By Maj John Liston
THE Army’s future amphibious system requirements will be looked at during a computer wargame experiment in Puckapunyal this month.

Headline is the last in a series of five experiments conducted this year by the Army Experimentation Section at the Land Warfare Development Centre (LWDC).

It builds on the Neptune series of experiments to determine the Army’s employment of the RAN’s and Army’s future amphibious platforms.

It will also further explore the MOLE (Manoeuvre Operations in the Littoral Environment) concept.

The two-week experiment will provide the Army with important analytical conclusions about specification requirements for the RAN’s next generation of amphibious vessels in order to support land forces in the littoral environment – where the three operational domains of sea, land and air converge.

According to Maj Rowan Martin, LWDC, the RAN will shortly commence fleet acquisition planning for the Tobruk and LPA replacements and Army decisions need to be made soon.

“Headline will examine realistic scenarios and timelines to effectively employ the amphibious ships and the results will provide significant Army input into the design attributes of the future platforms,” he said.

Headline will wargame operational scenarios using JANUS to identify capabilities required to support land operations ashore in northern Australia and our region under various tidal, climatic and threat conditions.

The conclusions and insights drawn from Headline will be presented to CASAC for consideration.

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