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Australia confirmed as MDA?s second customer for ISR services
The Royal Australian Air Force has been confirmed as the mystery second party contracting for endurance unmanned air system (UAS) services in Afghanistan by MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd (MDA) using Israeli Aerospace Industries Heron systems.
MDA announced last week that it had secured a ‘confidential’ second customer for an initial twelve month service period with options for two additional years.
Australia’s Minister for Defence Senator John Faulkner has confirmed the RAAF is the second party. He says “this high resolution intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capability will enhance the capability of Australian forces in Afghanistan” with personnel already embedded with the joint Canadian military and MDA services operation in theatre.
The Australian Department of Defence (ADF) says the service will also support “escort and battle damage assessment” missions.
Faulkner says the lease is being coordinated with Canadian Forces via a force to force memorandum of understanding.
He also confirms that the contract has been in mobilising for at least four months with ADF personnel already deployed to work with MDA in theatre.
“In July 2009 Royal Australian Air Force and Australian Army personnel undertook Heron training in Canada. These personnel have now been absorbed within the Canadian Heron UAV Detachment at Kandahar airfield conducting combat operations in support of ISAF.
“This has meant the ADF has rapidly established its Heron capability by drawing on the Canadians’ operational knowledge, experience and facilities. “
MDA has been providing surveillance services to Canadian Forces in Afghanistan using Heron since 1 January. The company was contracted by the Canadian Department of National Defence in August last year under the ‘Project Noctua’ urgent operational requirement for improved surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities in theatre. That deal is based on a two year service arrangement with an option of one additional year. The total package has a notional cost of Canadian $95 million.
The corresponding Australian service has been designated “Project Nankeen”. The Nankeen night heron, better known as the Rufous night heron, is a medium sized waterbird common in Australia and Southeast Asia.
Faulkner says “the Australian Government greatly appreciates the assistance of the Canadian Defence Force in this project”.
The minister is also flagging an expansion of the number of assets operated by MDA in theatre to meet Australian requirements, with this in turn seeing a ramp up of ADF personnel deployed to Afghanistan: “When the systems acquired through the Nankeen contract are delivered to Kandahar, Australia will establish its full Heron detachment of air force and army personnel”.
MDA announced 2 September that it had secured a new customer for heron services but had advised that the new contract would not fully mobilise until early 2010.
The company said it would “provide a similar complete turnkey operational UAV service” that operated for the Canadian military. “The new service will include full operations, maintenance and logistics to provide real-time, multi-sensor intelligence information directly in the theatre of operation.”
MDA’s Information Systems Group vice president David Hargreaves described the deal as “expand[ing] MDA's ability to provide advanced turnkey airborne surveillance services very quickly to customers with urgent deployed and domestic operational requirements.”
Australian government contracting records released 9 June show that MDA received an initial mobilisation contract worth A$304,686 to support training of RAAF personnel between 26 May and 30 June this year. A follow on contract worth $6,373,219.58 was released 30 June with this supporting training between 18 June and 15 August this year.
MDA has never previously held any direct Australian DoD contracts.
Faulkner says three Australian companies will be supporting the services deal, comprising Geospatial Intelligence, Carbine Security Installations and Fujitsu Australia.
The MDA deal follows an extended collaborative trials program conducted in Australia of the BAE Systems Herti system which was launched in October 2008 and ended midway through this. The trials effort was intended to familiarise RAAF with the requirements of operating an endurance UAS.
Initial Herti demonstration planning had included a proposed deployment in Afghanistan to support overland surveillance operations conducted by RAAF using its Lockheed Martin AP-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft. However that aspect of the demonstration did not proceed with Herti subsequently restricted to Australian trials sights only.
The Australian Department of Defence has never publicly confirmed the collaborative program with BAE Systems.
However in June this year BAE Systems’ head of UAS marketing, Martin Rowe-Willcocks, told the annual UVS International Paris UAS conference that “we have just completed a very successful joint collaborative trial with the Royal Australian Air Force that has been undertaken over the past nine months”.
By Peter La Franchi - Asia Pacific Editor
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