Page 97 - Australian Defence Magazine Dec-Jan 2021

DECEMBER 2020 – JANUARY 2021 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
PROJECT REVIEW
LAND 97
LEFT: Hanwha will be delivering a self- propelled howitzer fleet to the ADF.
from Europe. These will come used from a yet-to-be-named country as the Tiger production lines have closed.
“I wouldn’t like to disclose specifically which nation would be able to support us in that, but we wouldn’t be making these comments without having done some home- work in Europe,” Airbus Australia Pacific managing direc- tor Andrew Mathewson said.
Mathewson also said Airbus was concerned that Defence was pushing ahead with a sole-source acquisition of the Apache through a foreign military sales process after it con- cluded that extending the Tiger was ‘too risky and expen- sive.’ The company questioned that conclusion and called for an open competition.
Defence said that no procurement process had been decided.
LAND 200
Land 200 is designed to transition Army command from paper to digital, providing real-time situational awareness, combat planning tools and combat messaging.
In 2017, then-Chief of Army LTGEN Angus Campbell described the program as the ‘highest priority’ in the Army. It is divided into three phases, of which the first was de- clared operational in 2015 and the second reached contract signature two years later.
However, Phase 3, which is forecast to cost $1-2 bil- lion, was one of the main capability and acquisition casu- alties of the pandemic. First pass has been delayed until February 2022.
“Land 200 Phase 3 has been delayed,” Major General Si- mon Stuart, Head Land Capability, said to ADM. “The op- portunity in that is we think that’s going to give Australian industry more of an opportunity to provide some offerings and a larger slice of the pie.”
LAND 159
Land 159 is set to be delivered in three tranches over the next decade, will equip the ADF with next-generation pis-
tols, assault rifles, machine guns, sniper rifles, direct fire support weapons and munitions.
In 2020, the first story to come from this program was in February, when the Rafael Spike LR2 missile system was chosen for the ADF’s Long Range Direct Fire Support Weapon capability. The Spike LR2 is also going to be fitted as the anti-tank guided missile on the Boxer vehicles.
In July, Tranche 1 for the project was awarded to NIOA under an initial $7 million deal.
Subject to business case approval, some of the ammu- nition for the program will be manufactured at the Com- monwealth-owned Benalla plant in regional Victoria where NIOA has a 10-year co-tenancy. NIOA began refurbishing buildings at the factory in October to provide a permanent headquarters for the company on site.
AND THE YEAR AHEAD
Finally, what’s on the horizon for 2021?
Land 400 Phase 3, the largest program in this domain, will
continue to undertake the risk mitigation activity (RMA) that has been on-going since 2019. The RMA is a variety of trials (including destructive testing) designed to put both contend- ers through their paces. A final decision is expected in 2022.
Land 159 will tick on with the preview test and evalua- tion slated for February and March and the final evaluation report due from NIOA in June, before second pass in 2022. Defence was also due to make a submission to government regarding Land 53 Phase 1 (the night-fighting equipment replacement) before the end of the financial year.
We’re also looking forward to the resumption of in- dustry gatherings, starting with ADM Congress in February and followed by Land Forces in June and the Avalon Air Show in November, conditional on pandemic- related restrictions.
More than anything, we’re hopeful that the pandemic will come to a close and that 2021 will be a dramatic im- provement to the start of this decade. ■
HANWHA