Intensive trials spread across five weeks and three linked exercises have honed the capabilities of the first integrated amphibious landing force to be embarked on the first of the RAN’s two 27,500 tonne Landing Helicopter Docks (LHDs).
Julian Kerr | Sydney
Exercise Sea Horizon was formulated to enable embarked elements of the 650-strong Amphibious Ready Element (ARE), largely drawn from Townsville-based 2RAR, to familiarise themselves with HMAS Canberra.
Subsequent increases in tempo in Exercises Sea Explorer and Sea Raider were aimed at the combination of the ARE and HMAS Canberra achieving certification of Initial Operating Capability (IOC) as a force able to undertake humanitarian and disaster relief (HADR) and civilian evacuation operations in a permissive environment.
This was a vital precursor to training for more complex tasks, including security and stability operations in an uncertain environment.
The ultimate objective remains the achievement as part of the 2017 joint Australian-US Talisman Sabre exercise of Full Operational Capability (FOC) for a 2,000-strong Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) comprising 2RAR and supporting elements of artillery, armour, helicopters, logistics and other specialised personnel.
Both HMAS Canberra and her sister ship HMAS Adelaide will be needed to transport the full ARG and FOC would encompass both ships with integrated
Tiger armed reconnaissance and MRH90 Taipan medium-lift helicopters, the 16,190 tonne Landing Ship Dock (LSD) HMAS Choules, and acknowledgement of a demonstrably high level of allied (read US Marine Corps) interoperability.
"The intention was to make every soldier and every member of the landing force proficient at moving from the ship to the shore both by day and by night."
Plans to include HMAS Canberra in Talisman Sabre 2015 were dropped due to the ship’s delayed delivery and instead 250 ARE troops from 2RAR were embarked on HMAS Choules to participate in a beach landing operation southwest of Darwin.
For Captain Jay Bannister RAN, Commander Amphibious Task Force, this represented an opportunity as much as a setback.
“From Navy’s point of view it provided time for HMAS Canberra to get itself settled down, and for the ARE landing force it represented valuable experience building towards the Sea series of exercises and utilising the LHD’s much greater capability”, he commented.
From 31 August to 4 September Canberra participated in Operation Joint Strike 2015, an inaugural Amphibious Task Group (ATG) joint fires exercise conducted at the Beecroft Weapons Range near Jervis Bay.
This involved sustained 5-inch counter-battery fire from the Anzac class frigate HMAS Stuart, an Army 81mm mortar section, and airstrikes by an RAAF Hawk 127 lead-in fighter.
The successful validation of joint fires procedures between the Supporting Arms Coordination Centre (SACC) from the ATG joint headquarters, 2RAR’s Joint Fires Effects Coordination Centre (JFECC), and RAAF ground liaison personnel meant the way has now been cleared for the start of ATG joint fires training.
The first phase of Exercise Sea Horizon saw the ARE, a number of Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) personnel and several Australian Federal Police officers – standard participants in ADF humanitarian, disaster relief and civilian evacuation operations – spend two weeks at sea off the north Queensland coast familiarising themselves with Canberra’s accommodation and muster areas, its joint operations room and equipment, and practicing communications procedures.
A Royal Australian Navy landing craft from HMAS Canberra approaches Cowley Beach, North Queensland, during Exercise Sea Raider. Credit: Defence
This period also saw the gradual workup of the four embarked MRH90 medium lift helicopters from 808 Squadron. This involved approach techniques, deck landings, hot and cold refuel training and multiple spot formation departure and recoveries, increasing to aviation combat team-level operations that tested integration with whole-of-ship activities.
The LHD then returned to Townsville where Phase 2 saw the ARE disembarked and later reembarked, together with the loading of equipment that included ASLAVs, Bushmaster protected mobility vehicles, bulldozers and trucks.
As part of Exercise Sea Explorer, the ship then made its way back to the Cowley Beach training area for intensive training on moving land force troops and vehicles either over the beach by the ship’s four 56-tonne LCM-1E landing craft, or onto the landing zone by MRH90.
“The intention was to make every soldier and every member of the landing force proficient at moving from the ship to the shore both by day and by night,” Lieutenant-Colonel Michael Bassingthwaite, Commander Landing Force and Commanding Officer of 2RAR explained to ADM.
“We break down the landing force into several basic components, starting with the pre-landing element of about 70 soldiers including surveillance, snipers and small boats,” LTCOL Bassingthwaite explained.
“Then there’s the ground combat element of about 250 soldiers; the rotary wing element of four Taipans and 70-80 personnel; the combat support element of about 80; plus about 150 others made up of integrated staff, a maritime operations health unit, a maritime survey element and a few other capabilities.”
Although the ARE was the baseline landing force capability and including command and control elements was currently about 625 strong, the Order of Battle was being tested and would be progressed to create a single-ship embarked force of around 1,000 although this would be scalable, LTCOL Bassingthwaite said.
The 2,000-strong ARG scheduled for 2017 would be based on the two LHDs supported by HMAS Choules. There was no current intention to include the M113AS4 armoured personnel carrier in ATGplanning.
The concluding Exercise Sea Raider saw the landing force undertake full mission rehearsals ashore of humanitarian, disaster relief and non-combatant evacuation scenarios, the reported success of which was expected to lead to IOC as ADM went to press.
Although the LCM-1Es can carry a cargo of slightly more than their own weight over 192 nautical miles (352 km), ship to shore transfers to Cowley beach were no more than five or six nautical miles and were carried out in benign conditions.
Problems experienced during MRH90 first-of-class trials aboard Canberra, where wind conditions made it difficult to quickly start and stop the rotors, appear to have been overcome; LTCOL Bassingthwaite reported 75 per cent availability with a rate of effort of up to 10 hours a day, and four landing spots in concurrent use.
First of class flight trials for the Tiger ARH will be conducted in the first six months of next year, with first of class flight trials for Army’s new CH-47F Chinooks being undertaken in the second half of the year, CAPT Bannister disclosed.
Should NUSHIP Adelaide be delivered late this year as anticipated, her workup will take place in the first half of 2016.
Canberra will participate in next year’s RIMPAC in June and July where she will conduct interoperability trials with US Marine Corps capabilities including the V-22 Osprey tiltrotor, the Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC) and the Landing Craft Utility (LCU).
At the conclusion of RIMPAC Canberra is to be the centre of a major exercise testing the capability of a full embarked force on a single ship in an uncertain security environment, CAPT Bannister said.
HMAS Adelaide will then enter the regional stage, carrying a second embarked force to the biennial Croix du Sud multinational military exercise organised by the French armed forces in New Caledonia.