Lightweight torpedo

The Navy's Lightweight Torpedo program has weathered some delays but the new weapon is starting to enter service.
The Navy's new Lightweight Torpedo, the MU90, is coming into service aboard the upgraded Anzac and FFG frigates, but delays in the Seahawk and Super Seasprite helicopter programs have delayed its integration with these platforms.

The Navy is acquiring the Eurotorp MU90 Impact torpedo under JP 2070, one of the first of the DMO's major alliance contracting projects. The new weapon will replace the existing Mk46 torpedo which is currently carried by Navy frigates and helicopters and RAAF AP-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft.

The project has four phases (the last of them as yet unapproved) and has seen the establishment of manufacturing and repair facilities by Thales Underwater Systems in Sydney to both assemble and support RAN weapons and also to manufacture MU90 components for Eurotorp's global customer base.

Phase 1 was the original Project Definition Study which concluded that an alliance contracting approach offered the best way to deal with the risks associated with integrating the MU90 into five separate platforms almost simultaneously.

The Djimindi alliance contract was signed by the DMO and the Australian industry stakeholders, Thales Underwater Systems Pty Ltd and EuroTorp, in 2000. There were originally three sub-partners: ADI Ltd manufactures MU90 components and is carrying out FFG-7 integration as part of its FFG Upgrade contract. CSC will coordinate the integration of the torpedo onto the Seahawk and Super Seasprite helicopters. RLM Systems Pty Ltd was intended to integrate the torpedo onto the RAAF's upgraded AP-3C Orions, but the company has been broken up and Maritime Patrol Aircraft SPO at Edinburgh is now preparing to take over the integration management role.

To integrate the MU90 onto the Anzac frigates the partners formed an "alliance of alliances" - an integrated project team consisting of the ANZAC Alliance (DMO, Tenix Defence and Saab Systems) and the Djimindi Alliance.

The need to integrate the new torpedo with a wide and diverse range of combat platforms meant an alliance approach was the most flexible, efficient and economical way to handle several complex integration programs concurrently. The Djimindi alliance contract was signed by Defence and the Australian industry stakeholders in 2000 and the project is now into the third of four phases.

Phase 1 was a Project Definition Study. Phase 2 has seen initial acquisition of the MU90 from Europe and the integration of the weapon into the RAN's Anzac and upgraded FFG-7 frigates. Thus far four out of eight Anzacs frigates have been upgraded to carry the weapon, with a fifth due for conversion later this year. According to the DMO the FFG integration process is nearly complete as well.

However, integration aboard air platforms is running later than planned. This is due to late delivery of the Super Seasprites - these aircraft are scheduled for final acceptance later this year. And delays in the Seahawk upgrade program have also had a knock-on effect on the MU90 integration. However, the DMO expects integration work on the helicopters to begin this year and all air platform work to be completed by 2009.

This includes work on the RAAF's AP-3C Orions. It was originally planned that this would be done by RLM Systems, but this company has been broken up following successful delivery of the JORN over the horizon radar. According to the DMO the Maritime Patrol Systems Program Office (MPSPO) at Edinburgh, SA, will manage the integration of the MU90 onto the AP-3C on behalf of the JP 2070 Project Office. "The contractual issues associated with this integration are yet to be resolved", ADM was told - it wouldn't be hard to imagine Tenix and Raytheon playing a role as both companies now have contracts to provide in-service support to different elements of the Orion avionics, airframe and mission system.

Phase 2 of the project has also seen the creation of the in-country MU90 Torpedo Final Assembly Facility at TUS's factory in Rydalmere. This will be used to assemble torpedoes acquired in Phases 3 and 4 and to support and upgrade the torpedo through its life of type. TUS is also manufacturing 575 sets of MU90 homing head transducers and electronic boards for European customers under a sole-source contract.

Phase 3 was approved by Minister for Defence Robert Hill in December 2003; the contract, worth an estimated $250 million, was still being negotiated at the time of writing, but was expected to be signed by mid-year. Phase 4 is unapproved.

Slow progress in sorting out the financials for Phase 2 brought the Djimindi Alliance the wrong sort of attention; this was perhaps inevitable given the lack of experience in both industry and Defence of such a contracting model. However, the sheer complexity of acquiring a new weapon and then integrating it onto five different platforms near-concurrently was daunting also.

Now that Phase 2 is in full swing the alliance partners agree the alliance approach has fostered a genuinely collaborative approach and made it possible to deliver this complex project cheaper and faster than would have been impossible with a more traditional business model.

By Gregor Ferguson, Adelaide