Page 6 - Australian Defence Magazine February 2022

6 NEWS REVIEW INDUSTRY UPDATE
FEBRUARY 2022 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
TANK UPGRADE FINALLY CONFIRMED
IN January, Minister for Defence Peter Dutton confirmed a $3.5 billion invest- ment in the Main Battle Tank Upgrade (Land 907 Phase 2) and Combat Engineer- ing Vehicle (Land 8160 Phase 1) projects.
The sale was originally approved by the US State Department in April 2021, as ADM reported at the time.
Army will receive up to 75 M1A2 SEPv3 Abrams tanks, 29 M1150 Assault Breacher Vehicles, 17 M1074 Joint Assault Bridge Vehicles and an additional six M88A2 Ar- moured Recovery Vehicles.
Meanwhile the US Army is now devel- oping what US defence media call a ‘far superior’ SEPv4 version of the M1A2 to ‘fully emerge’ by the mid-2020s.
Minister Dutton said the M1A2 SEPv3 Abrams - expected to achieve IOC in 2025 - would provide ‘critical protection and firepower’ for the ADF in land operations.
“The M1A2 Abrams will incorporate the latest developments in Australian sovereign defence capabilities, including command, control, communications, computers and
intelligence (C4I) systems, and benefit from the in- tended manufacture of tank ammunition in Australia,” Minister Dutton said.
“The introduction of the
new M1A2 vehicles will
take advantage of the exist-
ing support infrastructure,
with significant investment
in Australian industry con-
tinuing in the areas of sustainment, sim- ulation and training,” Minister Dutton added.
Chief of Army Lieutenant General Rick Burr said that tanks and combat engineer- ing vehicles were essential to Australia’s ability to contribute to a credible land combat capability integrated with joint and coalition forces.
“The main battle tank is at the core of the ADF’s Combined Arms Fighting Sys- tem, which includes infantry, artillery, communications, engineers, attack heli- copters and logistics,” LTGEN Burr said.
ABOVE: Soldiers from 1RAR and the 2nd Cavalry Regiment patrol a track during a combined arms training activity.
“Because of their versatility, tanks can be used in a wide range of scenarios, en- vironments and levels of conflict in the region. This system is the only part of the ADF that can successfully operate in me- dium to high-threat land environments.
“The M1A2 SEPv3 Abrams protection, accurate and lethal fire, mobility and situ- ational awareness cannot be delivered by any other platform. There are no other current or emerging technologies - or combination of technologies - that can yet deliver the capability currently provided by a main battle tank.”
GILMOUR SPACE TEST FIRES
AUSTRALIA’S LARGEST ROCKET ENGINE
ROCKET engineers at Gilmour Space Tech- nologies have greeted the new year with a successful 110-kilonewton test fire of the most powerful rocket engine ever devel- oped in Australia.
The 75-second test was a major mile- stone for Gilmour Space, which is de-
LEFT: The 75-second test was a major milestone.
veloping Australian made rockets that will, over the next five years, be capable of launching 300- to 4,000-kilogram sat- ellites and payloads into low Earth and other orbits.
“What you see here is the main engine that will power the first and second stages
of our three-stage Eris rocket to space,” company CEO Adam Gilmour said.
“It was a successful test. We achieved our expected full thrust of 110 kilonew- tons (or 25,000 pounds-force) over the 75 seconds, and our team will be mov- ing on to the final engine qualification campaign.”
Strategically, Gilmour said the test was also a demonstration of Australia’s first sovereign launch capability. “It is no small thing to say that we’ve developed Aus- tralia’s largest rocket engine; and that it could have significant flow-on benefits for the commercial, civil and defence space sectors,” Gilmour added.
The company is seeking approvals from state and federal government agencies to green light a small orbital spaceport at the Abbot Point State Development Area in Bowen, North Queensland.
GILMOUR SPACE
DEFENCE