Australian Defence Force

[seaspear]

Boeing has delivered the first of the "Loyal Wingman " drones to the R.A.A.F
https://www.defensenews.com/air/2020/05 ... bat-drone/
Of interest was the construction techniques that were pionered by Boeing achieving some commonality and keeping costs down as to how much A.I is incorporated into the design is not disclosed

[ArmChairCivvy]

Not just the above, but the Boeing twin-tails seem to be like a cat with nine lives:
https://www.defensenews.com/naval/2019/ ... st-flight/

Do like the automotive industry: design new functionality into packaging pre-existing components

[ArmChairCivvy]

ADM reported 2 mths back that Trump's wall had got in the way of Australia's (further) Tritons.

Oz " Investment so far totals A$1.7 billion on two Tritons, the aforementioned [multi-int dvlmnt] $200 million and supporting physical and information infrastructure.

“We also hope that we get the next tranche of four remaining aircraft, a total of six approved, at the start of next year by Government, and by doing that we think there will be some advantages, including cost savings and industry opportunities, that we will be able to leverage by getting all of the aircraft agreed in that next tranche,” CEO Chris Deeble recently said to ADM in a From the Source interview. “We also think there’s a good argument for a seventh.”

a ‘production pause’ in FY 2021 and 2022?

Yet all that could now be in jeopardy after US budget papers announced a ‘production pause’ in FY 2021 and 2022 and “[deferred] further procurement of the Multi-INT configuration until FY 2023.” The funding could instead be directed towards the Trump administration’s border wall, which tapped into the Pentagon’s budget after neither Mexico nor Congress would pay the full cost.

According to ASPI Senior Analyst Marcus Hellyer, the decision could forecast trouble for the future of Australia’s Triton program.

“The Triton has already suffered a 61 per cent increase in development cost and a 70 per cent increase in acquisition schedule, so with a two-year production pause on top of that plus the cost of restarting production, it’s looking more and more like an easy target for budget predators,” Hellyer said. “There are no guarantees US Navy production will start up again.”["]

[Mercator]

Some movement still:

A notification posted on the US government's beta.sam.gov website on 14 April noted that Australia is to add to the one Triton UAV for which a contract has already been placed by exercising its options for two more as part of a wider US Navy procurement plan...

"This contract modification establishes two unfunded option lines for five additional MQ-4C unmanned aircraft [three for the USN and two for the RAAF] and two additional main operating bases [one for the USN and one for the RAAF] and related production support, to include but not limited to: the procurement of long-lead material and associated effort; systems engineering; production management; integrated logistics support; and associated technical, administrative, and financial data," the notification stated.

https://www.navyrecognition.com/index.p ... -uavs.html

Reads like Australia taking up some production slots while the USN refinances. Could be wrong.

[ArmChairCivvy]

Reads like Australia taking up some production slots while the USN refinances

My understanding, too.

There were 4 on offer "at a very good price" but decision had to be taken by the end of June.
- looks like 50/50 wisdom has been exercised:
take two now, and wait and see if the production recommences after the two year break.

The third one mentioned I guess falls outside this narrative.

The gist (on Australia's part) being that the planes replaced by P-8s were multi-INT whereas the P8 is a 'mere' subhunter, so far at least
- so with 2 received, 3 more to come (for certain) means that a multi-INT circuit somewhere (SCS?) can be maintained under all circumstances (short of someone starting to shoot them down)

[seaspear]

An interesting article discussing research into using the different light bands given off even under camoflage that can be detectable even at night through hyperspectral imaging
https://news.defence.gov.au/technology/ ... arder-hide

[abc123]

About Cape class, 340 mil. AUD seems a little bit too much for six small ships. They might at least throw some 25 mm RWS in for that amount.

[ArmChairCivvy]

An interesting article discussing research into using the different light bands given off even under camoflage that can be detectable even at night through hyperspectral imaging
https://news.defence.gov.au/technology/ ... arder-hide

Yes, next step. As just about everything that these days is a threat has FLIR, the Saab Barracuda camouflage netting - covering IR spectrum... except for the holes in it - has been a best seller.

What is stated here (the article in an interview format is, of course, an ad for a breakthrough)
"“Hyperspectral sensing provides an understanding of the target materials’ properties, which is not available from other imagery,” Mr Fowler said.

“We’re working with high performance thermal sensors and extremely long-range, short-wave IR (SWIR) hyperspectral systems for surveillance tasks, including maritime surveillance, target detection in cluttered environments, stand-off gas plume detection and overwatch."

Target's material reflecting properties (metal) is one of the things that millimeter wave length seekers rely on, and hence they have had longer ranges than similar weapons (NLOS -/+) that can be used en-masse and w/o the man-in-the-loop... the last one as a rqrmnt would, sort of, cancel out ripple launch?

[ArmChairCivvy]

They might at least throw some 25 mm RWS in for that amount.

Don't know about the RWS but loadsa to put on it, becoming available as the ASLAVs going out of service have the M242 25mm Bushmaster Chain Gun with ready-rounds of 210 each, so there must be a million (of the rounds) in the stockpiles
... though what is put on patrol boats may never need to be replenished. But in making the BizCase you can 'forget' that aspect

[abc123]

They might at least throw some 25 mm RWS in for that amount.

Don't know about the RWS but loadsa to put on it, becoming available as the ASLAVs going out of service have the M242 25mm Bushmaster Chain Gun with ready-rounds of 210 each, so there must be a million (of the rounds) in the stockpiles
... though what is put on patrol boats may never need to be replenished. But in making the BizCase you can 'forget' that aspect

They probably could use Typhoons 25 mm from Armidales...

[Qwerty]

Article on the Loyal Wingman.

C/W with sexy CGI videos from Boeing.

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/3 ... id=fbshare

[R686]

Australia puts out an RFI for the Hawk LIF replacement, possibilities are Boeing-Saab T-7A Red Hawk, Korean Aerospace Industries (KAI) T-50 Golden Eagle, Leonardo M346 and of course Advanced Hawk

https://defpost.com/australia-releases- ... placement/

[Lord Jim]

I have to ask why? Are they running out of airframe hours? If not maybe we could by some of them back, with a friends and family discount of course, to supplement our small fleet of Hawk TMk2s allowing us to finally retire our TMk1s

[ArmChairCivvy]

finally retire our TMk1s

What pressure (other than, perhaps, airframe hours?) is there for this as 100 Sqn provides all manner of target facilities and threat simulation, as well as working closely in Joint Tactical Air Controller (JTAC) training.

[Lord Jim]

More importantly we do not have enough TMk2s to cover all the requirements at Valley, and this has become a bit of a bottleneck in the training programme. They are currently drafting 100 Sqn TMk1s in to try to ease the situation but it is not the ideal solution. If we could get the RAAF Hawks for a good price, or at least some of them ot would provide a better solution and is enough are left over then replace the TMk1s in 100 Sqn.

[ArmChairCivvy]

we do not have enough TMk2s to cover all the requirements at Valley, and this has become a bit of a bottleneck in the training programme. They are currently drafting 100 Sqn TMk1s in to try to ease the situation

Wrong thread, but will make the comment anyway:
- the training pipeline was ' throttled' in the 2010 SDSR
- how much what went private and what remained with the RAF has to (take the) blame, I am not privy to

But ten years later, not having enough hardware, for the catch-up, can hardly be a surprise?

But (depending on the airframe hours) buying some from Oz might not be a bad idea - for a short-run fix:
- the Finnish airforce bought 18 low-hrs Hawks off the Swiss, took 8 of their own (the lowest hrs) and now have a fleet to take them into the 30s ... having started in the 80s. Call it 50! yrs

[Lord Jim]

As you inferred, the Private Training Scheme is critically short of hardware, Hawk TMk2s, Texan TMk1s and Simulators and there is no funding available and nor is the contractor willing to sort this out at his/hers own expense as they believe they are delivering what was contracted for.

[ArmChairCivvy]

pipeline was ' throttled' in the 2010 SDSR

+

nor is the contractor willing to sort this out at his/hers own expense as they believe they are delivering what was contracted for.

One of the great stories of THIS GOVERNMENT... oops, so sorry! We have a new Boris, not the previous Tory, Gvmnt now

[R686]

A bit more info on the Hawk replacement, but it seems they are having trouble with the Adour Mk 871 with cracking in the low bypass turbine and also appear to a persistent wing fatigue issue don't no the full story on the issues as its the 1st I've heard of the problem

https://adbr.com.au/rfi-released-for-ra ... placement/

[ArmChairCivvy]

A question (and I am not leaning either way):
Is it a good decision for the RAF to tie itself to the RAAF Wedgetail upgrade path? 10 yrs of service should be ample proof of where it stands now, but what about the future?

[R686]

A question (and I am not leaning either way):
Is it a good decision for the RAF to tie itself to the RAAF Wedgetail upgrade path? 10 yrs of service should be ample proof of where it stands now, but what about the future?

I'd say yes as the RAF can have a big input into future upgrades. The RAAF is on a continued improvement cycle to keep it at cutting edge for as long as possible

This is an old article but a very brief look at how the RAAF will keep it relevant

https://www.australiandefence.com.au/de ... f-its-game

[ArmChairCivvy]

Many thanks!

[Mercator]

lookin' good

[SW1]

[seaspear]

This article outlines some of Australias airborne network in ECW
https://venturaapdr.partica.online/apdr ... capability