Page 37 - Australian Defence Magazine July 2019

LAND
Captain Jennifer O’Brien, Battery Captain 110th Battery, 16th Air Land
Regiment, on comms with
the command post prior to conducting a RBS-70 firing during Exercise Remagen Bridge 19 at Woomera.
Sophisticated software integrated with the signal and data processing element of the truck-mounted Giraffe system detects the firing point of rockets, artillery and mortars more than 20 km away and over a 360-degree horizon. The SRCTec AN/ TPQ-48 (v) 3 LCMR automatically detects and locates mortar firing positions out to a range of about 10 kilometres by tracking in- flight mortar shells utilising a non-rotating, electronically-steered antenna and back- tracking them to their point of origin.
The system can be assembled by a two- man crew and is transportable in two con- tainers that each weigh less than 68 kg. Major upgrades of the Regiment’s three GAMB radars and 31 LCMRs are now un- derway and set to transform the unit’s air defence capability.
“Giraffe was procured specifically for the C-RAM function but as that opera- tional requirement diminished the need for a PSTAR-ER replacement became in- creasingly apparent,” LTCOL Mankowski explained. “We’ve iteratively integrated Giraffe into our existing suite of capabili- ties which provides a significant capability enhancement, and it’s now compatible with our tactical command and con-
trol system (TACCS) that gives
us our day and night cueing ca-
pability to RBS-70.
“It’s also compatible with the latest modification of the Forward Area Air Defence Command and Control software (FAADC2) which feeds into the Air and Mis- sile Defence Workstation (AM- DWS) and provides our sense and locate or C-RAM requirement.
“All three Giraffes are be-
ing upgraded in Australia with
Mode 5 Identification Friend
or Foe (IFF) - one is undertaking trial ac- tivities in Finland, the second is being up- graded now, and the third will be upgraded shortly. We expect to have all radars back in the Regiment by October with their full air defence capabilities. All our radars will still be available for C-RAM.”
Mode 5 IFF
Mode 5 IFF is the next-generation encrypt- ed data link between interrogators and tran- sponders to confirm an aircraft is friendly, even if the IFF transponder is set to stand- by.TheMode5IFFLevel1and2,aswellas ADS-B and Mode S capabilities, provide an enhanced capability to support future op- erational air defence requirements.
Australia is thought to be the first coun- try to implement a Mode 5 upgrade on a Giraffe, LTCOL Mankowski said.
“FAAD2 and AMDWS can supply VMH and J-Series messages to the wider joint fires network if required and I ex- pect those two systems will continue to be used, potentially to integrate with Link 16 so we can share the sensor data we get off Giraffe with the wider air defence community,” he stated.
“We have the Land Battle Management System in the Regiment but it’s not inte- grated with the air defence systems; how- ever the current systems provide all the integration we need in terms of supporting the land commander.
“Link 16 is available as a stand-alone ca- pability, we can use it for surveillance pur- poses but at the moment it’s not integrated; it’s an initiative currently being considered by Army.”
The PSTAR-ER capability has been with- drawn from service and is in the process of being replaced, not only by Giraffe but probably also in part by the SRCTec AN/ TPQ-49 LCMR acquired specifically for the C-RAM mission.
Bolide missile, and associated Lockheed Martin L-band PSTAR-ER portable search and target acquisition radars.
C-RAM and beyond
New sensors and C4I arrangements came into play in late 2010 to provide a C-RAM (Counter Rocket, Artillery and Mortar) ca- pability to Australian troops at their Tarin Kot base in Afghanistan.
This capability comprised the Saab Gi- raffe Agile Multi-Beam (GAMB) 3D radar coupled with US-made SRCTec lightweight counter-mortar radars (LCMRs) and the Wireless Audio Visual Emergency System (WAVES). The latter provides early warning audible and visual alerts when the C-RAM sensors detect and identify an incoming threat within an exclusion zone, and is cur- rently being upgraded by Saab Australia.
Upgrade path
These are being trialled with new software that upgrades them into air surveillance radars with sufficient sensitivity to provide cueing against unmanned aerial systems and conventional aircraft. They too have been integrated into TACCS, LTCOL Mankowski disclosed.
“The RBS-70 itself has been upgraded throughout its life since the ‘80s and it’s still very relevant, very capable, and we’ve opti- mised it against attack helicopter-type tar- gets and unmanned aerial vehicles. High speed crossing targets would be harder but still we’d give it a red-hot go.
“We’ve got Bushmaster Protected Mobil- ity Air Defence Variants that allow us to
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“Major upgrades of the Regiment’s three GAMB radars and 31 LCMRs are now underway and set to transform the unit’s air defence capability.”
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