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Sights
set on UAV squadron
THE
ADF will acquire a squadron of long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicles
(UAVs), most likely the Global Hawk, under the Defence Capability
Plan (DCP) 2004-2014 issued last week.
The initiative will cost between $750 million and $1 billion, up
from $150 million earmarked in the previous DCP.
Defence Minister Robert Hill said the pilotless aircraft would be
used for a wide range of surveillance and intelligence roles from
“border control to maritime and land operations in our region
and beyond”, and in civil tasks such as bushfire spotting.
“The experts tell me that in maritime surveillance, two Global
Hawks will cover the area of five P-3C Orions. So you can get some
idea of the advantages,” he said.
“If you can put an unmanned vehicle up that can travel for
24 hours over huge distances, you can basically have a continual
surveillance capability with a squadron of such aircraft,”
Senator Hill said.
“The success of aircraft such as Global Hawk in operations
over both Iraq and Afghanistan has demonstrated the huge capacity
boost these assets can bring.
“The Global Hawk provides the Air Force and battlespace commanders
with near real-time, high resolution intelligence, surveillance
and reconnaissance imagery.”
He said the Global Hawk had undergone significant upgrades in endurance
and capabilities since it was first demonstrated in Australia in
2001.
“With more fuel, larger payload and enhanced satellite control
and communications, the latest generation of the aircraft has an
even greater potential for high altitude, long endurance operations.”
Australia is working to develop advanced sensors that will be integrated
into the UAV platforms.
Senator Hill said that under the DCP the Air Force would be provided
with the “ability to deliver potent, flexible and decisive
airpower solutions to a greater range of contingencies than ever
before”.
The Air Force is to receive the Joint Strike Fighter – that
will replace the F-111s and F/A-18s to be phased out from 2010 and
2012-2015 respectively – AEW&C aircraft, upgrades to the
F/A-18 Hornet fleet and “enhanced operational and tactical
airlift capabilities”.
The Minister stressed that the new DCP is not a radical change from
the last one, but recognised the new challenges faced by Australia
including the threat of terrorism and the sharpening of Australia’s
responsibilities as an alliance partner of the United States.
“When we send our forces on operations Australians have the
right to expect they are properly equipped and prepared with the
right capabilities to get the job done safely. We owe our troops
nothing less,” he said.
“The release of the plan is another step towards ensuring the
ADF will continue to have the equipment and systems it needs to
do its job.”
The 10-year DCP lists 64 ADF projects with 116 phases valued at
about $50 billion.
The DCP is available online at http://www.defence.gov.au/dmo/id/dcp/dcp.cfm
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View
Video of Global Hawk UAV Operations (4.26Mb)