Page 96 - Australian Defence Magazine Dec-Jan 2021

96 PROJECT REVIEW LAND
DECEMBER 2020 – JANUARY 2021 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
The announcement was a confirmation of an election promise made by Prime Minister Scott Morrison in 2019. The howitzers will be built in Geelong, as will the Redback IFV if Hanwha is successful for Land 400 Phase 3.
For 8116 Phase 1, Hanwha has developed the Huntsman family of vehicles, comprising the K9 SPH and the K10 Ar- moured Ammunition Resupply Vehicle (AARV) to deliver a complete mission system, which will be designated as the AS9 SPH and the AS10 AARV in Australia.
The howitzer has a crew of four or five depending on the configuration with an ammunition capacity of up to 48 rounds and accompanying modular charge systems, whilst the resup- ply vehicle is a mostly robotic system built on the same chassis and capable of carrying 104 rounds under armour.
“Importantly, we would seek to maximise the efficiencies here by co-location and utilisation of the same facilities.”
The spokesperson also cited Australia’s ability to produce high-tech, low volume goods at competitive prices compares to South Korean supply lines, which produce high tech at high volume but can be difficult to scale down.
LAND 2097 PHASE 4
The request for tender for the Special Forces helicopter replacement under Land 2097 Phase 4 closed in July and attracted three teams: the Airbus H145M, the Bell 429 to- gether with Babcock, and Bell again with Hawker Pacific.
Bell is a ‘prime-subcontractor’ in both cases whilst Bab- cock and Hawker Pacific act as prime systems integrators.
Airbus was careful to differentiate its bid from bad press surrounding the Tiger armed reconnaissance helicopter, noting that the H145 will be able to leverage a pool of civil- ian parts if it is chosen for the program.
Other members of the Airbus bid include Safran Helicop- ter Engines, QinetiQ Australia, Toll Helicopters, Rafael, Thales Australia, Sigma Bravo and WA-based Helicopter Logistics under the Team Nighhtjar approach.
The Babcock/Bell offer originally considered the small- er 407 variant during a 12-month process to find a suit- able original equipment manufacturer, but the require- ments of the program made it clear that Bell’s 429 was more appropriate.
SMEs involved in the Babcock/Bell bid include Airspeed Composites, Bend-Tech, Craig International Ballistics, Eagle Copters Australasia, FlightSafety International, Heli- Mods, L3Harris Technologies, Logistic Engineering Servic- es, MMC Learning and Development (MMCLD), Omni Ex- ecutive, Praxis Aerospace and Virtual Simulation Systems.
Finally, Hawker Pacific has proven more tight-lipped on the details of their offer. In June, the company’s Bank- stown facility expanded its CASA 145 approval to include Bell 429s. At the time the tenders closed, the company told ADM that it intended to continue with a ‘strategic low-pro- file engagement’ to respect the sensitivity of the customer.
LAND 4503
There are three bidders for the Tiger replacement program under Land 4503; Boeing (offering the AH-64E Apache), a Bell/BAE Systems Australia teaming arrangement (offer- ing the Bell AH-1Z Viper), and Airbus offering an upgraded version of the Tiger.
In the February edition of the magazine, ADM published an interview with French pilots who described flying Tiger variants with battle damage from 7.62 rounds without is- sues. The platform is now set to stay in the French helicop- ter fleet after upgrades to a Standard 2 configuration. In Australia, Airbus had made an unsolicited offer to Defence of similarly upgraded Tigers along with seven new H145s a few months earlier.
Things were then fairly quiet until October, when Air- bus confirmed that the unsolicited offer had been rejected and that it was now pushing ahead with a proposal to up- grade the existing Tigers and source seven extra airframes
“THE REQUEST FOR TENDER FOR THE SPECIAL FORCES HELICOPTER REPLACEMENT UNDER LAND 2097 PHASE 4 CLOSED IN JULY AND ATTRACTED THREE TEAMS: THE AIRBUS H145M, THE BELL 429 TOGETHER WITH BABCOCK, AND BELL AGAIN WITH HAWKER PACIFIC.”
“This is a tremendous outcome for our company and we very much appreciate the Commonwealth placing their trust in Hanwha for this opportunity," Richard Cho, Man- aging Director of HDA, said at the time. "We are working towards ensuring that our Geelong facility will be viewed as an alternative sustainment and supply chain base for the global K9 family of vehicles."
The move means that if Hanwha is successful for Land 400 Phase 3, the companies it has teamed with on that bid will also supply the howitzer program.
“HDA will be looking to maximise efficiencies across both projects where they will result in a ‘best for project’ outcome in both Land 400 Phase 3 and Land 8116,” a com- pany spokesperson said to ADM. “In terms of fabrication and manufacturing, there are many capable Australian companies that could supply into both programs and into potential overseas supply chains.
ABOVE: The Tiger replacement program under Land 2097 will hit some important milestones in 2021
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