As the Royal Australian Air Force prepares to deploy a number of its Pilatus PC-21s to New Zealand to train Joint Terminal Attack Controllers (JTAC), Defence is planning to replace the aircraft in that role with an off the shelf solution.
The PC-21 was acquired under Air 5428 Phase 1 (Pilot Training System) from 2017 and four were subsequently allocated to 4 Sqn at Williamtown for the JTAC training role. However, Defence now says the aircraft is at best only “80 per cent effective” in the role, as it is unable to carry live ordnance.
“The unmodified PC-21, as delivered to the Pilot Training System under Air 5428, can satisfy up to 80 per cent of JTAC training system live-fly requirements, however does not have the ability to provide the live weapons passes needed to complete initial, currency, and proficiency training,” a Defence spokesperson told ADM.
Accordingly, Defence has raised Project Air 6016 (Joint Terminal Attack Control System), which it says will deliver a sovereign training system to ensure the sustainable generation of sufficient and appropriately skilled JTACs.
“A live-fly capability, delivered by a fixed-wing airborne platform is essential in achieving this outcome,” Defence said.
A Request for Information (RFI) for the desired capability was released to industry in July, with a closing date for responses of 11 August. Defence, however has yet to decide between a Contractor Owned/Contractor Operated (COCO) or Contractor Owned/Government Operated (COGO) model of acquisition under a Supplied Services Contract (SSC) for Air 6016.
Air 6016 is seeking an existing/off the shelf turboprop or turbofan aircraft with “specific technologies and functionality, capable of addressing JTAC training outcomes.”
The platform being sought is required to have at least two UHF/VHF radios and the ability to exchange tactical data (voice and data) with JTACs via Link 16 and Variable Message Format (VMF) and capable of broadcasting Full Motion Video (FMV) imagery via Video Downlink (VDL). It is also required to have an Electro-optical/Infra-Red (EO/IR) sensor capable of capturing FMV, in addition to the ability to track and mark surface targets using a Laser Spot Tracker (LST) and be fully certified to operate with Night Vision Imaging Systems (NVIS).
Desired performance is a cruise speed of 180 knots at 5,000 ft and an on-station endurance of at least one and a half hours at that altitude. It is desired to have a maximum range of at least 600 nautical miles, a maximum operating altitude of 25,000 ft and a load limit factor of at least +4/-1.5 G.
Air 6016 was included in the 2020 Defence Integrated Investment Plan and Defence says the budget will be “sufficient to address the various options being assessed”. It is seeking the services be supplied for an initial five years.
“The project has identified a number of options which take into account the needs of the JTAC training system balanced against the competing demands on limited Defence resources,” the Defence spokesperson told ADM.
“To help develop these options, the project has released an RFI seeking defence industry input regarding technologies that may be available to either incrementally improve the JTAC training system, or to be a solution that can deliver the required training system outcomes, while continuing to modernise the JTAC training system to adapt to the evolving threat environment.”
The spokesperson said the initial five-year period has been deemed a suitable compromise between Defence’s capability needs and the commercial needs of industry.
“The Air 6016 solution will provide a holistic solution, including live weapon drop, and will likely see the PC-21 aircraft currently used in JTAC training released back to the Pilot Training System,” the spokesperson added.