Land Warfare - Land 53: Ninox: Seeing in the dark | ADM Oct 08

The night fighting and surveillance equipment under Land 53 Project Ninox has been a long time coming thanks to various delays but the various technologies delivered under multiple phases are slowly making their way into service. Some though, are not.
Julian Kerr

Project Ninox was named after the Powerful Owl, a bird found only in Australia and said to be a particularly large and aggressive member of its genus.

Intended to replicate the sensory qualities of its feathered namesake, Land 53 Project Ninox was to introduce a range of night fighting and ground-based surveillance capabilities to the Australian Defence Force (ADF).

This included infantry night fighting equipment, thermal surveillance systems, ground surveillance radar, and unattended ground sensors.

Fifteen years after the approval of Phase 1B for the acquisition of night fighting equipment (NFE), compliance failures and evolving requirements mean some elements of the original project remain incomplete.

Phase IB was originally expected to involve about 35,000 items in all – night vision goggles, night weapon sights, night aiming devices, sniper night sights fitted to personal weapons, and infra-red markers.

Cost was estimated at $150-$200 million in the 2001-2010 Defence Capability Plan (DCP) although this estimate broadened to $150-$250 million in the 2004-2014 DCP.

Defence says that all capabilities of NFE except the sniper night sight elements have now been delivered and provide a significant capability edge over opposition forces.

A restricted tender for the sniper night sights was won in 2004 by Norway’s Simrad Optronics with an improved version of its clip-on KN200 laser product.

This was intended for army’s Accuracy International AW-50F 12.7mm anti-material rifles, Accuracy International SR-98 7.62mm anti-personnel rifles, and a small number of Barrett 12.7mm 82A1M understood to be in service with the Special Air Service Regiment (SASR).

However the contract was terminated in 2006 due to compliance failure against the contracted specification.

This phase of the project is now closed and the way forward for the sniper night sight is being reviewed.

Perimeter surveillance equipment worth about $10 million for Phase 1C was supplied by ADI (now Thales Australia) in the late 1990s.

A $36 million contract under Project Ninox Phase 1D to provide thermal sights for army’s AS1 Leopard main battle tanks, signed with Thales Optronics in 2002, was subsequently terminated following the 2004 decision to replace the Leopards with the Abrams M1A1.

Approval to proceed with Phase 1E and acquire ground surveillance radars (GSR) to provide an all-weather target detection and classification capability at ranges up to at least 35 km was received in 2000.

Sixty-one units of the Racal Electronics Australian Manportable Surveillance and Target Acquisition (AMSTAR) radar, an improved variant of the MSTAR Doppler radar in service with the British Army, were purchased under a contract worth $62 million.

The AMSTAR, which can be carried by two soldiers and operated by one, also provides an indirect all-weather, day/night target acquisition and fire-adjustment capability for artillery observers.

Described by Defence as “technically challenging”, the GSR project was completed within budget in 2005.

25 GSR were to be fitted to the ASLAV-S reconnaissance variant via a retractable mast located in the rear of the vehicle’s hull. However, it is understood that no AMSTAR-equipped ASLAV-S are yet in service although trials continue.

Under Project Ninox Phase 1F, delivery of 186 Thermal Surveillance Systems (TSS) was completed by Thales Optronics in 2003 at a cost of $39.5 million.

They provide the ADF with a 24-hour short to medium-range target detection and recognition capability that can operate through battlefield dust and smoke.

The system consists of a Thales Sophie thermal imager, and a Simrad Optronics LP10TL target location device which provides target coordinates and fire-correction data.

The system also includes a laser rangefinder and an angulation head to provide a total target location capability.

TSS have been issued to infantry battalions together with special forces, reconnaissance and surveillance units and indirect fire observers.

Although the original order was for 186 TSS, Defence says more than 200 systems have been acquired and the final 15 will be in-service by December.

Under Phase 2B, unattended ground sensors (UGS) were sought to provide near real-time information of target activity at remote sites.

These were to comprise a sensor suit of acoustic, seismic, magnetic, infra-red and electro-optical devices to detect aircraft, watercraft, vehicles and personnel and transmit data to monitor sites remote from the detection string.

The first stage sought to develop a system for test and evaluation, with the production stage dependant on the outcome of Stage 1.

A $35 million contract was signed with Textron Systems Corporation in August 2001 for its Optical Acoustic Satcom Integrated Sensor system.

Each system was to monitor up to 10 surveillance sites for at least 30 days without requiring maintenance.

According to a Defence spokesperson, it was decided not to proceed to Stage 2 because of the probably high cost of production and through-life support, technical immaturity of the equipment, and the developmental system’s inability to meet testing requirements.

The spokesperson also referred to likely equipment obsolescence, high integration risks, and Defence’s evolving (UGS) requirements.

Although Phase 2B continues to be under review, no information has been released on revised requirements or schedule.