Clock ticking on RAAF BAMS participation

For the RQ-4N modification to the Block 30 airframe include anti-icing for low to medium altitude operations and additional hail and birdstrike certification work on the aircraft’s composite wing, empennage and radome structures.

The US Navy plans to field five overlapping ‘orbits’ of Global Hawks from bases in Hawaii, Guam, the Indian Ocean, Italy and Florida from 2018 to provide a year-round 24 hour picture of maritime traffic in regions frequented by US Navy and merchant vessels.

Northrop Grumman officials recently stressed to the ADF that, rather than buying Global Hawks through a Foreign Military Sales (FMS) deal later next decade, Australia should get on board the BAMS System Design and Development (SDD) program by the end of 2008 in order to have a say on the final configuration of the aircraft, although these timings may be a few months too early as the recommendations of the Defence White Paper may not have been fully digested by then.

“If the Australian government is interested in executing an MoU with the US Navy, we think it should be done as soon as possible so we can get the requirements together on time,” NG’s BAMS program vice president, Carl Johnson, told Australian Aviation at a recent briefing. “It’s just good program management and I think it would be beneficial for Australia to have the early entry into the program to get the leverage of the very large US government investment. ” So while most of the capabilities Australia will require of a long endurance UAV will probably be incorporated into the US Navy’s BAMS aircraft due to the many perceived similarities of their missions, there may be some capabilities the ADF will want that will have to be funded and added separately.

“If Australia is not included in the original requirements and development, what will happen is we’ll end up doing a separate design review process for them, not necessarily an integrated solution like we’re doing for the Navy,” added Johnson. “So for Australia, getting your requirements in at the same time will be useful.

There are probably some sensor modes that will want to be added by Australia, such as a land mission that might be in addition to what a Navy mission might be. But in terms of the operational capability, the system which provides the common operating picture is extremely compatible with what’s already in Australia, so that basis for the architecture is very much compatible with how Australia needs to operate the system. ” There is certainly an undercurrent of support within the ADF to get into a long endurance UAV sooner rather than later, especially as the program has been dragging along for several years already, seemingly without getting closer to a solution, and in light of the recent challenges in attracting skilled personnel to the ADF. But with the US Navy’s IOC (initial operational capability) for BAMS not scheduled to occur until 2015, the Australian solution is still some way off.

“If you look at the nature of the range of this system, you have the opportunity to operate the system in an expeditionary force manner,” explained Johnson. “The ability to have the satellite reach-back means that the guy operating the aircraft can be in Adelaide or at one of the main bases. He goes to work from his home in Adelaide, does his eight to 10 hours, and then goes home again and is replaced by the second shift. He’s not forward deployed, and the footprint of those forward deployed is significantly lower. The base at which they’re forward deployed is typically not a combat zone – combat is still several flight hours away.

“There are also a number of options, because this system is an autonomous UAV, for how you staff it. The USAF model is all ‘blue suit’, there are options being considered by the US Navy including contractor logistical support. Within the Australian environment you could have a contractor based logistics support team flying the aircraft, but they could also be reservists, so in the event that they need to be activated, you have skilled and trained people who have been working for the contractor, and the next day they show up in uniform. ” Introducing the unmanned replacement for the AP-3C before the manned element would also allow the current manned maritime ISR capability to be maintained without the usual transitional capability dip associated with the introduction of a new manned platform. n