Julian Kerr | Sydney
A request for information (RfI) for 450 tracked infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) to meet the mounted close combat requirements of the Australian Army was released by the Department of Defence (DoD) on 13 November.
The RfI, closing on 22 February 2016, encompasses Phase 3 of what will be the ADF's largest ever land systems acquisition programme.
Costed at about $10 billion, Project Land 400 will provide replacements under Phase 2 for the army's ageing ASLAV light armoured vehicles and under Phase 3 for its upgraded M113AS4 armoured personnel carriers (APCs).
In the first official confirmation of the number of platforms under consideration, the Phase 3 RfI refers to 312 turreted direct-fire high-survivability IFVs, 26 command-and-control vehicles, 16 Joint Fires vehicles, 11 engineer reconnaissance vehicles, 14 ambulances, 14 recovery vehicles, 18 repair vehicles, and 39 combat engineer variants. The phase also includes 17 manoeuvre support vehicles (MSVs).
According to the RfI, the ideal solution would be a tracked and turreted IFV with high levels of protection and mobility commensurate with the M1A1 main battle tank and capable of lifting a standard infantry battalion eight-man section.
However, in order to better understand cost versus capability trade-offs and through-life ownership costs, information was also requested on solutions based on tracked APCs and wheeled AFVs in the IFV role.
Information was also sought on the cost of weapon system options if not already part of variant quotes, including manned and unmanned turrets, remote weapon systems, mounted anti-tank guided missiles, add-on armour, and hard- and soft-kill defensive aids suites.
A request for tenders (RfT) under Land 400 Phase 2 for 225 combat reconnaissance vehicles (CRVs) to replace the 250-strong ASLAV fleet before it reaches its life-of-type around 2021 was issued in mid-February and closed on 3 September. A short list of contenders will be announced in March 2016.
The Phase 3 RfI refers to a "project schedule imperative" to align initial operating capability (IOC) of the IFVs and MSVs with the 2025 life-of-type of the 431 M113AS4s.
COMMENT: The earlier-than-anticipated release of the Phase 3 RfI indicates that retention of the army's ability to participate in high-end conventional warfighting will be confirmed in the forthcoming defence White Paper.
The additional information being sought on tracked APCs and wheeled AFVs in the IFV role emphasises the DoD's determination to pursue all relevant capabilities in a dynamic marketplace, together with its interest in achieving some measure of commonality between the Phase 2 and Phase 3 solutions.
Note: This article appeared originally in IHS Janes Defence Weekly for which Kerr is also correspondent