Page 57 - Australian Defence Mag Jul-Aug 2020

JULY/AUGUST 2020 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
FROM THE SOURCE GABBY COSTIGAN 57
COSTIGAN: For us the introductory fighter courses that we provide for the Air Force continue to meet Defence’s fast jet training needs and we continue to provide the aircraft numbers necessary to meet the training requirement for the RAAF.
We have had some challenges in our supply chain and ob- viously most recently that’s been exacerbated by COVID-19 but we’re working hard with our supplier base to remove these. I don’t think that’s any different to probably many other companies; we’ll all be having some challenges with our supply chain during COVID-19.
As you know, the LIFCAP aircraft and simulator upgrade was completed last year and I think that’s provided a real step change for our Air Force pilots, and this was done obvi- ously to prepare them for life in the cockpit of a 5th genera- tion fast jet aircraft in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
ADM: What’s happened in the wake of the IBFT (interim basic flying training) contract winding up? What’s hap- pening to the Tamworth site and how has that workforce been redeployed within the company?
COSTIGAN: I’m very proud of the work that we’ve done at Tamworth and the legacy we are leaving. It was a great pro- gram with fantastic support provided to the Air Force over the years training young pilots.
As I said earlier, one of the great benefits, and we had the example on the Hunter program with AWD, but being a large company that is growing and which has dispersed operations across the nation, if we are winding up programs we try to redeploy them across the business, and that’s ex- actly what we did with the Tamworth staff. There’s always a few people who decide for their own personal reasons that they may not want to leave Tamworth, but where possible we try to provide flexible arrangements for them, where we
ABOVE: BAE Systems is also involved in Boeing’s groundbreaking Loyal Wingman program.
LEFT: The unmanned M113 trial with Army was a great success.
can potentially bring the work to them if they don’t want to move their families to a different location.
But on the whole, it’s just about managing our workforce and looking after our people and ensuring that we can con- tinue to employ them and provide them great opportunities with our company. So I see the Tamworth program as a great success for our business and our people.
ADM: You’ve now been at the helm of BAE Systems’ Aus- tralian business for almost three years. What are the challenges now vs when you began?
COSTIGAN: Straight after we’d won Sea 5000, and one of the things we talked about there was that obviously I was keen to grow the business, through not just winning major campaigns but also investing in
new technologies and capabili- ties specifically here in Australia that will help obviously for fu- ture exports. My focus has also been on further developing our strategy as a business for how we were going to grow and growth is a great problem to have.
“JP9101 IS A LONG TERM COMMITMENT THAT WILL ALSO HELP INCREASE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY’S ABILITY TO COMPETE FOR AND THEN WIN DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL WORK IN DECADES TO COME.”
Obviously on the Hunter pro-
gram we’re expecting that by the
end of the year around 1,200
people will be working on that
program and there are also op-
portunities across our all of BAE
Systems at the moment. I mentioned autonomy before; we’re working with the Army on the M113s (the program has been listed as a finalist in the upcoming Essington Lewis Awards). This was really to trial what we call ‘op- tional crewing’ of the vehicles.
This was a hugely successful demonstration. And, again, it demonstrates really important sovereign capabil- ity that BAE Systems is developing and delivering to our customer. I’m excited to see that M113 program continue to develop further. The Army is working with us on a num- ber of different options now and we’ll continue to progress that. It’s really still a research and development program but that’s exciting. ■
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