Defence Update

Australian Defence officials and officers are keeping their fingers crossed that the long running negotiations have paid off, although it will be several years before the ADF receives the new Chinooks. The 11 C model machines are mothballed at Amberley air base in southern Queensland. In a post Kangaroo 92 exercise briefing, the Chief of the Defence Force, General Peter Gration, said the exercise in northern Australia during the wet season had confirmed the ADF’s need for big helicopters in hot, wet conditions where ground mobility was difficult.

He said the big Chinook helicopters were required to move fuel and people insuch conditions. “I’m hopeful a deal with the Americans will be completed soon,” General Gration said. (While the number to come to Australia under the trade-in deal is small, the ADF, particularly the Army, is keen to maintain the state-of-the-art capability. A later question will be whether Army pilots will operate the twin rotor machines. It seems unlikely thatthe RAAF, who mothballed the fleetseveral years ago, will resume flying them. )

Early Documentation Drafts Being Prepared on Adf Helo Support/Training Ship

The Australian Defence Force (ADF) is working on draft documentation which could lead towards the acquisition of a helicopter support/training ship some years down the track. Such a vessel would be capable of lifting (by helicopters) up to an Army battalion group of about 800 men, equipped on light scales, and also providing a training ship for the Navy.

The carriage of this project, which is regarded as a medium term objective inADF planning (under the 1991 Defence Force Structure Review) for possible implementation later this decade, is under the direction of the Director General, Force Development (Sea) in ADF HQ, Commodore Mick Dunn. With the RAN training ship, HMAS Jervis Bay due to retire later in the decade, a new ship, which also would cover a perceived requirement for a vessel capable ofsimultaneously operating a number of helicopters basically in the Army support role, is considered more than useful for operations in inhospitable coastal regions around Australia, particularly in the northern wetseason.

It also would be available should the Australian Government wish to respond to requests for urgent assistance by regional governments under threat, or for the extraction of Australian nationals who might become caught up because of turmoil in other countries. Further such a ship could be seen as partly replacing the capability ofthe amphibious assault ship, HMAS Tobruk, which is due to retire about the year 2010.

Itis far from clear yet what type of helicopters and how many of them will be sought. The Force Structure Review suggests provision should be made for the Navy to acquire six “suitable utility helicopters” later this decade, but such an order is not intended to go on a helicopter support/training ship. However on grounds of commonality, provided they could take say 12 infantry soldiers or thereabouts, such a helicopter could be purchased for such a ship. Or the helicopters could be based on the Sikorsky Black Hawk machines now used by the Army.

The type, size and numbers of the helicopters really depend on what is considered the most suitable platform from which to operate a reasonably large helicopter at sea. So the type of helicopter required to insert say a company lift ( 120-150 men) in one wave from ship to shore is seen as more the determinant than simply starting with a certain sized sea platform.

In the draft documentation underway this year, HQADF, through CommodoreDunn,is conducting an internal review to make sure that the Navy and the Army are agreed on the requirements, and on any compromises that might be necessary. This therefore requires agreement that the two Services are speaking about the same thing, not widely different criteria. HQADF, once it adopts a specific way in which to head, then will need to convince a range of Defence committees that there is agap in theADF’s capability that should be addressed, and corrected. Much of the argument then eventually will be assessed by the Force Development and Analysis Division, and if it gets a tick there, would move on through higher Defence committees.

Under current planning a ProjectDefinition Study is likely to be undertaken in 1994 from which one of expected shortlisted tenderers would be chosen. There will be a strong push from Australian industry to have the ship construction, and most of the associated work, carried out locally. The background to current thinking lies in the Force Structure Review released on May 30, 1991. In its chapter on “Response to incursions onto Australian territory”, the FSR says that “although ADF sea transport assets can be used in the strategic lift role, their primary tasks will be operational support of combat forces. “A helicopter support ship has low priority for northern operations, but could be useful as a base for operations in inhospitable coastal regions, particularly during the wet season . . . ” it says. The FSR also notes, under the heading of “Response to regional requests”, that “wh1le theADF currently has no single vessel capable of operating a number of helicopters simultaneously, there are alternatives, using (the amphibious across-the-beach assault ship) HMAS Tobruk and the helicopter capable FFGs (frigates).

“The key issue, however, is not so much the platform but a large utility helicopter able to operate at sea, noting the limitations of the Sea King’s lift. The Blackhawks are not suitable for this role without expensive modifications (folding rotor blades and marinisation to prevent corrosion). ”

It then also notes that provision has been made to acquire six suitable utility helicopters later in the decade. The FSR says that to improve the ADF’s ability to respond to regional requests, the training ship acquired to replace HMAS Jervis Bay laterin the decade will have the dual role and capability of a helicopter support ship; this ship might also be considered as a replacement in part for the capability provided by HMAS Tobruk, which reaches end of life in 2010.

Brigadier Des Mueller, the Director General-, Force Development (Land) has expressed the opinion that a battalion group of about 800 on light scales is what the Army currently has in mind to be carried in a helicopter support/training ship. He said the DGFD (Land) group and Army had established lift characteristics which represented what they believed could be required in a range of circumstances.

“In so doing we have noted that cost capability trade-offs are likely to result in that lift capability (which some had earlier suggested could be 1,000 soldiers) being somewhat reduced,” Mueller said. He noted that an appropriate compromise could not be reached until there was a fairly clear idea of what the ideal solution might be.