Page 52 - Williams Foundation Future of Electronic Warfare Seminar

A New Approach and Attitude to Electronic Warfare in Australia

"If we look at the maritime space, P3s are retiring, P8s and Triton are being introduced. Our first P8 turns up
in November this year. If we look in the airlift space, C130Js will be our oldest platform, but they remain
contemporary.

"The KC-30 Multi Role Tanker Transport is 4 or 5 years old with both the hose and drogue and boom air to
air refueling capabilities being fully realised and another 2 effectively new KC-30 aircraft will arrive
before the end of 2019. We also picked up C-17 aircraft #7 and 8 last year. C-27J is being introduced
right now and we expect it to reach IOC before the end of this year.

"In the surveillance and control area , the E-7 Wedgetail AEWAC airframe might be 10 or 15 years old.
However, the Wedgetail capability is equal to or better than any similar capability in the world.

"You'd have to say Wedgetail is a cutting edge AEWAC capability. There would be some capabilities that
Wedgetail has that the new USAF Block 40/45 E-3G AWACS doesn’t have, and vice versa, of course."

Question: So your challenge is ensuring that your force which is a young force in terms of new
capabilities can work effectively together; and for this, you are also working with core allies such as the
US, but need to shape a core Australian way ahead.
How would you describe the challenge?

Air Commodore Kitcher: "How do I make my US Air Force ‘like’ F35A work closely with my US Navy ‘like’
Growler and Super Hornet to achieve a mission?

"Similarly, how do I ensure these aircraft, plus the Australian bespoke Wedgetail can work effectrvely with
the RAN LHD and Air Warfare Destroyer to achieve a Maritime support or strike mission?
"It's a good problem to have to ensure that we get the maximum collective capability out of our individual
platforms in the Australian context, which means we've got to make them work with each other.

"Larger forces, like the US, may not have that same requirement, because they've got other assets that can do
various specialized missions.

"And we face a major challenge to ensure that our new air platforms work in an integrated manner with
evolving Navy and Army capabilities.

"We must shape solutions which support our Australian Concept of Operations.

Our force also obviously needs to be “integratable” and/or interoperable with the US and other allies, but
we won’t get there fully by simply buying US C2 and ISR systems.

"Not only do we need to make a particular platform or system work for Australia within our ADF capability
context, but we need to ensure that it's truly interoperable in a coalition as well.

"This is a real challenge, because there are security issues, restictions and requirements that exist that musr be
overcome to realize true high-level interoperability.

"However, solving these problems is far better than trying to keep something that's 30-year-old flying and
make it work with the new equipment coming on line.

"To solve these challenges, we are focused on prioritising and integrating only the things that you ‘should’ to
make a more lethal and effective force.

Second Line of Defense

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