Page 36 - Australian Defence Magazine March-April 2022

36 DEFENCE EXPORT
MARCH-APRIL 2022 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
and commander front doors; improved braking and electri- cal systems; and improved networking and communications technologies
EXPORT SUCCESS IN THE MARITIME DOMAIN
Meanwhile exports of $136 million were reported by the country’s largest defence contractor (2021 turnover $1.35 billion) BAE Systems Australia.
These were largely derived from two of Australia’s most significant defence exports, the Nulka anti-ship missile ac- tive decoy for which the company is the lead designer, man- ufacturer and integrator; and the medium-range surface- to-air Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM) for which the company is the principal Australian partner in a Raytheon- led international consortium.
The Mk.234 Nulka system, designed, developed and manufactured by BAE Systems Australia, and certainly the country’s most important continuing export product, combines a hovering rocket payload carrier vehicle car- rying a US-supplied electronic payload designed to lure radar-homing anti-ship missiles away from their intend- ed targets.
Nulka was first installed on RAN ships in the late 1990s and subsequently was also acquired by the US Navy and Royal Canadian Navy, although it’s not clear whether the system is still operational on Canadian ships.
In late 2017 then-Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull an- nounced a $207 million program to upgrade Nulka over 20 years, including a new launch system and supporting
technology.
This was followed in March 2021 by a
five-year $150 million Defence contract with BAE Systems Australia for continued devel- opment, production and in-service support of Nulka systems, including delivery to the RAN’s nine Hunter-class future frigates.
The system is currently deployed on the RAN’s Hobart-class air warfare destroy- ers, Anzac frigates, and more recently on the two Canberra-class Landing Helicopter Docks (LHDs).
Ashley Searl, BAE Systems Australia’s General Manager Weapons Systems, told ADM the com- pany had delivered critical assemblies for more than 2,700 ESSMs over more than 15 years.
Historically it had been responsible for more than 20 per cent of each ESSM, includ- ing the complex thrust vector system that controlsthemissileasitleavesaship’sverti- cal launch system.
BAE Systems Australia was currently de- livering critical assemblies for an ESSM Block 2 low-rate initial production (LRIP) program and a contract for full rate produc- tion was expected later this year, Searl said.
“NULKA WAS FIRST INSTALLED ON RAN SHIPS IN THE LATE 1990S AND SUBSEQUENTLY WAS ALSOACQUIREDBYTHE US NAVY AND ROYAL CANADIAN NAVY”
This would include the manufacture at Edinburgh Parks of other sub-assemblies, including the guidance section fu- selage and internal structure, and the telemetry transmit- ting system, he disclosed.
The Block 2 upgrade builds on the existing semi-active radar-homing ESSM Block 1, but replaces the legacy guid- ance section with a dual-mode active/semi-active X-band radar seeker that supports terminal engagement without requiring target illumination by the launch ship.
Warhead improvements and an updated guidance and control section are also included, as is a new S-and X-band transceiver for in-flight data communications to enable control and management of the missile during flight.
It’s understood the March 2021 contract will include upgrading under Project Sea 1397 Phase 5 a number of older RAN Nulka rounds with the Advanced Decoy Architecture Project (ADAP) payload developed by L3 Harris for the USN as a rapid deployment
capability.
This incorporates an advanced transmitter and improved
signals processing to target specific threats not addressed by Nulka’s current payload.
While Nulka’s decoy payload and Aerojet solid fuel rocket motor are produced in the US everything else. including guidance and control algorithms, hardware, control unit and decoy structure, the canister and the launcher, are all designed, manufactured, integrated in and delivered from Australia, Searl stressed.
The company has also exported to a number of allied countries its state-of-the-art Ship Air Defence Model (SADM). Developed originally to support the design and modelling of Nulka engagements, the SADM has now grown into a versatile operational analysis tool that simu- lates both own-ship and task group protection using guns, missiles, active decoys, chaff and jammers against multiple aircraft and missile threats.
“It’s difficult to demonstrate the effects of an electronic warfare engagement because you can’t see what’s going on and we have developed a software tool that demonstrates that very clearly,” Searl stated. ■
LEFT: HMAS Arunta fires an Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile off the coast of Western Australia to test its missile systems after undergoing the Anzac Midlife Capability Assurance Program upgrade
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