Challenges with evolving soldier equipment now require flexibility in addressing needs.

A challenge to modernising the soldier is that while equipment needs are evolving, there is an increasing requirement to rapidly respond to equipment demands to support the operational tempo.

This was the view of Director General Land Engineering Agency, Mr Grant Medbury, in his address to the recent Land Warfare Conference in Adelaide about the contribution DMO has made to modernising the soldier. He pointed out that while the Defence Capability Plan projects were typically of extended duration, the current demand is for rapid response to meet the current needs. An example of a project that has evolved its strategy is Land 125, the Soldier Modernisation project that is delivering new capabilities every two years.

“Each new system requires you to address a new set of issues,” Mr Medbury said. He pointed out that blast threats are now a key consideration, with examples being the trade-off between protection (increased weight) and the need to be mobile (less weight). This challenge is being faced for both vehicles and the individual soldier.

“Current needs require rapid responses and the DMO has been able to adapt its processes to meet the current demands", he said. Mr Medbury outlined some of the key improvements that have been introduced lately that have helped in the protection of our deployed forces. There has been the introduction of Soldier Personal Radio, Thermal Weapon Sights, ballistic protection of bulldozers and excavators, Bar Armour System for ASLAV and Protected Weapon Stations for the Bushranger vehicle.

Mr Medbury pointed out that other key capabilities that improve the effectiveness and survivability of the soldier have also been in the armaments fields. “Some key capability improvements over recent times have been the Javelin anti-tank weapon, Para Minimi weapon, Mk 19 Grenade Launcher and Off-Axis Viewing Device.”

He said the challenges with evolving soldier equipment needs required flexibility in approach as sometimes requirements were difficult to articulate or a specific equipment solution had already been identified. In all cases, everyone is trying to deliver what the ADF requires and adaptability has been a key component. “There are greatly reduced timeframes from requirement to delivery and an increased focus on identifying, managing and clearly articulating the risks.”

For the future, he said industry and DMO needed to evolve the procurement process to cater for various user scenarios and be able to be responsive to the demands. “The future will see the need to collect and integrate data from a range of inputs so that the individual is better informed. This will result in sensors to collect and integrate data, computers to process information, reliable and lightweight power supplies, improvements for endurance and survivability and protection,” Mr Medbury said.