White Paper 2009

Almost all of the capability announcements in the air arena confirmed decisions set in train by the previous Howard government and appeared as active and funded projects in the 2006 Defence Capability Plan (DCP).

The White Paper – Defending Australia in the Asia Pacific Century: Force 2030 – appears to honour the Rudd government’s pledge to grow the defence budget by three per cent per year for 10 years from when it took office, out to 2017. From 2018, the government has made further pledges to grow the budget by 2. 2 per cent per year in addition to a 2. 5 per cent fixed indexation of the budget to 2030.

But many commentators question whether even these increases will provide sufficient funding to realise many of the items in the White Paper, in particular nearly 20 new ships of two new classes for the Navy, and 100 F-35s.

And despite Australia’s intelligence agencies recently finding there was no likely threat in our region for the foreseeable future, these increases are intended to see the ADF become less reliant on the US and other allies and more self-sufficient in its ability to project power in the region.

Any changes in those assessments may emerge in future White Papers, with the government committing to release a new document at intervals no greater than every five years.

With the White Paper’s release we can expect to see far greater detail including funding and key decision and service entry dates in a new DCP which is planned to be released in coming months. In the meantime, the following is a summary of the air-related elements of the 2009 White Paper.

Jsf Re-affirmed…again

The 2009 Defence White Paper was accompanied by the release of the second part of the Rudd government’s Air Combat Capability Review.

While the first part of the review last year confirmed the Howard government’s decision to acquire 24 F/A-18F Super Hornets as a bridging capability between the retirement of the F-111 and the introduction of a fully capable F-35 JSF late next decade, the second part focused on the JSF decision itself. But as expected, and despite pushing the introduction of the aircraft back by 12 months in order to allay development risk and cost, the review has endorsed the decision to go down the F-35 road.

“The review concluded that a fleet of around 100 fifth generation multirole combat aircraft would provide Australia with an effective and flexible air combat capability to 2030,” the White Paper reads. “A further judgement of the review was that the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) is the preferredsolution for that requirement. Other fourth and fifth generation combat aircraft considered by the review were judged to be less capable of fulfilling Australia’s multirole air combat capability requirements. ” As planned under the 2006 DCP’s Air 6000 Phases 2A/2B, the white paper says that initially “not fewer than” 72 JSFs will be acquired to equip three operational squadrons and a training/conversion unit, with a second pass approval decision expected later this year. A decision on whether to replace the Super Hornets with an additional squadron in the early 2020s is expected to be taken once a withdrawal date for the F/A-18Fs has been determined.

“Australia’s future air combat capability will therefore be based on four operational air combat squadrons consisting initially of three JSF squadrons and a squadron of Super Hornet aircraft, which will be replaced by a fourth JSF squadron,” the White Paper says. “Defence will continue to progressively upgrade the systems and airframes of the current F/A-18 aircraft to ensure that they remain capable and sustainable until the JSF enters service with the ADF. ” The White Paper says that maritime strike will be provided by Harpoon missile equipped Hornets and Super Hornets, “with the government to acquire a new maritime strike weapon for the JSF”.

White Paper Commits To New Maritime Patrol Aircraft

The replacement of the RAAF’s 18 AP‑3C Orions next decade with manned and unmanned aircraft was re-affirmed in the White Paper.

The document says eight manned aircraft, expected to be Boeing’s 737 based P-8A Poseidon, will be acquired to replace some of the AP-3Cs, while “up to” seven high altitude, long endurance (HALE) UAVs will also be acquired.

“Together these two new systems will replace the current AP-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft and ultimately provide greater maritime surveillance coverage for the ADF,” Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon said in a statement supporting the White Paper’s release.

Both of these capabilities are in the 2006 DCP under Project Air 7000 phases 1/2, although the numbers of aircraft to be acquired were not previously published.

The manned aircraft will be a key node in the ADF’s future networked force, will have higher transit speeds than the current Orion, and will also provide an effective anti-submarine capability. “They will also have a significant overland capability to provide support to our ground forces in a range of circumstances,” the White Paper says. And while the Commonwealth decided in March to delay the UAV decision until after the manned element is in place, the Northrop Grumman Global Hawk still seems to be the most likely candidate for such a role, especially once the US Navy Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) system is in place.

The White Paper document says “The recent decision not to enter into a collaborative development arrangement with the United States regarding the BAMS program will broaden the capability options available to Australia, although the Global Hawk still remains one option that might meet the needs of this project. ”

Air Lift Road Map Revealed

The White Paper also saw the ADF’s Air Lift Review completed, which will see the current four C-17s and 12 C-130Js augmented by a further two C-130Js as well as new battlefield airlifters, and the C-130Hs retired.

As previously announced, the current fleet of Caribou light tactical transports will be retired later this year and a bridging capability of leased King Air 350 turboprops will help the Caribou workforce transition to a new airlifter to be acquired under the previously planned Air 8000. The White Paper has confirmed that “up to” 10 new battlefield airlifters, most likely the Alenia C-27J Spartan or EADS C-295M, will be acquired next decade.

The Caribou replacement will be supported in the tactical airlift role by seven new CH-47F Chinooks, the acquisition of which has been mooted for nearly two years but was finally confirmed in late April. The White Paper has confirmed the CH-47Fs will replace rather than augment Army’s current six CH-47Ds which, despite being re-engined in 2007, have been worked hard in Afghanistan in recent years.

In the meantime, the current fleet of 12 C-130Js will be augmented by two new airframes while it appears the 30 year old C-130H fleet will be drawn down earlynext decade as the extra C-130Js and eventual Caribou replacements enter service. In recent years the C-130J has taken on many of the tactical and Special Forces support roles which were formerly the domain of the C-130H fleet, while the four C-17s have assumed the strategic airlift mission since entering service in 2007.

The strategic airlift mission will be further bolstered when the first of five Airbus A330 based KC-30A tankers enter service from later this year, thus freeing up more C-17s and C-130Js for tactical operations.

There was no mention of whether the cargo capacity of the KC-30As will be further enhanced with the addition of dedicated main deck cargo handling facilities, and there appears to be no requirement for a fifth C-17.

New Helicopters For Navy

The White Paper confirms the acquisition of “at least” 24 new combat helicopters for the Navy to replace the current Seahawk and to fill the gap left by the cancelled Seasprite.

Previously listed in the DCP as the embryonic Air 9000 Phase 8, momentum on this program has increased in recent years with Sikorsky/Lockheed Martin and Eurocopter both being sounded out about prices and availability of up to 27 MH-60R ‘Romeo’ or NFH 90 helicopters respectively.

But the White Paper has seen a new level of urgency added to the project as the current fleet of just 16 Seahawks struggles to meet the Navy’s current ship-borne operational requirements.

“This project will be pursued as a matter of urgency to overcome the current deficiencies in the Navy’s aviation fleet,” Fitzgibbon said.

Both the MH-60R and NFH90 have their own advantages. The MH-60R shares many common components and systems with the current Seahawk fleet and support relationships are already in place with Sikorsky and the US Navy, while the NFH90 shares much commonality with Army’s and Navy’s new MRH 90 fleet and has already been integrated with an antiship missile.

Wedgetail Re-affirmed

The importance of the RAAF’s much delayed fleet of six Wedgetail AEW&C aircraft was also re-affirmed, perhaps suggesting that any prospect of the troubled project being abandoned has been put aside.

Key program, industry and government officials are scheduled to review the project in June following the results of an MIT audit and the recent Arnhem Thunder operational evaluation of the aircraft’s capabilities. The minister also foreshadowed further enhancements to the Wedgetail’s capabilities.

“As a result of the White Paper, the government will investigate upgrading the AEW&C aircraft with Cooperative Engagement Capability to enable it to more effectively cue weapons systems and perform other functions in an air warfare information ‘grid’,” Fitzgibbon said. “If selected this upgrade would enable more effective integration between the Navy’s new Air Warfare Destroyer and the AEW&C. ”

White Paper briefs

• The White Paper has proposed that the Navy should acquire a new 10,000 to 15,000 tonne strategic sealift vessel to replace the current HMAS Tobruk and to complement the two new Canberra class LHDs. The new vessel will be capable of embarking amphibious and helicopter borne forces and of operating in ports with austere cargo handling facilities. A new underway replenishment ship to replace the HMAS Success will also be capable of embarking at least one helicopter.

• “Around 20” new 2000 tonne class offshore combatant vessels to replace existing patrol boats, minesweepers and survey ships may be capable of embarking a helicopter or a UAV. Eight new “future frigates” to replace the Anzac class vessels will be able “to embark a combination of naval combat helicopters and maritime Unmanned Aerial Vehicles”.

• The Army’s JP129 battlefield UAV requirement will be re-jigged after the White Paper recommended the acquisition of a larger Tier II tactical UAV system. Examples of USAF Tier II UAVs include the GA-ASI MQ-1 Predator and Sky Warrior family and the larger MQ-9 Reaper, although the US Marine Corp and Army Tier II aircraft are defined as smaller aircraft in the ScanEagle (USMC) and RQ-7 Shadow 200 (Army) classes. The previous JP129 program to acquire the IAI/Boeing I-View was abandoned last year.

• The Army’s RBS 70 surface-to-air missile systems will be either upgraded or replaced, with the new system to feature counter rocket and mortar capabilities.

• The White Paper announced a range of improvements to the ADF’s military air traffic control, navigation, communications and surveillance systems to keep pace with global air traffic management systems.

These will include deployable and fixed surveillance sensors and command and control systems.

• The Navy will be equipped with a new class of ship and submarine launched land attack cruise missiles as part of the White Paper’s recommendations. The missiles will be fired from the new Hobart class AWDs, the new frigates to replace the Anzac class, and the next generation of submarines which will replace the current Collins class.

• Australia’s first satellite-based remote sensing capability has also been planned in the White Paper, one which will most likely be based on a high-resolution, cloud-penetrating, synthetic aperture radar (SAR).

• The White Paper recommended that the Woomera missile range in South Australia should be upgraded with improved electronic warfare simulation and instrumentation for more realistic training and more effective electronic warfare system development.