Surveillance: BAMS - reconciling Australian and US requirements

1 May 2007

By Tom Muir

Joining the US Navy's Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) program may be a smart move, but some careful thought (and perhaps diplomacy) may be required to reconcile the subtly different requirements of the US Navy's BAMS program and the RAAF's project Air 7000 Ph.1.

Although Australian unique requirements were incorporated into the US Navy's Request for Proposal for their Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) program, reports suggest that Australian officials involved were less than happy over 'dumbed-down' requirements for the high altitude surveillance drones.

Australia's decision to provisionally join the US Navy's BAMS program under a project arrangement with the USN has led to its participation in the pre-System Development and Demonstration (SDD) phase.

This included a provision for Australian-option input (and apparently some dissension) regarding the USN's Request for Proposal for the high altitude, long endurance, Unmanned Aerial System (UAS).

In mid-March NAVAIR released the final RFP for the BAMS UAS program that included the Australian requirement as a subset. The solicitation closed on 30 April 2007.

While the two main contenders for the UAS capability are seen as Northrop Grumman with a variant of the RQ-4 Global Hawk and Lockheed Martin and General Atomics with the Mariner version of the MQ-9 Reaper, we are also likely to see Boeing proposing an unmanned version of the General Dynamics G550 business jet.

Dumbing down? This latter addition has raised industry ire that the BAMS UAS requirement has been 'dumbed down' to encourage wider competition. Reports suggest this would be of particular concern for Australia.

According to the RFP's preamble, the BAMS UAS will provide a persistent maritime, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) data collection and dissemination capability to the USN fleet, serving as a force multiplier for the Joint Force and Fleet Commander, enhancing situational awareness of the battlespace and shortening the sensor-to-shooter kill chain.

Worldwide access will be achieved by providing coverage to nearly all the world's high-density sea-lanes, littorals and areas of national interest from its operating locations.

As the BAMS UAV and the Boeing P-8A Poseidon MMA (and the existing P-3C Orion) have related complementary missions, it is intended that BAMS UAV will leverage the Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Forces (MPRF) community to enhance manpower, training and maintenance efficiencies.

Under the US requirement (as distinct from the capabilities sought by Australia) BAMS UAS full operational capability will provide for up to five simultaneous orbits worldwide.

Initial Operational Capability (IOC) for the BAMS UAS is defined as one base unit with sufficient assets, technical data, training systems, and enough spares and support equipment to operationally support one persistent ISR orbit. The threshold requirement for IOC is FY14, however, the objective is to achieve IOC in FY13 or earlier.

At IOC, the BAMS UAS missions will include, but are not limited to, maritime surveillance, collection of enemy order of battle information, battle damage assessment, port surveillance, communication relay, and support of the following missions:

* maritime interdiction

* surface warfare

* battlespace management

* targeting for maritime and littoral strike missions.

The proposed system architecture will be driven by the requirements and constrained by the program schedule and affordability goals contained in the solicitation and in the BAMS UAS Performance Based System Specification.

Australian BAMS UAS options provide for the expansion of the BAMS UAS SDD program to include the design, development and demonstration of a solution that meets Australia's objectives.

For the purposes of the Australian objectives, In Service Date (ISD) is defined as the year in which the first elements of the capability are planned to enter service, though not necessarily be ready for operational employment.

The first elements of capability consist of an air vehicle, a fully populated payload, communication suite, mission planning, simulation and mission control system. ISD will be achieved in 2013.

The Australian IOC for the BAMS UAS is defined as one base unit with sufficient assets, technical data, training systems, and enough spares and support equipment to operationally support three periods of 24 hr surveillance per week. IOC will be achieved in 2015.

With the US Navy's Milestone B decision for the BAMS UAS on target for September 2007 and based on a competitive system integrator selection process, the program will enter the SDD phase during FY2008 with a PSI contract award expected in the first quarter (ie late 2007).

Following Milestone B approval, the Air 7000 project office here in Australia will report the results of the pre-SDD phase to Defence's Capability Development Committee for Intermediate Pass approval by Government in late 2007 or early 2008. This would lead to:

* A go-ahead to exercise the Australian option

* Signing of a post-Milestone B MOU with the USN (which will probably include Australian technical representation on the BAMS IPT)

* Selection of an Australian Industry Capability Partner (ICP)

It is anticipated that Second Pass approval will be granted in 2011, which coincides with initial production in the US, and will herald the Australian acquisition phase.

Now, in a restricted RFT closing in two months from its 14 March issue date, Defence seeks responses for the role of ICP and for the initial contract for the design of the Australian unique elements of the of the MUAS.

The ICP's main focus will be in developing the Integrated Ground Environment (IGE), the provision of in-service support and integration of airborne systems not provided via BAMS.

The ICP and his team of Australian subcontractors will work directly with the US Prime and his SME subcontractors in bidding for global supply opportunities for the BAMS unmanned system. They would also need to negotiate integration and other opportunities for the incorporation of Australian unique elements such as radar, IFF and so on.

There should be opportunities for Australian industry in the development of the IGE for UAS control and fusion of sensor information. The IGE's many elements including UAS mission control, mission analysis, planning and replay, an intelligence support and dissemination facility, as well as part task simulators, etc.

A number of contenders for the ICP role have now emerged. L-3 Communications Integrated Systems has teamed with BAE Systems for the task while Tenix Aerospace and Defence announced at Avalon that it had teamed with Northrop Grumman and Saab Systems for the role.

Boeing Australia is also expected to be a contender for the ICP (like Northrop Grumman it may be a BAM UAS contender as well) while both Raytheon and Thales Australia are also expected to put up their hands for the task.

In an article entitled Aussies Weigh In, Amy Butler and David Axe, Washington correspondents of Defense Technology International in March wrote that the Navy had planned to release the formal request for proposals for BAMS in mid February and that one reason for the month's delay was due to Australia's 'belated' interest. Following is a verbatim report of their article.

"The country is eyeing an eventual purchase of aerial drones for maritime surveillance and to support its new Coastwatch system, which combines privately owned Bombardier Dash-8 patrol planes and RAAF AP-3C Orions in a semi-privatised coastal patrol scheme managed by Britain's Cobham Services Div.

"In January, Australia assumed the status of 'official observer' of the BAMS program. Australia recently weighed in on a draft of the BAMS request for proposals and, according to a source close to the program, had some concerns.

"Australia is interested enough to consider putting money into BAMS, prompting US officials to take its concerns seriously and extend the release date for the request for proposals. Australia's interest is especially welcome in light of the Navy's total failure to sign up partners for the $32-billion P-8 program.

"Australia reportedly objected to the draft's downgrading of requirements to a 2000 mile range plus 10 hrs on station from the original range requirement of 3000 miles.

"While the Global Hawk and Mariner can reportedly meet the original specification, the G550 apparently can't - at least not without major modification. Radar coverage and ship-identification capabilities were also scaled back in the latest draft, according to the source.

"Australia reportedly wants 360-degree radar coverage versus the Navy's 270-degree requirement. It is also demanding better targeting fidelity. Australia's unhappiness with the new request for proposals is unsurprising in light of its obvious preference for the two BAMS leaders, Global Hawk and Mariner.

"In October, the Australian Defence Material Organization spent $3.5 million to test a virtual Global Hawk in patrols over the Australian North West Shelf. In 2001, a live US Air Force Global Hawk staged from RAAF Base Edinburgh for six weeks conducting test patrols over the nation's southern waters.

"The Reaper, for its part, has already flown live missions to test Coastwatch compatibility. Despite seemingly relying on dumbed-down requirements, Boeing's proposed BAMS platform does boast at least one advantage over its competitors - its potential high degree of compatibility with the P-8."