Page 6 - Australian Defence Magazine July-August 2022

6 NEWS REVIEW
INDUSTRY UPDATE
JULY-AUGUST 2022 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
GENERAL ATOMICS PREPARES ELINT AND COMINT CAPABILITIES FOR RIMPAC
GENERAL Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA- ASI) completed a series of Electronic Intelli- gence (ELINT), Communication Intelligence (COMINT), and Link 16 payload flight test events near Palmdale and Edwards Air Force Base in California in preparation for Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2022 exercise.
The sensors were integrated onto GA- ASI’s MQ-9B SeaGuardian Unmanned Aircraft System, which will be featured at RIMPAC 2022.
RIMPAC is the world’s largest interna- tional maritime exercise involving more than 40 ships and 150 aircraft from 27 partner nations. The 2022 exercise will take place late June to early August in Ha- waii and Southern California.
“GA-ASI is proud to be participating in the US Navy’s RIMPAC exercise,” said GA-ASI Vice President of DoD Strate- gic Development, Patrick Shortsleeve. “SeaGuardian is the ultimate unmanned
LEFT: The sensors were integrated onto GA-ASI’s MQ-9B SeaGuardian
system for maritime security, with its multi-domain Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR), targeting Sig- nal Intelligence (SIGINT), and sonobuoy monitoring and control. The Edwards AFB test flights helped ensure and en- hance the accuracy of our systems ahead of the exercise.”
The flight tests near Palmdale and Edwards AFB were conducted April 20 - June 9, 2022. The ELINT payload on SeaGuardian is supplied by Sierra Nevada Corporation and the COMINT payload is made by L3Harris Technologies.
SeaGuardian is the maritime version of GA-ASI’s MQ-9B SkyGuardian.
According to GA-ASI, SeaGuardian’s advanced maritime Intelligence, Surveil- lance and Reconnaissance (ISR) capa- bility features a multi-mode maritime surface-search radar with Inverse Syn- thetic Aperture Radar imaging mode, an Automatic Identification System (AIS) receiver, Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) capabilities, and a High-Definition, Full- Motion Video sensor equipped with opti- cal and infrared cameras.
LAND 400 PHASE 3 REVISED TO 300 VEHICLES
EWEN LEVICK I MELBOURNE
THE program to acquire infantry fighting vehicles for the Australian Army under Land 400 Phase 3 has been reduced, ac- cording to a report in the AFR and con- firmed by ADM.
The two companies vying for the pro- gram – Rheinmetall Defence Australia and Hanwha Defense Australia – have been told to resubmit their bids for 300 vehicles instead of the original 450.
According to the AFR, the two compa- nies were also told to prepare budgets to allow the government to consider increas- ing the order in increments of 50 vehicles, and must resubmit their bids by the end of July for a decision in September.
In addition, the decision to reduce the program down to 300 vehicles (although ‘up to 450’ still may be acquired) was made by the previous government but only com- municated to the two bidders in the week
after the federal election, leaving the en- tire industry supply chain rushing to ad- just quotes before the July deadline.
Land 400 Phase 3 is the most expen- sive acquisition program in Army’s histo- ry and its scope has been under pressure given the Budget’s allocation of $9.9 bil- lion to ASD for the REDSPICE program, as ADM reported in March.
The budget for Phase 3 was initially set at $10-15 billion in 2015 but then ballooned to $18-27 billion.
In response to ADM’s ques- tions, a Defence spokesper- son said: “The recent decision to acquire upgraded Abrams tanks and Combat Engineer- ing Vehicles through Land 907 Phase 2 and Land 8160
RIGHT: Land 400 Phase 3 is the most expensive acquisition program in Army’s history
Phase 1, demonstrates a commitment to delivering a relevant and credible com- bined armed fighting system. Land 400 Phase 3 is an essential component of that system and seeks up to 450 Infantry Fight- ing Vehicles.
“This project is pre-Government deci- sion and subject to a live tender process therefore it would not be appropriate for Defence to make further comment. Once a decision has occurred, notification will be made via Government announcements.”
DEFENCE
GA-ASI