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Budget increase for Australia?s JP129 programme
Australia has bolstered funding for its revised Joint Project 129 tactical unmanned air system (UAS) requirement with this week’s Federal budget increasing allocations to the project up to A$157 million (US$119 million).
The project previously was capped at A$129 million (US$98.12 million) with this predicated on the acquisition of the Israeli Aerospace Industries I-View 250. That deal was formally terminated in September 2008.
The A$28 million increase comes as Australia’s Defence Material Organisation continues to review price and availability date from the United States Army for a possible foreign military sales acquisition of AAI Shadow 200B systems.
Australia lodged an FMS price and availability application in January this year, with this seeking data on two options.
Option one was for delivery of up to four Shadow systems in the identical configuration to the US Army’s fleet, with this including supply of SINCGARS radio systems, ground stations, AM General HMMWV vehicles and support equipment.
Option two was for the delivery of up to four core Shadow systems, comprising air vehicles and ground control stations, but excluding shelters, communication systems, and US Army specific support equipment.
The US returned its FMS data package to Australia in April. The Australian Defence Materiel Organisation is currently discussing a possible visit to the US in coming weeks to meet with the US Army tactical UAS programme office to discuss the FMS option in greater detail, with this including timings for system release.
In parallel the DMO is preparing tender documents for a potential restricted commercial competition, with this understood to now be a showdown between Shadow 200 and the Elbit Hermes 450.
Defence budget documents advise that “capability options are being developed for government approval. Emphasis is being placed on fielded systems with extensive operating experience.”
The DMO has been assessing four potential tactical UAS types since late 2008. These comprise the Shadow, Hermes 450, IAI Searcher 2 and the Selex Falco.
AAI is in talks with BAE Systems Australia about re-establishing a bid team in the event of a decision to proceed with a commercial competition rather than an FMS deal for Shadow. AAI and BAE Systems jointly contested the original JP129 competition with a bid based on an Australianised Shadow 200A.
Elbit has teamed with Thales Australia, with these again replicating arrangements for the original JP129 competition.
A three person Australian defence project team conducted visits in December to Israel, the United Kingdom, Bulgaria and the United States to evaluate the four rival types. Selex Galileo uses a test range in Bulgaria to support ongoing flight testing of the Falco series.
The Searcher 2 is in current series production for India and was previously fielded by the Israeli Air Force. Older generation Searcher’s remain in service with Singapore and South Korea.
Selex has been actively marketing Falco in Australia since September 2008. Falco’s only confirmed export customer is Pakistan, with deliveries underway since 2007.
The Australian Army currently fields leased Boeing-Insitu Scan Eagle tier II tactical UAS to support its ongoing operations in Afghanistan. A purchase of that type or the larger Insitu Integrator have not been considered by the DMO on the basis of limited payload capacity in the case of Scan Eagle while Integrator is seen as being still in development. However Insitu is currently bidding Integrator as the basis of its bid for the combined US navy tier II tactical UAS competition, tenders for which close 9 June.
Australia is not expected to make a final decision on its preferred acquisition methodology until at least July this year, with FMS costing on the Shadow option expected to be the key determining factor.
The Australian defence budget papers advise that of the A$157M project cap, A$2 million has been spent since project relaunch, however no outlays are forecast for the course of FY2009-2010. That absence of a forward spend projection is raising concerns in the Australian Army that no source selection will occur until at least the second half of CY2010 despite previous government assurance the revised project will be fast tracked.
By Peter La Franchi - Canberra
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