Project

Explanation

Background

In November 2006, Government directed Defence to develop options to de-risk the transition from the current Australian Defence Force (ADF) air combat capability to the new air combat capability being acquired under Project Air 6000. To achieve this, Defence established Project Air 5349 to acquire a bridging air combat capability for the ADF. In March 2007, Government approved the acquisition and sustainment of 24 F/A-18F Super Hornet aircraft and associated weapons, support, and training systems.

Under Phase 1 of the project, 24 F/A-18F Super Hornet aircraft and associated training and support systems will be acquired primarily through Foreign Military Sales (FMS) Cases with the United States (US) Government.

The 24 F/A-18F Super Hornet aircraft being acquired include alternate mission equipment; electronic warfare equipment (with an Australian-unique data library); targeting pods; communication and navigation suites. The training systems being acquired include tactical flight simulators (known as Tactical Operation Flight Trainers), cockpit procedural trainers (known as Low Cost Trainers), and maintenance training simulators (known as Integrated Visual Environment Maintenance Trainers).

The support systems being acquired include an automated maintenance environment, support and test equipment to operate and maintain the aircraft, initial aircrew and maintenance training; and the provision for three years worth of repairable items and breakdown spares, including fly-away-kits.

Phase 2 of the project will acquire quantities of AIM-9X Sidewinder missiles and new variant's of AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles to provide both a Within and Beyond Visual Range missile capability; and the AGM-154 JSOW capability. In order to maintain JSOW commonality with US Navy, a limited quantity of JSOW C weapons were procured for IOC, with the remainder being the updated version JSOW C-1.

Phase 2 is also scoped to acquire a trial quantity of Infra-Red (IR) flares in order to achieve IOC. Further quantities of AIM-9X Captive Air Training Missiles to meet ongoing training requirements have been acquired. Phase 2 was also directed to undertake additional certification and integration activity of the current ADF AIM-120 AMRAAM inventory on to the F/A-18F to achieve IOC.

Phase 2 will provide JSOW C and post Software Upgrade (SWUP) 08 AMRAAM to support the Super Hornet FOC currently scheduled for December 2012. Further delivery of new missile variants for JSOW and AMRAAM will occur after this milestone. These are highlighted in the Project Event and Supplies Delivery Schedule. These two events will ensure the effectiveness of the weapons system for the life of the capability is maintained.

Uniqueness

The F/A-18F Super Hornets are a Military-Off-The-Self (MOTS) aircraft acquisition. The aircraft are common with US Navy F/A-18F Super Hornets with the only significant configuration difference being the inclusion of a civilian-compatible Instrument Landing System.

The F/A-18F Super Hornets was a directed Government solution resulting from the combined first and second pass project approval process.

The timeframe between the Government approval of the project and the IOC date is significantly shorter than for other major aerospace acquisitions.

The majority of acquisition activity for the aircraft and support equipment is being undertaken through a US FMS case.

Acquisition of the weapons suite is being undertaken using several US FMS cases. The weapons being procured under Phase 2 are continually monitored to ensure the ADF receives the most up to date, US Navy common weapon, as defined by Government. All the weapons being procured under Phase 2 are new to the ADF.

Major Challenges

Whilst the aircraft are MOTS with a current production line running, the acquisition of the training and support systems needed requirements definition and design development activities so that they could be integrated into existing Australian operational and sustainment infrastructure.

Project currently managing the delivery of facilities and Support and Test Equipment to an aggressive timeline to sustain initial flying operations in Australia.

Procurement of leading edge weapons via FMS is reliant on development schedules, which induce schedule risk that DMO has limited ability to mitigate.

Whilst weapons are MOTS, there is a requirement for necessary data to be provided to enable the RAAF certification. The pace of this acquisition provided challenges for US Navy to supply associated data in the necessary timeframes.

Other Current Projects/Sub-Projects

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