C3I: The combat system which worked... | ADM Nov 06

1 November 2006

By Gregor Ferguson

A key contributor to the success of the ANZAC Ship Project was the combat system.

Almost nobody expected the frigates' combat system to operate correctly when it was first delivered - but Saab confounded the sceptics.

ADM's September 1994 edition noted that large-scale, complex defence software programs had always run late to that point (in some cases several years late).

Judging by the experience of major UK and US naval projects during the 1980s, the ANZAC Ship combat system program was not expected to be an exception to this rule.

Well, it was.

The 9LV 453 Mk 3 Combat Management System (CMS) for the ANZAC Ship was delivered on time by an Australian company, Saab Systems Pty Ltd, and worked first time.

Blohm + Voss offered three combat system options, including the Swedish 9LV Mk3 from Bofors Electronics AB (now Saab Systems AB), as part of its initial proposal for the ANZAC frigate design.

Bofors was reportedly not the preferred vendor at first, but was able to demonstrate combat systems basically identical to that required for the ANZACs which were already in service or under development for three Scandinavian navies.

This was enough to convince Blohm + Voss and then the Commonwealth that Saab had a credible, low-risk solution based on experience of complex Ada-based software systems which couldn't be matched at the price.

One of the key features of Saab's 9LV Mk3, according to the present managing director of Saab Systems Pty Ltd, Merv Davis, was its enduring architectural principles that easily integrate third party COTS and MOTS systems and applications, several years before the term 'Open Architecture' came into vogue.

This mattered to the RAN: while the ANZAC Ship was conceived as a Tier 3 combatant, it needed a simple upgrade path to Tier 1 status through the addition of extra sensors and weapons and upgrades to the CMS.

Equally important, much of the inherent risk in developing the combat system was eliminated by the re-use of architecture elements and code already tested and proven for the Royal Danish Navy.

This created a comfort zone for the RAN which, for the first time, was to become the 'parent' navy for a new class of warship, with nobody to turn to should problems arise with the ship design, machinery or, as seemed most likely, the combat system.

The competing industry consortia were responsible for selecting the combat system for their proposed ship designs, so AMECON and its software and systems engineering partner CSC Pty Ltd studied the costs, risks and user requirements carefully before making their choice.

In August 1990 AMECON awarded Saab Systems Pty Ltd (then Bofors Electronics Australia Pty Ltd) the $310 million contract to provide 10 ship sets of command and control and fire control systems along with target indication and fire control radars for the ships.

Saab Systems established itself in Adelaide, alongside CSC's defence division, in 1990.

The Combat Management System (CMS) was required to embody over 140 separate system functions.

That required some 1.3 million lines of Ada code.

About 70 per cent of this had already been developed for the Danish 9LV Mk3 system and so could be used unchanged.

Another 250,000 lines had to be modified in Australia and a further 150,000 lines written from scratch by Saab with CSC as the principal subcontractor in Adelaide to support new, Australian-unique functionality: Link 11, the Sea Sparrow missile, the SPS-49 radar, the Sperion B hull-mounted sonar and the Racal (now Thales) Sceptre ESM system.

It took three months to install the CMS aboard HMAS ANZAC, and when it was booted up - ahead of schedule - for the ship's sea trials it worked first time.

Since HMAS ANZAC first put to sea, the basic CMS has been upgraded, as originally planned, to accommodate a range of capability enhancements; the Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile, Harpoon missile, Petrel Mine and Obstacle Avoidance Sonar (MOAS), Nulka anti-ship missile decoy system and the MU90 Impact lightweight torpedo.

Further enhancements in the pipeline will enable the CMS to handle Link 16, the ADF's Variable Message Format, and the CEA-Far active phased array rader.

That last suite of enhancements will be implemented during the ANZAC Anti-Ship Missile Defence (ASMD) upgrade, which will see also the introduction of the new Type IV console using the COTS Windows Embedded XP operating system with a fibre optic LAN and higher data processing capacity to handle the traffic between the upgraded sensor suite and the new weapons.

In July 2006 HMAS Perth was delivered with a Mk3E Combat Management System, the precursor to the ASMD configuration.

So what went right?

According to Merv Davis, there were several keys to success: re-using proven software code and architectures - in its day a novel and sophisticated approach to system development; a pragmatic management approach which resulted in good relations between all the key players; a knowledgeable customer; well-defined user requirements resulting in simple and achievable solutions; and the establishment of the Land Based Test Site (LBTS) at Williamstown dockyard to carry out test and integration prior to installing the CMS on the ships.

For Saab Systems the ANZAC Ship project was the initial building block for steady growth over the next 16 years: last year it was 9th in ADM's Top 40 listing of Australian defence contractors, turning over some $177 million and employing about 300 people.

The company won the prime contract for the Army's AUSTACSS command support system, which evolved into the current Battlefield Command Support System; and it plays a leading role in the C2 system supporting the Army's RBS70 surface-air missile capability.

Saab Systems is a strong contender for the prized role of Combat System Supplier and Integrator for the Navy's amphibious landing ship (LHD) program.

A development of the 9LV CMS system would be ideal for the LHDs, Davis told ADM, and with a restricted budget this program would benefit from a locally supported system that can be upgraded cost effectively through-life as requirements change.

It certainly has the skills and competencies required for this role, says Davis, along with an intimate understanding of the training and systems engineering and support synergies available from aligning with the upgraded ANZACs.

Further on, Saab Systems' relation with Canberra-based CEA Technologies is extremely important, Davis says.

The latter's CEA-Far radar is a likely contender to equip the ANZACs under the ASMD upgrade and, along with the 9LV Mk3E CMS developed in Australia, is the baseline sensor/combat system package for the Blohm + Voss (now Thyssen Krupp Marine Systems) Meko D frigate design.

There is probably no better sensor/CMS package available anywhere in the world at the price, which is a tribute to the Australians responsible and the work they have done to support the ANZAC Ship.