One
of the positive news stories in the wake of the 2012/13 Federal Budget was the announcement
that the RAAF will get 10 Alenia C-27J Spartan battlefield airlifters to
replace the long-retired Caribou.
The Battlefield Airlifter project, Air 8000 Phase 2, was only
dealt with in general terms in the budget summary so, amid project cancellations
and early retirement of platforms, Defence Minister Stephen Smith’s
announcement only days later, came as a welcome surprise.
Making the announcement at the annual Air Power Conference in
Canberra, Minister Smith said, “The acquisition of the 10 C-27J aircraft with
associated support equipment will be conducted through a Foreign Military Sales
(FMS) arrangement with the US at a cost of around $1.4 billion. The first
aircraft are expected to be delivered in 2015 with the Initial Operating Capability
scheduled for the end of 2016.”
The announcement also gave broad details of the sustainment
regime, which in one respect at least, is a significant departure from existing
programs.
“Initial logistic support, including training for aircrew and
maintenance personnel will be provided through the FMS program, utilising the
system that has been established in the US,” it said. “Defence will seek a
separate agreement with the C-27J manufacturer, Alenia, in order to ensure that
RAAF can operate, maintain and modify the aircraft throughout its planned life.”
Project
status
L-3 Communications in the US are the prime contractor for the
supply of the 10 aircraft and initial training and support. As such, they will
receive ‘green’ aircraft from the Alenia Aermacchi assembly line in Turin and
complete them to the same standard as the Joint Cargo Aircraft (JCA) currently
being delivered to the US Air National Guard.
“Effectively the aircraft acquisition cycle has only just
started, so we are at a very elementary stage of our processes,” explained
Group Captain Warren Bishop, Project Director, New Airlift Project Office to ADM. “But the US
Government, through our FMS case, has contracted L-3 Communications to acquire
the 10 C-27J aircraft through Alenia Aermacchi and they are on schedule for
delivery.”
Under the current schedule, the first aircraft will be delivered
to the L-3 JCA facility in Waco, Texas from the manufacturer in Italy in
January 2014 and it is expected to be handed over to the Commonwealth before
August 2014. In fact the first three will have been delivered by December of
that year, so the acquisition timeframe is remarkably short. In fact, the
contract with L-3 calls for the first aircraft to be delivered by 31st
July 2014 and it will then commence Australian crew training in August.
The first three aircraft will be retained in the US after
delivery to the Commonwealth to facilitate the training process, but all
aircraft and crews will be home in Australia by mid-2018. There are currently
no plans to embed Australian air and ground crews with the US Air National
Guard for training, similar to what was done with the rapid Super Hornet and
C-17 acquisition projects, and all initial training will be undertaken by L-3 Communications.
This training will be undertaken in the US, possibly at the US Air Force Warner
Robbins facility in Georgia. The aircraft will be operated by a newly reformed No.35
Squadron and initially based at Richmond. Though a decision on a permanent base
has not yet been made, but Amberley and Townsville are two possibilities.
Air Commodore Gary Martin, Commander Air Lift Group, says that
35 Sqn will be established at Richmond in January 2013 in anticipation of the
training phase of the project.
“The core element will begin work-up with the aim of departing
off-shore during 2014 to conduct their training activities in a similar way to
the way the Super Hornet introduction was achieved,” he advised. “We’ll have the
squadron at Richmond with the training packages established by the end of 2015.”
Initial Operating Capability, which Defence defines as ‘sufficient
aircraft and crews capable of meeting 50 per cent of mature rate of effort
conducting Airlift Support and elements of Airborne Operations with facilities
in place, at least of an interim nature, at the Main Operating Base” will occur
at the end of 2016.
“We’ll progress through Operational Training and Evaluation in
2015, as the Squadron comes back here, getting the loads cleared – the Nary and
all those Special Forces vehicles we can fit inside the aircraft,” AIRCDRE
Martin explains. “We expect 35 Sqn to be deployable probably in the 2016
period.”
For the time being however, the Project Office is busy with the
minutiae of the acquisition process.
“Right now we’re conducting certification activities for
airworthiness. Before we can fly this aeroplane we have to make sure it meets
the Australian Defence organisation’s airworthiness framework. At the present
time we are assessing airworthiness standards the aircraft are operating under
now to make sure they meet ours, and then we have to get the aircraft on the
state register,” GPCAPT Bishop said. “We’re also acquiring spares. Some parts take
a while to manufacture, so we’re assessing those and placing the orders now.”
The rapid nature of the acquisition process (despite being in
the Defence Capability for quite some time) has also meant that an interim
sustainment contract is required. This, and a further contract with Alenia
Aermacchi to assist with sustainment through to Life Of Type, is a little different
to the way sustainment has traditionally been approached and has arguably caused
some confusion among analysts. See our From
the Source interview with Chief of Air Force Air
Marshal Geoff Brown for more on this issue.
Sustaining
the Spartan
An interim three-year Through Life Support contract is required
to sustain the C-27J capability due to the short acquisition process and will
eventually be superseded by a long-term logistics support contract. GPCAPT
Bishop says there are opportunities for Australian companies to participate in
both processes.
“The expectation is to have an interim sustainment process in
place while we deal with the long-term Total Logistics Support process,” he
explains. “That initial TLS contract will see L-3, under contract to the US Government;
engage a supplier to sustain the aircraft in the US and Australia – whether it’s
they personally or another supplier.”
However the ultimate decision will be made on a value for money
basis.
“If an Australian supplier in the interim three year solution
does not provide value for money, then we’ll expect them (L-3) to find an alternative,”
he warned. “But we’ve encouraged them to find an Australian supplier.”
The interim contract will deliver both sustainment and training
for air and ground crews and, because an Australian solution for the main TLS
contract is desired, the engagement of an interim TLS contractor will allow
time for this to be fully developed.
“The rapid nature of this acquisition and the time it takes to
put a long-term contract in place means we need the FMS process to deliver a
solution and we need that solution straight away,” GPCAPT Bishop added. “The
initial cadre of air and ground crew training is being done in the US by the
contractor. At the end of the day we would prefer an Australian solution for the
long-term TLS, but any solution must be value for money.”
In addition to the two sustainment contracts, Defence announced
a contract with Alenia last June to provide the ability to ‘compete and
sub-licence third parties, including Australian Industry, to provide the
maintenance services, training services and the ability to modify the C-27J capability.
The contract, valued at around $64 million will allow the Commonwealth access
to technical data and intellectual property through to Life Of Type.
“This is actually an unprecedented outcome for us, compared with
other platforms we have acquired in the past,” detailed GPCAPT Bishop to ADM. “We’re expecting
to engage with Alenia, through DSTO, to complete a structural substantiation
program on the wing and centre fuselage.”
DSTO expects to collaborate with Alenia to perform the
structural substantiation, or full-scale fatigue, testthrough to the end of the
Spartan’s operational career.
“The contract with Alenia is for access to intellectual property
and technical data which is not available from either L-3 or the US Air Force,”
GPCAPT Bishop said. “That’s access to technical and proprietary data for the
baseline aircraft and the structural substantiation program enables us to
access review the aircraft’s Life Of Type for Australian service.”
Acquisition
process
The announcement that the C-27J would be acquired via the FMS
route and not sourced directly from Alenia Aermacchi has raised some eyebrows,
particularly given the uncertainties facing the US JCA program at the present
time.
The US Air National Guard is, for the time being at least,
continuing to operate the C-27J and it most recently saw service in the relief
efforts associated with Hurricane Sandy. However the US Government is expected
to announce the future of the JCA program during 2013.
The FMS process is only for acquisition and initial sustainment
and training however and does not cover support and sustainment through to Life
Of Type.
“We have always expected, irrespective of whether the USAF
continues to operate it or not, to operate the C-27J on our own,” GPCAPT Bishop
confirmed.
Another advantage of the FMS process is that the Australian
C-27J configuration will be, for all intents and purposes, identical to that of
the JCA, so it is essentially a Military Off The Shelf purchase.
“The acquisition has endured some visibility, but from my
perspective – as someone who is responsible for acquiring the aircraft and
delivering it to Air Force to operate – I believe that this project is eminently
achievable and is going to meet the requirements we’ve set out for it,” GPCAPT Bishop
concluded. “I perceive this as a success story which is not much different from
the Super Hornet or C-17. Every aerospace program has risk, but there are no
significant risks I foresee which would impact on its delivery. I think there is
a good news story here.”
