Page 156 - Australian Defence Magazine June 2021
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FROM THE SOURCE MAJOR GENERAL SIMON STUART
JUNE 2021 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
  CONTINUED FROM PAGE 162
Thirdly, it actually provides some additional domes- tic capacity with a couple of aircraft. It’s a good value for money approach to all of those needs. and that’s why we’ve gone the way.
ADM: You mentioned MRH in your response to that question. Will Army retire MRH early?
STUART: We have no plan to do so. What we continue to do is work with industry because we collectively need to gener- ate more capability than we currently are getting out of the system. A lot of effort is invested in the MRH system and the enterprise team that’s assembled around it, whether that’s industry, Army or our partners in CASG to see how we can realign things, realign the system to get better output for the resources that we are expending. We’re clear-eyed about that challenge and we need to achieve some better outcomes in the short term. That’s where we’re focused right now.
We’re also gathering evidence to make some assess- ments about what other changes we may need to make in the future.
ADM: But as of right now, no concrete plans to retire the platform early?
STUART: That’s correct.
ADM: Army’s riverine capability is expanding substan- tially. What’s happening in the training pipeline to sup- port that?
STUART: In the first instance we’re looking to make sure that we have the right people with the right training in
the right place as we bring this capability online. We work very, very closely in the joint space, particularly with Navy, who are the seaworthiness regulator, but also have, a world class training system for ocean going ves- sels. What we’re seeking to do, is in the most efficient way possible, is leverage and resource the system that exists in Navy to generate what we need in terms of training, regulation and to work together on facilities.
When it comes to smaller craft, like the new riverine pa- trol craft the delta between the skillsets that are currently produced in the Army part of the training system are not significantly different. I think we’re pretty well placed there. It’s a matter of capacity and our Training Transformation efforts are focused on better ways of delivering training for a better return on investment to reduce duplication, to re- duce overheads and train people at the point of need.
ADM: The Self-propelled Howitzer (SPH) Guns and Am- munition Program; where is that up to?
STUART: Land 8116 is on track. As we sit here in the sec- ond quarter of 2021 there are risk mitigation activities go- ing on with the SPH and the ammunition resupply vehicle and we’re heading toward a Second Pass consideration around the middle of this year with work commencing in financial year 22/23 and acquisition thereafter, for an Ini- tial Operating Capability in financial year 25/26. Tranche 2, is pretty exciting because it’s based on Australian weap- on locating radars, is about 12 months after the Tranche 1 schedule because we have some more work to do.
BELOW: MAJGEN Stuart confirms that Army will not be getting rid of their MRHs early, unlike Navy.
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