The F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter, airborne during its second test flight. Photo courtesy of Lockheed Martin.

In the beginning…

The Defence White Paper 2000 identified the need, and made provision for up to 100 new combat aircraft to replace the current fleets of F-111 and F/A-18 aircraft under project AIR 6000 New Air Combat Capability (NACC). The NACC Integrated Project Team (NACC IPT) was formed in September 2002 with Air Commodore John Harvey appointed as its Director General.

In October 2002 Government decided to join the System Development and Demonstration (SDD) phase of the United States (US) led Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) Program and announced its expectation that the JSF would be acquired to replace the capabilities currently provided by the F-111s and the F/A-18s.

The NACC Project received First Pass Approval in November 2006, at which time it transitioned to the Defence Materiel Organisation (DMO) as a major project, and John Harvey was promoted to Air Vice-Marshal (AVM) as Program Manager NACC.

In December 2006 Australia entered the next stage of the JSF Program by signing the multilateral JSF Production, Sustainment and Follow-On Development Memorandum of Understanding (PSFD MoU) that will govern the remaining life of the JSF Program - a period of some 45 years - and will involve expenditure of over US$500 billion for the global JSF fleet.

NACC’s Project Mandates and its Objectives

NACC has two key outcomes:

1: To deliver a new air combat capability commencing in 2012, which broadly replaces that currently provided by the F/A-18 and F-111 aircraft; and

2: To maximise the level and quality of Australian industry participation in the global JSF Program.

Between First Pass in November 2006, and Second Pass scheduled for late 2008, the NACC project objectives are to:

• Conduct the necessary analysis and production of documentation to support Second Pass approval.
• Prepare for acquisition.
• Implement the Industry Participation Plan.
• Manage Australia’s involvement in the SDD and PSFD MoUs.
• Implement best practice project management practices.

Next steps

Australia is the fourth international partner to sign the PSFD MoU with the US Government, joining the Netherlands, Canada and the United Kingdom (UK). The four remaining partners in the SDD phase are expected to sign the MoU in the coming months.

Reiterating comments made by the Minister for Defence when he signed the MoU, AVM Harvey said: ‘The PSFD MoU provides the cooperative framework for the acquisition and support of the JSF over its life, and provides significant financial and non-financial benefits from the ongoing partnership.’

The MoU and associated documents also guarantee Australia ’s access to the technology and data it needs to operate and support the JSF to meet Australia ’s sovereign defence needs.

‘Entering into the MoU also opens up billions of dollars worth of opportunities for Australian industry to build on its success in the SDD phase,’ said AVM Harvey.

To date, 21 Australian companies have won approximately US$100 million worth of work in the SDD phase. AVM Harvey expects that to increase significantly in the production and subsequent sustainment phases of the program.

Looking ahead

Signature of the MoU is not a commitment to buy the F-35 JSF. Although Defence’s currently preferred date for first JSF deliveries is 2012/2013, with initial operating capability to be achieved in 2014/2015, Government will not make an acquisition decision for the JSF until Second Pass Approval, scheduled for late 2008.

Defence is moving beyond legacy acquisition approaches of ‘platform replacement’ and looking at ‘whole of capability’ for its new air combat capability. The stealthy, fifth generation JSF will be integral to Australian Defence Force (ADF) network centric warfare and not employed as just a stand alone capability.

‘Ongoing analysis and modelling by Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO), and Air Force/DSTO participation in simulator exercises in the US and UK, reaffirms the original assessment that the JSF will mature to provide the capabilities Australia needs,’ said AVM Harvey.

‘We’re through First Pass, and we’ve signed the MoU for the next phase, so the two big things ahead of us are getting to Second Pass, and securing opportunities for Australian industry.’

AVM Harvey said the NACC project team will continue to work hard to get a good result for Australia’s defence Industry.

‘We work as part of JSF Team Australia – an all of Government, all of industry approach, working together. As part of our team here we have people from DMO and people from the Department of Industry, Tourism and Resources.

‘We also have a number of forums – for example, the JSF Industry Advisory Council - which is a high level group that brings Government and industry together to address the strategic issues facing Australian industry,’ said AVM Harvey.

‘We’ve also formed a number of Industry Capability Teams where we get the relevant Australian companies working together as a team, rather than in competition.

‘Australian industry is reasonably small on the world scale, and it’s fragmented.

‘We have some gaps in processing capabilities, and gaps in some machining capabilities,’ he said

However, AVM Harvey also cited good examples where companies work in collaboration, rather than competition, to overcome capability gaps.

‘We had one case where a company in Brisbane, and a company in Melbourne - with assistance from the Queensland Government - invested together in a new machining capability and were able to win work in the SDD phase of the program,’ he said.

‘We have some project funds that can be applied so that for a small input, we can achieve a large outcome.

‘We’ve negotiated Industry Participation Plans with the JSF prime companies as part of our entry to the next phase of the Project. We expect Australian industry to win billions of dollars of work, but the actual amount will depend on how well Australian industry performs in removing potential barriers to open competition,’ he said.

A significant difference with this project is that Australian industry work is not limited to ADF aircraft.

AVM Harvey said there is work to be done on the whole global fleet, of some 3,000 aircraft, so being only a small part of such a big program is important when in comes to industry returns.

In terms of sustainment for the JSF, AVM Harvey said the NACC IPT has a growing team working on sustainment, both in Australia - and as part of the JSF Project Office in the US where they are already defining the sustainment solution.

‘We are also working closely with Australian industry – through the JSF Industry Advisory Coalition – to define what we need to do in Australia and how best to do it,’ he said.

On the subject of global support chains, AVM Harvey said that it is up to Australia to define what will be the most cost-effective support approach.

‘It is up to us to decide how far we should go to do things in-country, as opposed to plugging in to the global system, and that’s part of the job we’re doing now. There will be some things we just have to do in-country for reasons of sovereignty or self-reliance, and there will be other things that can be done overseas. We’ll work out where the appropriate balance is,’ he said.

‘Take engine repair facility, for instance. How much do you need in-country as opposed to how long is the supply chain? These sorts of issues are being analysed now.’

‘For Australia, this will be the first time we’ve operated a stealth aircraft and it will bring to the Royal Australian Air Force fifth generation capabilities in terms of communications, sensors and data fusion capabilities,’ AVM Harvey explained.

‘There is no denying that the program is challenging, but if it weren’t so challenging, chances are it wouldn’t be good enough to satisfy our future air combat requirements.

‘But we’re part of a nine country partnership dedicated to making the Program work and meet its goals of lethality, survivability, supportability and affordability.’