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SIGHTS SET: US sailors keep their eyes on the job in the Aegis (air warfare system) Operations room of a US Navy destroyer.
Photo: Courtesy of DSTO, Melbourne |
Volume 49, No. 16 , September 07, 2006
DSTO is playing a key role in supporting one of Australia’s largest and most complex Defence projects, the $6 billion SEA 4000 Air Warfare Destroyer (AWD) Program.
The three state-of-the-art ships will provide a cost effective and flexible leap in Navy’s air warfare capability.
The three AWDs will replace the Navy’s FFGs, and will provide anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare capabilities, as well as the ability to embark a helicopter at sea.
DSTO’s support to the AWD Program ranges from high-level operations analysis through to technical analysis of systems. A complex project like this requires expertise from a number of DSTO divisions.
To date, seven DSTO divisions have been supporting the AWD Program through studies and advice in a diverse range of areas covering:
platform sciences, including susceptibility, vulnerability, recoverability and crewing;
capability and combat system analysis studies, including human systems integration advice for the program;
undersea warfare, including torpedo, torpedo defence and mine warfare advice for the platform;
analysis of electronic warfare systems and radar systems, which is critical to the understanding of the capabilities of Aegis (air warfare system);
missiles, particularly the Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM) and Standard Missile 2 (SM2);
tracking and data integration issues;
■ communications systems; and
■ Chemical, Biological and Radiological (CBR) protection.
In the long term, DSTO will focus on optimising the capabilities of the AWD.
“This requires us to critically examine our modelling and simulation capabilities to support the project. One option we are investigating is further expansion of the Maritime Experimentation Laboratory to incorporate a flexible, appropriate fidelity representation of the AWD”, said David Kershaw, DSTO S&T Adviser to the AWD Program.
“We are here for the long haul. This will be the cornerstone ship for the Navy for the next 40 years, and we are committed to supporting Navy to maximise operational effectiveness, and minimise through-life costs,” said Mr Kershaw.
