From the very outset it was clear that Pacific 2017 was going to be an interesting show. With billions of dollars of naval shipbuilding contracts up for grabs, there was much industry speculation in the days leading up to the event that the Government would use the opportunity to make one or more important announcements. And they didn’t disappoint.
In his opening address on the very first morning of Pacific 2017, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced that Lockheed Martin was the winner of the competition to supply the Combat Management System for the Future Frigate program and that Saab Australia will develop the Australian Tactical Interface (ATI).
He also said that the decision will not impact on the selection of a combat systems integrator, which will be decided by each of the three contenders for the Future Frigate program.
Lockheed Martin will provide its Aegis Combat Management System for the nine frigates to be built under Sea 5000. The ATI developed by Saab will manage the non-Aegis systems, such as the CEA radar and Nulka missile decoy system.
Turnbull also announced that the Saab Australia 9LV CMS will be mandated for all future RAN surface ships which do not require high-end warfighting capabilities, including the twelve Offshore Patrol Vessels being acquired under Sea 1180.
“It guarantees a long-term sustainable Australian combat management system industry, which is integral to my government’s shipbuilding plans,” he said.
So far, so good. Both companies have won important and long-term work under the Commonwealth's naval shipbuilding enterprise. But, as they say, the devil is in the detail.
Turnbull went on to announce that Saab Australia will also develop the ATI for an upgraded Aegis system to be integrated into the Hobart DDGs – an upgrade planned in the Defence White Paper.
To say that this last announcement placed the fox in the henhouse is putting things mildly, and even on the last day of the show, many stakeholders were unsure of its implications.
In his address, Turnbull said the Aegis CMS decision for the Future Frigate will enable the ships to engage missile threats at long distances.
“A number of states, notably of course, North Korea, are developing missiles with advanced range and speed. We must have the capability to meet and defeat them,” he said.
Presumably he is referring to a Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) capability, which will require the latest Baseline 9 version of the Aegis system; and if the DDG Aegis upgrade he proposes will also be to the same standard – a reasonable assumption, given that the primary role of the DDG is air defence – where does this leave the current suppliers of the ATI, Kongsberg and Raytheon Australia?
The selection of Saab Australia to provide the future ATI for the DDG was no slip of the tongue; it was confirmed in a joint press release from Defence Minister Marise Payne and Minister for Defence Industry Christopher Pyne shortly after Turnbull’s address and again in Pyne’s address to the Pacific 2017 Sea Power Conference the following day.
There were many puzzled expressions to be seen on the stands at Pacific 2017 and ADM is watching further developments with interest.
This article first appeared in the November 2017 edition of ADM