Nigel Pittaway | Melbourne
The digitisation of Army achieved a significant milestone on March 27 when the previous Chief of Army, Lieutenant-General David Morrison declared Final Operational Capability (FOC) on Tranche 1 of Project
Land 200.
Further tranches are designed to provide the same capability to Army’s other Brigades and Air Force SECFOR units in turn, but in practice elements of the Battlegroup Command & Control Communications (BCG3) system are already in service with some of these other units, as Defence has adopted a fleet-wide approach vehicles such as the G-Wagon, Bushmaster Protected Mobility Vehicle (PMV) and Unimogs.
"There has been the decision not to modify around 100 of the Army’s Mack trucks as originally planned under Tranche 1, due their approaching life of type."
Land 200 however is not a formal project in its own right, but a series of Projects, Phases and Tranches which harnesses elements of Projects Land 75 (Battlefield Command Systems), Land 125 (Soldier Enhancement) and Land 2072 (Battlefield Communications Systems – Land), to form a Battlefield Management System (BMS).
Deriving its informal name from the sum of Land 75 and Land 125, Land 200 also works closely with JP 2089, the Tactical Information Exchange Domain (TIED) project which considers what is being developed for Army is compatible with the wider ADF and coalition allies.
To explain the relationship between the various elements in more detail, Land 200 is currently divided into three tranches, the first of which (as noted) rolled out the BMS to 7 Brigade at Enoggera and some logistics and support units, as well as one of the RAAF SECFOR squadrons.
Tranche 2 will continue this roll-out and is currently between First and Second Pass Approval and is due to go to government for approval at the end of next year. It is currently in the midst of a risk-reduction program across a number of work packages to help define requirements.
Tranche 3 is further out into the future and has yet to be formally initiated. Land 200 Tranche 2 is made up of Land 75 Phase 3.4, Land 125 Phase 3A and Land 2072 Phase 3. Tranche 3 comprises Land 75 Phase 4 and Land 2072 Phase 3.
“After Tranche 1the Land 125 input into the project is complete from their formal project point of view,” explained Colonel James Murray, the Director of Enabling Systems Development for Army, to ADM. “Project Land 125 Phase 3A contributed to the dismounted BMS, the system that is worn on the soldier and that project contributed some of the load carriage and equipment webbing components. Going forward into Tranche 2 that’s all now wrapped up under Land 75 Phase 4.”
The risk reduction program being undertaken for Tranche 2 at the present time is led by Elbit Systems of Australia (ELSA) as the original equipment manufacturer of the BMS. One example of the work being done is with regard to the ‘Weapons-Integrated BMS’ planned for Army’s ASLAV fleet.
“This is where the BMS and the digital map and communications are integrated with the fire control system, laser designator and weapon on an armoured vehicle,” COL Murray described.
“So the vehicle can see and designate a target and it then becomes a graphic on the BMS that can be shared by other vehicles connected within the network. It may well be that the target is then actually engaged by another vehicle, if they are in a better position. It brings together the communications, the situational awareness and the fire control system of an armoured vehicle.”
Elbit has completed and demonstrated a prototype ASLAV weapons integrated BMS and while the formal results have not yet been released, COL Murray revealed that the system has been very well received. At the present time however it is not clear how many of Army’s ASLAVs will be modified, as those decisions will be made based on the life of type of the vehicle.
“Within the Tranche 2 risk reduction program we’ve looked at ASLAV as an exemplar platform for the weapons integrated BMS,” he said. “And everything we are learning out of the ASLAV risk reduction will be very useful for when we put the BMS into Army’s M1A1 Abrams tanks.”
Design work has also been completed to install the BCG3 in around 350 of the Army’s upgraded M113AS4 armoured personnel carriers as part of Land 200 Tranche 2 is now almost complete and the physical installation will run throughout 2016.
The number of different configurations of M113 however has led to the development of a prototype vehicle for each, as every configuration requires wiring to be routed differently, or the equipment installed in different locations within the vehicle or turret.
“Elbit has led the design work and those prototypes are going through the final design review with DMO to formalise the various design configurations and then next year we will begin installation in accordance with those agreed designs,” COL Murray noted.
“Going forward into Tranche 2, the risk reduction activity between First and Second Pass has been looking at the key risks that relate to platform integration, integration between the BMS and fire control systems for armoured vehicles. Some work has also been done to enhance the dismounted, ‘man-wearable’ version of the BMS in terms of reducing the size, weight and power requirements, because we always want our soldiers to have to carry less.
“They are the primary risks; the rest of it is in understanding the art of the possible, to refine our requirements.”
Future vehicle programs
The integration of a BMS into the Rheinmetall MAN protected and unprotected medium heavy vehicles now being acquired under the auspices on Land 121 Phase 3B will occur during Tranche 2. Approximately 700 trucks will have some form of networking communications fitted to them during this process.
Under another Phase of Land 121, Phase 4, the integration of a BMS into the Protected Mobility Vehicle – Light (PMV-L) (this is likely to be the Hawkei vehicle from Thales Australia) will likely occur during Tranche 3.
On the other side of the coin however,
Further into the future again, much of the risk reduction already undertaken on the ASLAV and M113 programs will inform Project Land 400 Phase 2B and whichever combat reconnaissance vehicle is selected to fulfil the requirement.
“The Land 400 people are early in their process but they are benefitting from some of our Tranche 1 experiences and lessons and, importantly, the risk reduction exercises in Tranche 2,” COL Murray continued.
“Army is becoming a more informed end user and is able to better refine its requirements through this process. The risk reduction process which has been running essentially from mid 2014 up until now is a really valuable activity where some of the experiences and lessons will carry across into Land 400.”
LHDs, Headquarters BMS and the future
Work is also being undertaken in conjunction with the JP2048 project office to provide a Land 200 connectivity from ship to shore, so the commander of a landing force afloat as visibility into the land environment after the battle group has landed.
“This is a work in development and we are working our way through the integration requirements for that, but in the fullness of time we’d anticipate that a Land 200-equipped force that goes ashore from an LHD has a data-link back to the ship,” detailed COL Murray to ADM. “So the ships’ Operations Room can see the land BMS onboard. That is a Tranche 2 evolution as we go forward.”
While the focus of Tranche 1 is very much on the tactical level, Tranche 2 will also begin to digitise the Brigade Headquarters level, including the incorporation of planning tools into the BMS and the ability to synchronise higher level land manoeuvre. Project Land 2072 Phase 2B is one of the enabling projects for this and it is at this level that interoperability with Air Force, Navy and coalition partners comes into play.
COL Murray contends that Land 200 is dealing with the positive consequences of its own success and attention is now turning to opportunities to accelerate the digitisation of the land network.
“We want to avoid having the digital ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’ and we are trying to bring everybody up and along together as we go through the force regeneration cycle. Whilst the bulk of our investment so far has been into 7 Brigade, some of 1 Brigade, 3 Brigade and 17 Brigade have already been digitised and we will continue to do that over the next three years for a range of efforts,” he said.