adm news

Cash crisis to impact Defence spending?

A weekend newspaper report has suggested that the prospective adverse economic trends will test the Rudd
Government’s commitment to increase annual defence spending by three per cent each year in real terms to 2018.

According to The Australian’s Patrick Walters, budget pressures could force the government to slash plans to order 100 F-35 joint strike fighters next year and postpone the acquisition of a fourth Air Warfare Destroyer.

Our take is that 100 JSFs was never more than an ambit claim that would likely see this figure reduced to 75 aircraft in a buoyant economy and further reduced when times are tough.

A fourth Air Warfare Destroyer also now appears unlikely.

The one consolation is that everyone is in the same boat, a situation that surely is now being factored into current Defence White Paper planning.

Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon recently placed additional emphasis on the White Paper review by stating that the global economic crisis has made it more difficult to achieve military modernisation.

Australia’s defence budget review was announced by the government earlier this year and is designed to establish the true position of its $22.7 billion military expenditure, according to Fitzgibbon.

Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston told AIM’s leadership aspirants this week that the US financial situation would be a litmus test for future Australian defence spending and that if it continued it would impact on the amount of equipment produced in US industries.

“We might see, for example, a reduction in the production line of the Joint Strike Fighter…at this stage we don’t know.”

Houston added that with the amount of funding that goes into Defence it was clear that the government would have to factor in Defence spending in its consideration of how to deal with the crisis, should it be ongoing.

Red face department

L-3 Communications waxed indignant over an item in our last issue (subsequently corrected by a tireless editor in the online variant) indicating that JP129’s technical problem lay in Boeing Australia’s inability to deliver the TCDL for the I-View 200 TUAV.

L-3 somehow took this to infer that they had not supplied the TCDL to Boeing (which they had).

The company also pointed out that Cubic was not the only one to integrate TCDL on AAI’s Shadow 200 – L-3 had successfully done the same – and that the UK Watchkeeper UAV, the Hermes 450, was not currently operational with its TCDL.

We were wrong and L-3 was right, but enough of this grovelling. Where are the TCDLs that L-3 delivered to Boeing?

In Australia or Israel?

Will they be retained for the revised JP129 TUAV?

Extended Range JDAM’s successful test

The Joint Direct Attack Munition – Extended Range (JDAM-ER), equipped with wing attachments developed from DSTO technology, has successfully passed the latest round of tests aimed at further proving its glide capability.

DSTO developed the gliding mechanism in a wing attachment that enables the 500-pound JDAM weapon to accurately find long-range targets, giving the launch aircraft a fire-and-forget capability at a safe standoff distance, well out of harm’s way from enemy threats on the ground.

By increasing range and accuracy, the delivery of the weapon will be more effective, allowing a single aircraft to engage multiple targets while the extended range also increases the survivability of the aircrew and the aircraft launching the weapon.

The JDAM-ER wing kit was developed by Boeing’s Hawker de Havilland subsidiary from DSTO’s Kerkanya technology.

The recent tests, conducted at the Woomera Test Facility in South Australia by the Aerospace Operational Support Group on RAAF F/A-18 Hornet aircraft, demonstrated further performance enhancements of the system.

The latest tests were conducted under the scope of a DMO Industry Division Minor Project to further develop the JDAM-ER into a usable product.

If the wing kits are commercially viable, there is likely to be significant Australian industry involvement in the manufacturing activities.

Consideration will now be given to further develop the wing kits for commercial production.

DDG-51 back in production?

The US Navy is considering granting General Dynamics noncompetitive contract awards for most of the new destroyers the service plans to buy in reopening the DDG-51 production line.

This breaks with earlier practice of evenly dividing construction of the ships with Northrop Grumman to actively manage workloads across the surface combatant industrial base.

Normal acquisition regulations would require completing the new DDG-51 work, worth more than $16 billion.

However, the Navy’s general counsel has advised Navy Secretary Donald Winter of a legal device – a “public interest determination and finding” – that, if used, would permit the service to sidestep normal acquisition rules and hand General Dynamics approximately 75 per cent of the DDG-51 workload.

ADF to reduce presence in East Timor

The ADF will reduce its total force presence in East Timor to approximately 650 personnel by early next year.

The reduction in the total number of deployed personnel under Operation Astute is appropriate given improvements in the security situation in East Timor, announced Minister for Defence Joel Fitzgibbon.

Mr Fitzgibbon said the Australian Government was encouraged by the growing ability of the East Timorese security agencies, with support from the United Nations, to deal with security.

“The East Timorese authorities have shown through their professional handling of the security situation that the time is now right for some drawdown of the Australian ISF presence,” Mr Fitzgibbon said.

After the reduction in Australian troops, the International Stabilisation Force will total 790 Australian and New Zealand personnel.

Mr Fitzgibbon said that there is no change to the mission of the ISF and that Australian and New Zealand troops would continue to play a key role in East Timor’s security.

“The ISF will continue to provide security support to the Government of East Timor and the United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT) in order to maintain a stable environment,” Mr Fitzgibbon said.

The Australian Government will also maintain the ability to rapidly reinforce the ISF at short notice if required, as was demonstrated earlier this year.

Boeing objects to court ruling

Boeing Senior Vice President and General Counsel, J. Michael Luttig, issued the following statement after a Los Angeles jury rendered a verdict against the company in its defence of a breach of contract suit pressed by ICO Global Communications Holdings Ltd:

“I have directed that an appeal be taken from the decision rendered by the California jury.

"That appeal may well take several years to run its course.

"But there were fundamental errors in the case as it was submitted to the jury.

"There were fundamental errors in the conduct of the trial.

"There were fundamental errors in the instructions to the jury and in the court’s interaction with the jury during the deliberations.

"We thus have significant grounds for appeal.”

ICO sued Boeing in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleging breach of a satellite network contract.

Jury deliberations started on 15 September and are still underway.

Developing RN subs

A QinetiQ coordinated team has been awarded an enabling contract through to September 2009 by the MoD’s Future
Submarines IPT to provide independent support, resource and assurance for the concept phase of the future SSBN submarine program.

In addition to QinetiQ, other team members include BMT, Jacobs and Frazer Nash, with access to a wider pool of expert
advisors that includes Atkins, SVGC, Thales, Imes, Turner & Townsend, Weir Strachan-Henshaw, SEA and Sula.

In providing ‘best athlete’ support, the Client Adviser seeks to deliver constructive tests and will challenge the program, to help the IPT establish and deliver the minimum deterrent capability for the future.

A key to the success of this initiative will be in developing new ways to work that will help the provider companies (BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce and Babcock) deliver the concept phase, while continuing to provide independent advice to the MoD.

USAF contracts Boeing for laser testing

The US Air Force (USAF) has awarded Boeing a US$30 million contract to continue testing the Advanced Tactical Laser (ATL), the company announced on 14 October.

The Extended User Evaluation (EUE) contract, which was awarded on 30 September, calls for Boeing to operate and maintain the ATL system, enabling the USAF and other potential users to assess its capabilities.

SA HNA building begins soon

Defence has awarded Baulderstone Pty Ltd construction contracts with a value of $285 million and $124 million (excluding GST) for Packages 1 and 2 of the Hardened and Networked Army (HNA) Edinburgh Facilities Project, announced Minister for Defence Joel Fitzgibbon.

The facilities are being constructed to enable the 7th Battalion Royal Australian Regiment (7RAR) to move from Darwin to Edinburgh Defence Precinct, north of Adelaide, as part of the Government’s wider HNA initiative.

Package 1 will include the construction of Army working accommodation, training facilities and sitewide infrastructure. Package 2 will include the construction of a combined mess, fitness, commercial and community facilities.

“After a two-stage tender process, Baulderstone Pty Ltd was selected as the Head Contractor for both Packages 1 and 2,” Mr Fitzgibbon said.

Works will commence on site in late 2008 and progressive completion of key facilities is planned to enable Army units to relocate to Adelaide starting in January 2011.

Saudi C-130s taken care of

Alsalam Aircraft Co. has been awarded a three-year, US$29 million contract to provide programmed depot maintenance (PDM) for the Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) C-130 fleet.

Under this contract, Alsalam will perform repairs, inspections, maintenance, modifications and repainting work for 50 C-130 transport aircraft at its facilities in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Alsalam currently handles RSAF aircraft such as the F-15 Eagle fighter C/D/S variants, AH-64 Apache helicopter, and E-3A Airborne Warning and Control System aircraft at King Khaled International Airport in Riyadh.

It works on Tornado combat aircraft at its facilities in Dhahran.

Alsalam also uses its three climate-controlled wide-body hangars in Riyadh to accomplish maintenance and modifications – including VIP interior design and installation – on commercial airplanes.

Formed in 1998 under the auspices of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Defense and Aviation Economic Offset Program, Alsalam is one of the largest and most experienced maintenance, repair and overhaul companies in the Arabian Gulf region.

The company has approximately 2,200 employees doing heavy maintenance and modification on both military and commercial aircraft.