Page 114 - Australian Defence Magazine Sep-Oct 2022

114 LAND WARFARE
UNCREWED AERIAL SYSTEMS
SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2022 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
reconnaissance capability and offers a significant capabil- ity advantage for Defence.
According to the company, the 6.5 kg gimbal, devel- oped with support from the Defence Innovation Hub, of- fers 4-axis stabilisation and utilises electro-optical, short wave and medium wave infra-red cameras, along with laser range finding and target designation technology.
This advanced capability reflects Army’s insistence on an extensive future roadmap being provid-
ed by the competing UAS primes.
LEFT: Land 129 Phase 3 will equip the three batteries of the Brisbane- based 20th Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery, and provide several attrition spares
vehicle requirements and roadworthiness demands, and Perth-based Orbital supplying the Integrator’s V-3 heavy fuel engine. (It also supplies the N20 heavy fuel/petrol en- gine for ScanEagle).
“Having that engine knowledge and expertise in Austra- lia to build future generation tactical UAS engines is vi- tal,” Duggan notes. “We can see a future path for a hybrid engine as electrification becomes more viable with a new
“Army were very keen to make sure the new system stays on the cutting edge, they don’t want to be flying an obsolete set of sen- sors in three – or four-years’ time, Duggan comments.
“A lot of thought has been put into a roll- ing roadmap of upgrades and that makes sense because at the end of the day the air vehicle is the ‘truck’ and the sensors are the critical element that actually deliver the ISR capability.”
SOVEREIGN CAPABILITY
Defence has set a target for some 80 per cent of the $650 million budget to be spent in Australia over the life of the system, a target Insitu is hopeful of exceeding.
“We believed it was very important that sovereign capa- bility was created here and we weren’t just conducting low- er-value final assembly or build-to-print activities, so we’ve got a genuinely deep domestic supply chain of more than 20 companies already in place,” Duggan stresses.
These include AVT providing the baseline Spitfire camera gimbal, LSM Advanced Composites in Toowoomba produc- ing composite parts, Nova Systems supplying specialist con- tractor support across a range of engineering disciplines, Tasmania’s Jayben Group designing and manufacturing launch and recovery equipment to meet Army’s specific
generation of batteries that are smaller and lighter.”
While Integrator parts and components will be sourced from the national supply chain, final assembly and testing will take place at Insitu’s Alderley, Brisbane facil- ity, just 10 minutes’ drive from Gallipoli Barracks at Enoggera. This is a location Duggan says will greatly benefit effective support to critical capabilities for UAS growth and sustainability through the life of the system, including local supply chain support, upgrades to sensing and software, and training.
“WE CAN SEE A FUTURE PATH FOR A HYBRID ENGINE AS ELECTRIFICATION BECOMES MORE VIABLE WITHANEWGENERATION OF BATTERIES THAT ARE SMALLER AND LIGHTER”
TRAINING THE OPERATORS
An inaugural three-month training course at Alderley for the first prospective pilots from 20th Regiment included classroom lessons and simulator time, culminating in Au- gust in flight training at Insitu’s flight training and testing airfield west of Brisbane.
In a move to accelerate the training pathway, both the initial course and the Integrator air vehicle employed were essentially the same as those used by Insitu in the US.
Future training with some Australia-specific modifica- tions has been mapped out with the Commonwealth to match the availability of trainees and the delivery of real hardware, and in time would transition to Army at Enog- gera, Duggan says.
INSITU PACIFIC