Defence: Programs

Senator Johnston asked the Minister representing the Minister for Defence, upon notice, on 18 March 2009:

1. Can details be provided of programs discontinued or to be discontinued in 2009 and 2010, including the total amount appropriated for each during the life of the program.
2. Can details be provided of the $7.4 billion worth of projects that have been delayed or deferred since 1 December 2007, including: (a) when these projects are expected to be delivered; (b) the reasons for the delay in the delivery of these projects; and (c) the value of each of these delayed or deferred projects.

Senator Faulkner - The Minister for Defence has provided the following answer to the honourable senator's question:

1. On 2 March 2009, the Government announced that it had decided not to proceed to the next partnership phase of the United States Navy Broad Area Maritime Surveillance program.  Accordingly, Project AIR 7000 Phase 1B - Multi-Mission Unmanned Aerial System, which received First Pass approval in July 2006 at a current approved project cost of $4.121 million has been deferred.  No other approved projects have been discontinued in 2009.
2. The Defence Materiel Organisation has conducted two cash reprogramming exercises for projects that comprise the Approved Major Capital Investment Program (AMCIP) since December 2007. The first such exercise underpinned the 2008-09 Budget Estimates and the second underpinned the 2008-09 Additional Estimates.  Project expenditure plans for 2008-09 were reduced by a total of $1,857 million and reprogrammed into later years. The total adjustment to project expenditure plans across the four years to the end of the Forward Estimates period was a net decrease of $53 million in real terms.
   
   The total value of AMCIP projects for which a change to anticipated achievement of the Initial Operational Capability for its deliverables identified since December 2007 is $6.8 billion. The projects, reasons for the delays and project values are contained in the table below.
   
   

   Project No	Project Name	Revised Initial Operational Capability (IOC)	Delay Comment	Project Value ($m)
   AIR 5077 Phase 3	Airborne Early Warning and Control System	December 2011	Technical problems with radar and electronic support measures subsystems and integrated system performance.	3999.262
   AIR 5276 Phase 8B	AP-3C Electronic Support Measure Upgrade Project	September 2012	Protracted contract negotiations.	127.226
   AIR 5402	Air-To-Air Refuelling	Mid-late 2010	Prime Contractor delays associated with the design, installation and testing of the new aerial refuelling and military avionics systems.	1997.438
   JP 2077 Phase 2B.1	Military Integrated Logistics Information System	October 2009	Contractor delays due to poor quality processes and project management.	128.004
   JP 2077 Phase 2B.2	ADF Deployable Logistics System	2012	As a consequence of issues with Phase 2B.1 delivery, Defence has suspended negotiations with contractor until successful delivery of core Phase 2B.1 software.	92.786
   JP 2085 Phase 1B	EO Reserve Stocks	2009/10 (for Excalibur)	Deliveries of Excalibur Precision Guided Munitions have been delayed while awaiting the finalisation of tests and trials to allow full material release. Partial deliveries in 2008-09 will allow full certification and introduction into service to be completed by 2009-10.	214.341
   JP 5408 Phase 2B	GPS Enhancement For ADF Platforms	LAND – November 2011 AIR – January 2012 SEA – October 2010	The IOC dates for all platforms have slipped due to delays in the US development program.	62.711
   SEA 1401 Phase 3	Survey Motor Launch Upgrade	11 August 2009	IOC (first upgraded Survey Motor Launch) deferred by 10  weeks due to two-week Commonwealth induced postponement (documentation review) and eight-week excusable delay arising out of unforeseen requirement for full crew safety audit / training period to be conducted.  Defence examining options to minimise impact on overall schedule and Final Operational Capability.	63.92
   JP 129 Phase 2	Airborne Surveillance for Land Operations	New IOC under development	Cancellation of the acquisition and in-service support contracts with the contractor in 2008 has delayed the introduction of this capability.  Defence has since conducted an initial analysis of alternative Tactical Unmanned Air Vehicle systems, and finalising its review of the essential criteria that will be utilised to shortlist candidate systems for detailed consideration. Following this analysis, a new IOC will be set.	147.026

    

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