The Avalon Airshow edition always makes me somewhat
nostalgic. Back in the heady days of 2007, Avalon was the first major defence
event I attended as an ADM staff writer. Looking back at past Avalon editions
of ADM, the headlines and themes have changed a great deal in only a few short
years. Dragging out my 2005 Avalon edition I saw Tenix winning work for the
EWSP suite on the C-130Hs, the Orions were to retire between 2013-2015 and
Boeing was making sure that Defence knew about the Super Hornet just in case.
In 2007, a competition for a replacement for the Caribou was
being closely fought (I even got a flight on the C-27J that year!), Air 5428
was hoping to see a second pass later that year and Australia was a ‘firm
partner’ in the BAMS program. Fast forward to 2009 and some of the same issues
were still in play – there was concern about JSF pricing and timing, Wedgetail and the MRTT
were making slow but steady progress and training programs under Air 5428 and
HATS were up in the air (but not literally unfortunately).
In 2011, the RAAF celebrated its 90th birthday and said
goodbye to the venerable F-111. Training programs were so close to tender
stage. The Heron RPA was, and continues to, do great work in Afghanistan. Those
in industry were wondering what JSF sustainment would look like in Australia.
And the Caribou might get a replacement!
Now in 2013, the picture is relatively rosy. The squadron of
Super Hornets that were but a twinkle in Boeing’s eye are in service, with 12
to be converted to Growlers and pricing requested for another 24. Wedgetail and
the MRTT are both in service. The Caribou will be replaced with the C-27J. The
JSF is on its rescheduled track and the Orions will fly until the lattter half
of this decade until the P-8A makes an appearance along with BAMS most likely.
Timing, prices and people have changed along the way for
Defence, industry and even ADM. But as Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu said, “If
you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.”
The aviation community has been headed in the same direction
for quite some time and has even reached its destination in some cases: a
technologically advanced RAAF. The journey was not without its toils and
troubles but it was reached none the less and continues in this direction
today. There are some capabilities still
on the journey (pilot training timing is a still a concern) but at least they
are now headed in the right direction. It seems that the longer a program drags
on the more complicated it becomes. The opportunity for scope creep is increased
as the tendency for budgets to decrease multiplies.
Time has wrought many changes on the landscape. As I point
out in the first article in the Air section, the currency fluctuations alone
have wrought much change by themselves. Since the JSF MoU was signed in 2002,
the AUS/US dollar exchange rate has almost doubled. This has played a massive
role in the cost of labour in Australia. Our nation has gone from one of the
cheaper places to do business to one of the most expensive in the collection of
partner nations.
Industry has fought this price increase trend with
innovation and adopting world’s best practice. In some cases, beating world’s
best practice. And most of this innovation has been in the SME space. But it
would be hard to find a successful SME in 2013 that has not moved into adjacent
markets to help deal with the cyclical nature of the Defence environment. Gains
made in one space are being transferred into others with great success.
The forthcoming Industry Innovation Statement from Minister
for Industry and Innovation Greg Combet next month will build on some of the
measures that he helped introduce to Defence for the wider Australian industrial
landscape. I hope that other related departments give them the support they
need to realise these measures. Policies are only useful if they are supported
by all parties.
Defence has a host of government agencies and programs to
help support industry members such as SADI and Defence Industry Innovation
Centre (DIIC) through Enterprise Connect and the DMO. With that in mind, the
DIIC will have a monthly column in ADM to demonstrate what government and
industry can do when they work together effectively.
The evolution of the Australian Defence Force and Defence
industry is a journey of a thousand steps over a long time. Some may even argue
that some of those steps have been backwards depending on the project. It is
good to see them walking forwards in the same direction in 2013 even if their
pockets are somewhat lighter than they would both like. It will force
innovation from both parties to make the best of what they have.
