Page 35 - Australian Defence Magazine April 2019

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foray into variable-depth sonar and, as with the Hobart class, it will have tactical data links and communications systems to share the picture across the Joint force.”
Joint operations
CDRE Mann says that the Hobart and Hunter ships are designed to operate to- gether and will be operated in a similar man- ner to the way different classes of surface combatants have been operated throughout Navy’s 118-year history. Together however, they represent the networked future for maritime and Joint operations.
The government announcement in Oc-
tober 2017 that it would mandate a Com-
bat Management System enterprise across
Navy’s future major surface combatants,
including the Aegis Combat System with a
Saab interface, and this decision has made
the two classes even more compatible with
one another. These systems, together with
a common CEC capability and SM2 and
ESSM weapons, ensure close integration of
the two classes of ship.
“So, in the air warfare domain you will
see both Hobart and Hunter ships operat-Y ing with RAAF assets such as the Super
CM
Hornet, Growler airborne electronic at-
tack aircraft, F-35A and E-7A Wedgetail
airborne early warning and control plat-
form, both in terms of communicationCsMY
and tactical data links,” CDRE Mann ex-
K
plained to ADM.
“In the ASW role, the Hobart, once it has
completed its Aviation Upgrade program, and the Hunter class will be capable of fully employing the MH-60R naval combat he- licopter and operating closely with broader Defence assets such as the P-8A Poseidon and MQ-4C Triton.”
Navy has also mandated the US Navy’s Hawk Link capability (a tactical data link format specific to the Romeo helicopters) for its future major surface combatants, and it will be retrofitted to the Hobart ships in the near future.
“Hawk Link can pass raw sensor data be- tween the MH-60R helicopter and the sur- face fleet, allowing an additional level of as- sessment over that provided by the aircraft alone, providing a deeper level of informa- tion sharing,” CDRE Mann added.
“Both Hobart and Hunter classes will also operate as part of a joint force, not just a naval force. There is no one capability that can conduct (high-end warfare against a near-peer adversary) operations by itself, so our operations going into the future will be focussed on the Joint arena.”
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