Page 23 - Australian Defence Magazine May-June 2020
P. 23

     MAY/JUNE 2020 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
UAVS SKYGUARDIAN 23
 Known as Team Reaper Australia, the industry partnership was formed for the potential sup- port of GA-ASI’s MQ-9 Reaper medium altitude long endurance (MALE) remotely piloted system. Reaper was one of the two contenders for Air
7003 at that time, the other being Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) with its Heron TP platform.
East, including Insitu Pacific’s ScanEagle and IAI Heron I platforms, and the Army also acquired the current RQ-7 Shadow 200 under an accelerated program.
Initially a two-horse race between GA-ASI and IAI for the Air 7003 competition, Reaper was announced as the preferred candidate by then Defence Minister Christopher
As initially formed, Team Reaper Aus- tralia comprised GA-ASI as the prime con- tractor, Cobham as key in-country service provider, CAE Australia, Raytheon Austra- lia, and Flight Data Systems. Fast forward three years an expanded Team Reaper Aus- tralia is looking forward to a Gate 2 deci- sion in early 2022 and GA-ASI is working to identify other Australian capabilities, across industry and academia that could contribute to the program.
AIR 7003 UPDATE
“AUSTRALIA’S SKYGUARDIANS WILL BE OPERATED BY THE RAAF AND THE GROUND CONTROL STATIONS WILL BE LOCATED WITHINTHEISRHUBUNDER DEVELOPMENT AT RAAF EDINBURGH.”
Pyne in November 2018. Minister Pyne re- vealed that between 12 and 16 air vehicles would be acquired, either the MQ-9A Reaper Block 5 then in production for the US Air Force, or the MQ-9B Skyguardian (formerly known as Certifiable Predator B).
“An assessment was made between the various capabilities and the Reaper was the one we decided was best suited to our needs,” Minister Pyne said. “Rather than going through a full tender process when we already know that this is the one that we want, we are adopting the single-source supply that is allowed under the First Prin- ciples Review.”
    An armed unmanned aerial systems
(UAS) capability was first detailed in the
Defence White Paper and associated Industry Investment Program in 2016 with the inclusion of Air 7003 Phase 1, valued at between $1-2 billion.
The requirement for a MALE UAS which could pro- vide persistent overwatch of troops on the ground as well as the capability to strike targets from stand-off distances was the result of Australian Army experience in Afghani- stan. Unarmed ISR capabilities were leased both by Army and the Royal Australian Air Force for use in the Middle
At the time, Minister Pyne said initial de- liveries would begin in 2020-2021, with and entry into service to follow in the 2022-2023 timeframe and in No- vember 2019 and the MQ-9B Skyguardian variant of the Reaper was announced as the preferred variant by current
Defence Minister Linda Reynolds.
LEFT: An artists mock up of a Reaper in RAAF markings BELOW: Flying the UAS can happen anywhere in the world.
   
















































































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