Land: RPDE looking into the Land space more | ADM October 2013

Described by its current head as the ‘innovation engine’ of Defence’s Capability Development Group, the Rapid Prototyping, Development and Evaluation (RPDE) program has conducted over 140 activities since its inception in 2005 and continues to resolve difficult and challenging problems.

Initially set up to improve Defence’s warfighting capability, RPDE initially had a Network Centric Warfare focus and although a number of current tasks on its books no longer have this focus, they are nevertheless aimed at providing innovative support to the warfighter.

Operations in Iraq and Afghanistan have demonstrated the effectiveness of the Improvised Exploding Device (IED) as a weapon and a reasonable proportion of the RPDEs work continues to be in support of the Counter IED Task Force.

What is RPDE?

RPDE is a collaborative arrangement between Defence, industry and academia aimed at solving complex and difficult problems in a non-competitive environment.

An invitation to participate in the program is released annually and invitations for the 9th iteration closed at the end of August. Each organisation whether an industry prime, SME, or university is assessed for suitability before being admitted into the RPDE program.

A board of participant representatives, chaired by Head of Capability Systems, Capability Development Group, Major General John Caligari, governs the organisation and the current General Manager (generally from industry on secondment) is Raytheon Australia’s Rick Shalders.

At the present time there are over 230 participants in the program, spread across the entire spectrum, from a number of Australia’s top universities to the major primes and a wide range of SMEs.

“Those members who have joined see benefit in understanding how Defence works, particularly in the capability development area and they also get a lot of benefits in working with each other in a unique collaborative environment,” explained Rick Shalders to ADM. “That’s the value of RPDE, they leave their badges and ballcaps outside the door.

“They have to be Australian companies and we have a very rigorous selection process, whether those companies have the necessary skill-sets and meet our charter. It’s about rapid innovation and getting the best answers for Defence.”

The two types of activities undertaken by RPDE are Tasks and Quicklooks, generated in response to complex, high-risk problems with no identified solution. Requests can come from throughout Defence but most often originate within CDG and all must have a One-Star sponsor to support their case. All IP generated is owned by the Commonwealth but accessible to companies involved in the activity.

Quicklooks and tasks

A Quicklook brings subject matter experts together to consider a problem and provide guidance, advice and input.

“We try to constrain a Quicklook to about 12 weeks, but can produce one in about six weeks if it’s an emergency. We’ve done a couple of those for the CIEDTF,” Shalders said. “It begins with what we term the discovery phase and it may generate a recommendation to undertake a number of other Quicklooks or it may turn into a Task. So any Quicklook can result in another Quicklook, or two, or it could generate a Task, and that’s up to the sponsor.”

A Task delivers a proof of concept, concept demonstrator or prototype solution at the end of the activity period, which is typically between 12 and 18 months.

“The first phase of a Task is actually the same discovery phase as a Quicklook, so we get industry together and discuss the problem,” Shalders explained. “The customer may find things in that discovery phase which steers them in another direction, or will spin off other activities.”

The prototype produced at the end of a Task could be in the form of a report or it may be a functioning piece of hardware or software that can then be used to inform and/or de-risk a development project.

Although there has been a shift away from the NCW origins a number of RPDE activities consider complex systems integration problems, as many legacy systems and platforms are required to be used with newer NCW-optimised equipment.

“Over the years we’ve certainly grown from the NCW basis into some of the other challenges in focus within Defence,” Shalders said. “There are a number of Tasks and Quicklooks that we’re doing now that may not necessarily have an NCW focus, but we do seem to be coming back to that level of integration across the services, but with very much a Joint focus in the last couple of years.”

In the Land space

Of the 140 activities conducted since 2005, 32 per cent have been in the Air spectrum, 29 per cent Maritime and 39 per cent Land and at the present time there are a total of eight Tasks and five Quicklooks underway across all domains. Of those, two Quicklooks and six Tasks affect the Land sphere.

Quicklook 90 is associated with Land 19 Phase 7A and is considering how the C-RAM system purchased for use in Afghanistan can be best utilised back in Australia after its return and is sponsored by Director General Land Capability Group.

“They have asked us to consider how the C-RAM system can be best integrated into the current and future sensor grid, i.e. the future operating environment,” Shalders said. “They will then progress through the project documentation suite and take whatever advice they need.”

Quicklook 91is concerned with common vehicle architecture and is linked with two projects, Land 121 Phase 4 and Land 400. “The question we’ve been asked is, should the ADF adopt a common vehicle architecture approach to future Land vehicles,” Shalders said to ADM. “The results will inform the capability decisions of both projects and we will then assist in the documentation for Land 121/4 Second Pass and the initial capability documents for Land 400.”

Although Task 47 is a Joint task, it will have a major impact on the Land environment, as it is considering the Joint Operations Room for the two LHDs currently under construction. The question under consideration is what the optimal system will be to enable the Commander Joint Task Force, Commander Amphibious Task Force and Commander Landing Force to provide effective operational Command & Control by 2017.

“That will tie in with Talisman Sabre 2017, which will be FOC for the LHD capability,” Shalders outlined. “All operators who wish to embark on the ship, including the SAS or another authority, can plug into the system and be linked to shore in the amphibious context.

“It’s a really big problem for us but we think we can come up with a really good solution using industry. The task is sponsored by the VCDF Group but we’re being very keenly watched by Chiefs of Army and Navy.”

Other land tasks ahead

Task 51 is concerned with stand-off Counter IED capability and RPDE is looking at whether a prototype capability can be produced for CIEDTF to use as a concept demonstrator and whether existing C-IED technology can be miniaturised.

Shalders says the problem is complex and will consider whether technologies such as IR, laser interrogation and hyper-spectral imaging can be miniaturised and combined into a manageable single piece of equipment. RPDE hopes to produce a prototype by the middle of next year.

“Hopefully the prototype can then be used to de-risk whatever the activity might be. Yet again a solution doesn’t exist; it’s complex, it’s challenging and it involves the warfighter and Australian industry. So it meets all our criteria and we seem to be doing a lot more in this field,” he said.

Task 52 is another C-IED project which is considering a twin-rotor Unmanned Ground Air Vehicle (UGAV) can be used for both C-IED and Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) detection. In a nutshell it is looking at whether a low-cost, easy to operate UGAV can be developed with interchangeable sensor interface and payload capability.

The goal is to produce a small vehicle which can be reconfigured by the operator in the field to meet the current threat and Shalders predicts the task will be completed late next year.

Task 53 is linked with JP154 Phase 2 which is a pre-First Pass DCP project and is considering Force Protection ECM to counter remote IEDs and IED detection itself and will also have some weapons intelligence capability.

“The question we’ve been asked is, can a single RF system deliver RF and Force Protection ECM capability effects,” Shalders said. “A very complex task that is again C-IED oriented, so we can get ahead of the threat with a single system, otherwise we carry duplicate systems which can only perform one task.”

Reflecting the priority of C-IED efforts, Task 54 is considering the development of a single hand-held detection device which has a hybrid capability and will allow current equipment that is recognised to have some deficiencies to be retired.

A prototype is expected to be developed by the middle of next year.

The final Land task in the current portfolio is Task 55 which has JP2072 Phase 3 as its genesis and is called the Vehicle Adaptive Antenna System (VAAS) which is aimed at developing an antenna-sharing system to reduce interference between multiple legacy communications systems. It is therefore also connected with Land 75 and 125, under the Land 200 grouping.

“We have completed a discovery report in this phase already to look at the command variant of the PMV. There isn’t much real estate left on top of a Bushmaster or other vehicles, because each project has delivered their own antenna system and power sources etc.,” concluded Shalders.

“We are looking at how to develop a shared antenna system which reduces issues for the team within the vehicle without reducing network performance.

A number of providers including some of the OEMs are involved in this really important task which will obviously flow to Land 400 and future Army vehicle projects.”