Defence Update

“The fact seems to have been forgotten that we need to maintain Defence for its combat capability,” Mr Alexander Downer, then the Opposition’s Shadow Defence Minister, said on the eve of the general election on March 13.

(As this article was written prior to the election date, it now becomes a question of whether, as the opinion polls were now suggesting, the Liberal-National Coalition has by now become the Federal Government. If that is so, Mr Downer’s comments have great pertinence. Alternatively the current policies are expected to continue if the ALP retains office -Ed) Mr Downer said the need to improve the combat capability of the ADF rested on how the Defence dollar is spent. Thus, he said, a high early priority would be given to starting the equipment acquisition programmes detailed in the Coalition’s 168 page Defence policy document. “A Strong Australia – Rebuilding Australia’s Defence” launched on October 18, 1992. It details almost 300 initiatives which are claimed to be different from Labor’s long-standing Defence policy. A key point is that the Coalition’s commitment to increase the ADF’s capacity to carry out its principal task of direct defence of Australia and its territories will be realised, according to policy, by cutting into the Defence bureaucracy.

“During our first term in Government we will make savings of $500m in the Defence Budget, but we will reallocate $300m of those savings to enhance the combat capability of our Defence Force,” states a pre-elector Liberal Party brochure on Defence policy.

Specific measures, which are arguably different to current policy, outlined in that paper are: •Providing the F-111 bombers with sufficient systems for them to have an operationally credible strike capability.

• Giving the F-111 squadrons air-to-air refuelling capability (something which at the moment is only available to the F/A-18 Hornet fighters).

• Considering equipping the new Collins class submarines with a standoff strike weapon (ie Tomahawk).

• Increasing the steaming time for the Navy, training days for the Army, and flying hours for the Air Force.

• Acquiring further troop carrying helicopters (ie Black Hawks) and ensuring that sufficient numbers of refurbished medium lift helicopters return to service (a suggestion which has implied an order of eight Chinooks rather than four).

• Forming a Regular Army Commando company to operate as part of the Operational Deployment Force Brigade based at Townsville. (The 1st [infantry] Battalion of this two battalion Brigade was sent to Somalia in December/January as part of the famine relief operation).

• Abolition of the Army’s Ready Reserve scheme, which, now in its second year, basically aims to provide volunteer battalions for 6 Brigade in Brisbane from young men and women who undergo 12 months full time training, and four years part time training in exchange for tertiary or job search assistance. The restoration of the two Regular Army infantry battalions as the core of 6th Brigade instead of the Ready Reservists. • Reorganising the ADF’s General Reserve (mainly Army) to make it more effective; with an additional $15 million to the General Reserve to improve its combat capability.

• Supporting the relocation of Army forces to the North of Australia, with the specific exemption of a reduced operational force of Leopard tanks to be maintained at Puckapunyal, Victoria.

• Fast tracking studies for, and the acquisition of, airborne early warning and control aircraft (AEW&C). The Coalition’s defence industry policy aims to strengthen the partnership between industry and Defence, and to provide a frame work supporting the development of industrial capabilities needed for national security.

Specifically a Coalition Government would: • Significantly reduce the size of the Acquisition and Logistics Programme in Defence, and restructure it to make it more open to industry involvement and more responsive to industry needs.

• Put greater impetus to the commercialisation of Defence support areas.

• Create substantial opportunities for Australian defence industry to develop its export potential and encourage industry to form joint ventures with regional allies.

• Clarify export guidelines to stress transparency, responsibility and accountability.

The Coalition policy document, “A Strong Australia” says that all aspects of Australian Defence policy were reviewed “in the light of the strategic changes which have taken place since the end of the Cold War”. It describes the steps a new Government would take “to enhance global and regional security and provide for the direct defence of Australia”.

The commitments made are: • Strengthening combat capability.

• Creating a flexible, responsive Defence Force. Reducing the Defence bureaucracy.

• Enhancing security ties with regional countries.

• Improving coastal surveillance and other capabilities through selected new programs for defence equipment acquisition.

“A stable regional security environment enhances Australia’s national interests,” the policy sets out. “A Coalition Government will enhance Australia’s security and the security of the Asia-Pacific region through a policy of Co-operative Regional Defence.

“This is a new approach to regional security which gives increased priority to building more extensive defence links with regional friends and allies. ” • Put a high priority on increasing Defence co-operation with ASEAN countries, with Papua New Guinea and with South Pacific island states by significantly increasing spending under the Defence Co-operation Programme. (In the first term defence cooperation spending with ASEAN countries will go up by $30m, with PNG by $5m, and with South Pacific island states by $5m).

Contribute to global security through the support of peace-keeping and collective defence actions where appropriate. • Maintain and develop the longstanding defence alliance with the United States.

• Maintain the defence alliance with New Zealand.

• Extend defence contacts with countries in North and South Asia.

Mr Downer earlier gave reasons for cutting out the Ready Reserve scheme. He said it had severely reduce the Army’s ability to provide a rapid response to Defence emergencies. He said he was concerned about the flexibility of the Army, with only four Regular battalions at present, to participate in peace keeping operations as well as defending Australia’s national interests closer to home. Therefore, a Coalition Government would restore the Army to six infantry battalions. “The absurd thing about the Ready Reserves is that the scheme was introduced as a cost-saving measures. But the costs have blown out to a point where a Ready Reservist serving part time around 50 days a year costs more than 70% of the cost of a Regular soldier serving 365 days a year,” Mr Downer said.

“We will offer Ready Reservists the chance to transfer either to the Regulars or the General Reserve,” he said. “Many of those recruited into the Ready Reserves actually wanted to join the Regulars. So we are confident that the two Regular battalions can be raised without any difficulty. ” On the announcement by Senator Robert Ray as Defence Minister late last year of the interest in acquiring up to 18 surplus United States Air Force F-111s, Mr Downer said the proposal would come under the microscope. “I am a fan of the F-111 aircraft,” he said.

“But it is not so much the up front price as the modernisation costs. We will need to take a hard look at the cost and benefits of acquiring more F-111s as measured against other equipment needs, the money has to come from somewhere,” he added. Prior to the election, inresponding to Mr Downer’s claim that the announcement last year was “apolitical stunt”, Senator Ray said it was intended to purchase the most capable model F-111 ditv available, and that they would have to suit Australia’s needs.

“We have identified the G model on the basis that it is very close to our own F-111 (C model), and a large part of the systems have already been upgraded,” he said.

He intimated that the first two USAF aircraft of that model were due to retire from the USAF in February, and many more would follow through the year.

Senator Ray said that negotiations on cost were well within Australia’s expectations and when the figure was released the bargain nature of the purchases would be “stunning”. “The absurd thing about the Ready Reserves is that the scheme was introduced as a cost-saving measures. But the costs have blown out to a point where a Ready Reservist serving part time around 50 days a year costs more than 70% of the cost of a Regular soldier serving 365 days a year,” Mr Downer said.

“We will offer Ready Reservists the chance to transfer either to the Regulars or the General Reserve,” he said. “Many of those recruited into the Ready Reserves actually wanted to join the Regulars. So we are confident that the two Regular battalions can be raised without any difficulty. ” On the announcement by Senator Robert Ray as Defence Minister late last year of the interest in acquiring up to 18 surplus United States Air Force F-111s, Mr Downer said the proposal would come under the microscope. “I am a fan of the F-111 aircraft,” he said.

“But it is not so much the up front price as the modernisation costs. We will need to take a hard look at the cost and benefits of acquiring more F-111s as measured against other equipment needs, the money has to come from somewhere,” he added. Prior to the election, inresponding to Mr Downer’s claim that the announcement last year was “apolitical stunt”, Senator Ray said it was intended to purchase the most capable model F-111 ditv available, and that they would have to suit Australia’s needs.

“We have identified the G model on the basis that it is very close to our own F-111 (C model), and a large part of the systems have already been upgraded,” he said.

He intimated that the first two USAF aircraft of that model were due to retire from the USAF in February, and many more would follow through the year.

Senator Ray said that negotiations on cost were well within Australia’s expectations and when the figure was released the bargain nature of the purchases would be “stunning”.