Defence

Defence Materiel Organisation

Accolades for top projects

By Lisa Smallacombe

Two of the Defence Materiel Organisation’s (DMO) demanding equipment upgrade projects have received recognition at the state finals of the annual Project Management Achievement Awards, demonstrating once again its critical role in ensuring that the ADF has the equipment to excel in the field.

The project teams responsible for the major upgrade of the Royal Australian Air Force’s (RAAF) F/A-18 Hornet fleet and for the replacement combat system for each of the Navy’s Collins-class submarines were honoured at the NSW and ACT finals respectively.

The Australian Institute of Project Management (AIPM) hosts the annual awards to formally recognise excellence in project management in Australia and will announce the national winners at a ceremony on 27 September. DMO’s Hornet Upgrade Phase 2.2 is in contention for the top prize of national project of the year and the Collins-class Replacement Combat System Project is in the running in the construction/engineering/aerospace category.

Hornet upgrade

The team behind the HUG 2.2 took the top honour at the NSW finals as well as winning the construction/engineering/ aerospace category.

At an estimated value of $500 million, the HUG 2.2 Project has developed and integrated a range of technical enhancements to improve situational awareness, targeting capability and survivability for the F/A-18 Hornet fleet.

The upgrades have enhanced the ability of F/A-18 pilots to make quick and accurate situational assessments, potentially making the split-second difference between mission success and failure.

The project team implemented upgrades including a helmet mount cueing system, multi-functional information distribution system (Link 16), colour cockpit displays and an enhanced countermeasures dispensing system.

The RAAF’s F/A-18 Hornet is the first standard Hornet variant in the world to integrate Link 16—a highly guarded and secure communication capability that provides allied forces with total visibility of all battlefield data.

DMO HUG 2.2 Project Manager, Matthew Hall, said the Integrated Project Team (IPT) construct was instrumental in the success of HUG 2.2.

‘The significant contributing factors to the project’s success were formation of IPTs; a single risk management system; development of prototypes to provide preliminary examination and build confidence in the final product; and collaboration,’ Mr Hall noted.

IPTs, formed to oversee each dimension of the project, answered to a management team comprising senior personnel from the HUG 2.2 Project Office, the prime contractor Boeing, and the United States Navy (USN).

Collins

DMO’s Collins-class Replacement Combat System Project took out the ACT award in the construction/engineering/ aerospace category for a project established to provide the new combat system and shore-based support.

A key aspect of the project was the development of system commonality between the Royal Australian Navy and the USN.

To achieve this, and also overcome problems associated with rapid technology change, the project management strategy was aligned with the USN’s Continuous Update Program. A key to the success of the project was the parallel development of products, a rolling test and acceptance philosophy, and an incremental integration program.

Unlike DMO’s standard acquisition the prime contractor, with a series of IPTs at various levels within DMO and industry. The result was successful close collaboration between the DMO, the USN and industry partners in Australia and the United States.

The innovative approach of the project team led to the development of an acquisition strategy that addressed the issues of merging sensitive US technology with existing Australian platform sensors and other submarine infrastructure. It also covered the complexities of US export requirements for military equipment. The ACT judges commended the project team for their management of a highly complex project.

Other accolades

There were three other notable successes for DMO in this year’s AIPM awards:

• The project team responsible for the upgrade of Chinook helicopters, deployed to Afghanistan as part of Operation Slipper II, received the President’s Award at the Queensland state awards ceremony. The upgrade was managed under a rapid acquisition program utilising Australian industry and foreign suppliers to ensure that they were combat-ready. The upgrade provided the Chinooks with enhanced electronic warfare systems, an improved self-protection capability, supplementary crew and passenger protection, enhanced communications equipment, and improvements to situational awareness for the pilots flying the aircraft. Remarkably, the delivery of this project was achieved in less than five months.
• The AIPM commended Wing Commander Scott Miller at the ACT awards for his individual contribution to the Advanced Aircraft Bombs Program (including projects Air 5409, Air 5425 Air 5398PH 3/4 and AFM-950), while Rebecca Adams was highly commended for her contribution to the Stand-Off Weapons (project Air 5398 Ph 1A/2).

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