Page 96 - Australian Defence Magazine Sep-Oct 2022

96 LAND WARFARE
GROUND BASED AIR DEFENCE
SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2022 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
Phase 7B, which forms Army’s contribution to the Joint Integrated Air and Missile Defence Capability.
According to Defence, NASAMS has a ‘key project inter- dependency’ with the Joint Battle Manage-
ment to be delivered under Air 6500, which
is currently in Stage 2 of its competitive
evaluation process (for which Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman have been down-selected).
The NASAMS acquisition contract was
signed in 2019 and will use a CEATAC active
electronically scanned array (AESA) tacti-
cal air defence radar and Operational Sen-
sor System longer-range cueing radar from
CEA Technologies, as well as Raytheon’s
AN/AAS-52 Multispectral Targeting System
Mobility Launcher for AMRAAM or AIM-9X Block 2 mis- siles, and the six-missile Kongsberg Mk.2 canister launcher.
In March, Raytheon Australia Managing Director Mi- chael Ward told ADM that his company was looking to ‘ev- ergreen’ the Land 19 Phase 7B capability.
“One of the challenges of the procurement cycle is that equipment is generally delivered quite some time after the need has been identified by the capability manager, and sometime after technology baselines for the capability have been set,” Ward said. “Therefore, almost immediately on
LEFT: Delivery of the first NASAMS battery was expected this calendar year, with Initial Operating Capability (IOC) expected in the current financial year
BELOW LEFT: An Army Hawkei PMV with a mock-up of a CEA Technologies Tactical Radar
introduction of equipment into service, there is a need to look at refreshing the capability. The continual refreshing of capability is what we would call ‘ever- greening’.
“We don’t just need to deliver a short- range ground-based air defence capabil- ity to Army. We need to be looking at
delivering the capability, how it will be introduced into ser- vice, how the full potential of the capability will be realised and how it will be ‘evergreened’ so it remains cutting edge throughout its life-of-type.”
There have been semi-regular public updates on the pro- gram’s progress. Kongsberg announced that the first two Fire Distribution Centres (FDC) for NASAMS had passed Factory Acceptance Tests in September 2021. The first Mk.2 canister launchers passed the same tests in January 2022 and were delivered to Raytheon’s Centre for Joint Integration in Adelaide in June, after they were painted by SA-based Defence Coating Systems (who were also in- volved in the Air Warfare Destroyer program).
“We are delighted to have Defence Coating Systems working with us as part of our growing Australian supply chain. The major investment they have made to their facil- ity in Wingfield, South Australia, is very impressive and they are a great example of an Australian-owned Defence
“ADM UNDERSTANDS THAT ALL THREE ARMED SERVICES ARE WELL REPRESENTED IN THE INTEGRATED MISSILE DEFENCE (IMD) OFFICE IN THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENCE”
industry SME contributing to sovereign capability,” John Fry, General Manager Kongsberg Defence Australia, said follow- ing the announcement of the partnership.
Delivery of the first NASAMS battery was expected this calendar year, with Initial Operating Capability (IOC) expected in the current financial year. Army and Raytheon were approached to participate in this story for an update on progress towards IOC, but interviews were not provided.
MEDIUM RANGE GBAD
Defence’s capability plan for medium range ground-based air defence falls under Air 6502, previously known as Air 6500 Phase 2 – though it still falls under the ‘Air 6500’ family of projects.
Air 6502 is in its nascent stages following a Request for Proposals (RFP) in September 2021, though ADM under- stands that interested primes have begun conversations with local suppliers. Additionally, ADM understands the system is expected to have an operational range floor of roughly 70 kilometres.
(MTS-A), High
DEFENCE
RAYTHEON