Page 60 - Australian Defence Magazine June 2021
P. 60

                     58 LAND FORCES LAND 400
JUNE 2021 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
  THE LAND 400 PHASE 3 RMA PATH
Given its potential to determine which contractor will benefit from Army’s costliest-ever acquisition program, the outcome of the detailed testing and evaluation now underway on the two contenders for the ADF’s Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV) requirement is keenly awaited.
JULIAN KERR | SYDNEY
   NOT that anything of substance is likely to be known until the end of this year at the earliest from the overall Risk Mitigation Activity (RMA) of Project Land 400 Phase 3. Also known as the Mounted Close Combat Capability, the project will deliver and support up to 450 IFVs and 17 ma- noeuvre support vehicles.
These complex platforms will replace the army’s expen- sively-upgraded but now obsolescent M113AS4 armoured personal carriers at a cost estimated in the 2016 Defence White Paper at $10-15 billion – a remarkably broad varia- tion in potential expenditure.
And that was until publication of the 2020 Force Struc- ture Plan, in which the forecast soared by an extraordi- nary 80 per cent to $18-27 billion.
A Defence spokesperson subsequently told ADM that the additional investment included an increase in the initial procurement of spares and a larger stockholding of mu- nitions to support greater operational readiness, together with increased investment in supporting infrastructure and training ranges specific to the IFV capability.
Shortlisted as contenders in September 2019, Re- inmetall Defence Australia’s (RDA’s) Lynx KF41 and Hanwha Defense Australia’s (HDA’s) AS21 Redback, both tracked IFVs, entered the RMA process in the final quarter of 2019, with 12 months allocated for each contractor to manufacture and configure three trial vehicles ready for evaluation continuing through to the final quarter of 2021.
Each contender is receiving $25 million exclusive of GST from Defence to partially offset costs associated in
participating in the RMA, which includes one of their trial vehicles being tested to destruction.
The full Phase 3 requirement is understood to comprise 400 IFVs made up of 281 turreted platforms and 119 non-turreted variants, although most reports continue to refer to ‘up to 450’ IFVs. The non-turreted variants will fill recovery, repair, com- bat engineer and ambulance roles. Only manned turret variants, each mounting a 30mm cannon, are being used in the RMA.
TIMELINE
Vehicle delivery was staggered between October 2020 and January 2021, with initial deliveries required to support a vehicle performance assessment (VPA) undertaken for safety reasons prior to the start of further testing.
The VPA, undertaken at the Monegeetta proving ground of the Land Engineering Agency, considered the mobility, manoeuvrability and recoverability characteristics of the ve- hicles with data also gathered for inclusion in the User Evalu- ation later in the test program.
Meanwhile specialists from Defence’s Capability and Sustainment Group (CASG) undertook parallel engage- ment with the shortlisted companies to clarify, refine and negotiate aspects of their tenders.
This included a range of workshops, the progressive development of contract data items such as plans and
ABOVE: The RMA contenders on show at Russell office .
   















































































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