Page 20 - Australian Defence Mag Jul-Aug 2020

20 SURVEILLANCE IN LAND DOMAIN LAND 129
JULY/AUGUST 2020 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
LAND 129 PHASE 3 BIDS NOW IN THE BOX
JULIAN KERR | SYDNEY
With tender responses from the four shortlisted contenders due to CASG by 24 July, the process to select a new tactical unmanned aerial system (TUAS) for Army is about to take a major step forward.
UNDER Land 129 Phase 3, Insitu Pacific, Leidos Australia, Raytheon Australia and Textron Systems Australia were se- lected in March to proceed to the Request for Tender (RfT) stage of the project to replace the army’s fleet of legacy RQ- 7B Shadow 200 Version 1 TUAS.
Operated by the Enoggera-based 20th Surveillance and Target Acquisition (STA) Regiment, the Shadow 200 was the Army’s first non man-portable UAS, featuring a two- bladed pusher propeller, a 125 km operating range, nine- hour endurance, and a baseline electro-optic/infrared and laser target designator payload.
Launched from a trailer-mounted pneumatic catapult, Shadow is recovered on a runway using an automatic landing system, and an arresting net to shorten its stopping distance.
The 18 airframes and support equipment procured un- der Joint Project 129 Phase 2 at a cost of US$175 million were delivered in 2011 and the first half of 2012 direct to
“POST-JULY, DEFENCE WILL EVALUATE THE PLANS AND CONCEPTUAL INTEGRATION DESIGNS INCLUDED IN THE RFT RESPONSES.”
theatre in Afghanistan.
Each of the Regiment’s two bat-
teries received one complete Shad- ow system consisting of a ground control station and six airframes. A further six airframes were reserved for attrition.
The capability flew 10,000 hours in support of Australian and coali- tion operations before being rede- ployed to Australia in 2016.
Those shortfalls would be addressed in the new program. This would also involve a third UAS battery being added to the 20th STA Regiment, providing an enduring capability effect enabling 24/7 intelligence, surveillance and recon- naissance coverage in two separate focal areas.
“The replacement will ensure that the ADF is positioned to take advantage of the technological enhancements being made in TUAS air vehicle and sensor technology,” stated the ITR, adding that it would also ensure “that there is no degradation in the Combat Brigade Commander’s combat capability due to reduced capability through Shadow 200 Version1 obsolescence”.
Post-July, Defence will evaluate the plans and concep- tual integration designs included in the RFT responses. While government consideration is scheduled for 2021, options appear to be open for this to be preceded by two
In an abbreviated Invitation to Register (ItR) for Land 129 Phase 3 initiated in September 2019, Defence said that Shadow 200 Version 1 was becom- ing obsolete and in the US Army inventory was to be re-
placed by the Shadow 200 Version 2.
However, both versions had a number of capability
shortfalls which did not support Army’s need for a de- ployable, amphibious, and runway-independent capabil- ity, the ItR stated.