nEagle in Iraq and Afghanistan in support of Australian Forces, and continued Sca- nEagle service in Navy’s 822X Squadron.
Under the contract, production is scheduled to begin in early 2022 with de- livery expected through 2023 and 2024.
INSITU PACIFIC WINS CONTRACT FOR LAND 129 PHASE 3
INSITU Pacific has been announced as the preferred supplier by the Australian Government to provide the new Tactical Uncrewed Aerial System (UAS) to the Australian Army under Land 129 Phase 3.
The contract includes delivery and ini- tial support of the Integrator UAS as well as associated Ground Systems and Prime Systems Integrator services, with the ma- jority of manufacture and all assembly to be completed in Australia.
“Our Insitu Pacific team is honoured to be selected to provide this vital capabil- ity to the Australian Army,” said Andrew Duggan, Managing Director of Insitu Pacific. “The introduction of Integrator’s surveillance and reconnaissance capabili- ties will be a significant force multiplier for the complex challenges Army faces to- day and in the future.”
The Integrator is in service globally and
is designed with open architecture, which supports modular and field-swappable payloads to deliver increased operational effects for Army across the wider multi- domain environment.
As part of its solution for Army, the company’s existing supply base has been supplemented with a team of over 20 Australian suppliers including Ascent Vi- sion Technologies Australia, Orbital UAV, Nova Systems Australia, LSM Advanced Composites and Jayben Group.
“Our suppliers bring home-grown, Aus- tralian innovation and ingenuity to the program,” Duggan said. “The delivery of the Integrator system to Army will be un- derpinned by our shared commitment to further develop sovereign capability and supports the growth of businesses directly on our team, as well as their respective ecosystems of Australian suppliers.”
The Integrator UAS in flight.
INSITU PACIFIC
DEFENCE