Australian Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

Jura said:

Ship-building: the riddle of Australian steel
March 23, 2018

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entertaining

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BAE Systems Australia will partner separately with each of BlueScope and Liberty OneSteel for the supply of more than 48,000 tons of Australian steel, should the company be selected to build nine Future Frigates as part of the Federal Government’s SEA 5000 program.

BAE Systems is offering its Global Combat Ship-Australia for SEA 5000, a variant of the Type 26 Anti Submarine Warship that is currently being manufactured in the UK.

If BAE’s design is selected, the total value of this contract, which is expected to be awarded by the federal government in April or May, is AU$35 billion (approximately US$27.4 billion).

As informed, Liberty OneSteel will provide structural steel sections for the Future Frigates from its Whyalla facility, as well as products for 4,000 tons of structural steel for shipbuilding infrastructure, including cradles and other fixtures.

Liberty OneSteel will also have the opportunity to provide processing, fabrication and welding in the Whyalla supply chain prior to delivery.

In addition, BlueScope will potentially provide plate steel which will be manufactured at its facility in Port Kembla, NSW.

“For SEA 5000 we are committed to building the Future Frigates in Australia using Australian suppliers at every opportunity. This includes maximising the use of Australian steel on the program. We are proud to support the Australian steel industry throughout our business and will grow that support if we are successful on SEA 5000,” Gabby Costigan, BAE Systems Australia Chief Executive, commented.

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Australian warships were challenged by the Chinese military in the disputed South China Sea earlier this month, the Australian Broadcasting Corp reported on Friday, citing Australian defence officials.

The Australian Defence Department confirmed that three ships had recently travelled to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam but declined to comment on “operational details related to ships transiting the South China Sea”.

The ABC cited one official saying the exchanges with the Chinese navy were polite but “robust”.

“The Australian Defence Force has maintained a robust programme of international engagement with countries in and around the South China Sea for decades,” the Defence Department said in a statement emailed to Reuters.

China recently completed a massive military drill in the South China Sea, where its claims are hotly disputed by Vietnam as well as the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, in London for the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting, also declined to confirm the interaction between the Australian warships and the Chinese military, Fairfax media reported.

“As they have done for many decades, Australian vessels and aircraft will continue to exercise rights under international law to freedom of navigation and overflight, including in the South China Sea,” the Defence Department said.

China’s construction of islands and military facilities in the South China Sea, through which some $3 trillion in trade passes annually, has sparked concerns Beijing is seeking to restrict free movement and extend its strategic reach.

The United States has conducted “freedom of navigation patrols” through the South China Sea, stoking tensions with China which says it will protect its sovereignty.

The Australian navy ships Anzac, Toowoomba and Success are on a three-month deployment in South East Asia, which will involve exercises with a number of countries in the region, the Defence Department said in a separate statement on April 17.

The Toowoomba sailed to Vietnam from Malaysia, while the other two Australian warships went through the South China Sea from Subic Bay in the Philippines.

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Jura said:

in case you didn't know Australian Destroyer Will be First Foreign Warship to Install Raytheon’s Cooperative Engagement Capability

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The Australian Defence Force’s ability to defeat enemy air threats has been boosted with the successful testing of the new Cooperative Engagement Capability, the first use of this cutting edge technology by a nation outside the United States.

Over the past few weeks off the coast of South Australia, Air Warfare Destroyers HMAS Hobart, and NUSHIP Brisbane, successfully tested the Cooperative Engagement Capability, which combines radar and fire control data into a common picture, allowing one ship to engage an adversary based on the other ship’s data. Cooperative Engagement Capability is one technology that will form a part of the Australian Joint Integrated Fires Capability being implemented in the Australian Defence Force.

Minister for Defence, Senator the Hon Marise Payne, congratulated the Royal Australian Navy and the Air Warfare Destroyer Alliance on reaching this important milestone.

“The new Cooperative Engagement Capability is a significant step-change for Australia as we face increasing threats from cruise missiles and advanced aircraft,” Minister Payne said.

“Together Hobart and Brisbane bring revolutionary air defence capabilities – not by adding new radars or weapon systems, but by utilising existing sensors and weapons in a more effective manner.

“In the coming years, the Australian Joint Integrated Fires capability will link our ships, aircraft and land-based assets to create an increasingly sophisticated air defence network that can see over the horizon.”

“Not only does this capability enable us, for the first time, to share targeting data in real time between ADF assets, it will also enable us to share it with United States assets, providing new levels of interoperability within a coalition force.

“Australia is the first international partner outside the United States to gain access to this cutting-edge technology, further demonstrating the strong alliance between our two countries.

“This new capability will provide Australian and United States warships the ability to share targeting data in real time. This means a combat system can engage a target that it otherwise could not see, by using data from another warship’s sensors,” Minister Payne said.

The Australian Government is planning to integrate the CEC into other ADF capabilities, including the E-7A Wedgetail aircraft and our Integrated Air and Missile Defence program.

The CEC will also be integrated into the Future Frigate’s Aegis combat management system together with the Saab Australia developed interface and the CEAFAR phased array radar, as part of our strategic enterprise approach to combat management systems. This technology will provide the ADF with longer range, cooperative and layered air defence.

“When NUSHIP Brisbane joins her sister ship, HMAS Hobart, in the fleet later this year, it will mark the beginning of a new era for air defence in Australia and our partners,” Minister Payne said.

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Jura said:

in case you didn't know Trump to nominate Adm. Harry Harris for Australian ambassadorshipsource is DefenseNews

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Australia’s prime minister said Wednesday that the commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific, Adm. Harry Harris, will not become Washington’s next ambassador to Australia and

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instead.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said he was disappointed but not perturbed by the decision, which he learned about earlier this week.

President Donald Trump had nominated Harris in February to become

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.

“I’m disappointed that Harry’s not coming because he’s a really good friend and I think Harry will be disappointed that he’s not coming to Canberra too because he loves Australia,” Turnbull told reporters in France.

“He is a guy of enormous experience and ability and given the situation on the Korean Peninsula, given the tensions there, I can well understand why the president has decided that the admiral’s expertise and experience is going to be able to be put to better use in Korea than in Australia.”

South Korea has been without an American ambassador for more than one year.

In Seoul, South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said Wednesday that Seoul and Washington have been cooperating to fill the post, but stopped short of confirming Harris’ reported nomination.

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said she was informed Tuesday of the decision by Acting U.S. Secretary of State John Sullivan, who had made clear that the appointment of a new ambassador to Australia would be a priority for the next secretary of state.

The United States has not had an ambassador in Australia since John Berry, president of the American Australian Association, left the post in September 2016.

Andrew Shearer, a former Australian government security adviser and now an adviser on Asia-Pacific security at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the change of ambassador plans made Australia appear to be a second-class ally of the United States.

“Australia really ... is ... a collateral casualty here to the shambolic practices of the Trump administration,” Shearer told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.

“I don’t think there’s anything sinister to it. I think it’s much more typical of the ad hoc, moment-to-moment decision making of this particular administration,” he added.

Bishop noted past appointments for U.S. ambassador to Australia took time.

In the meantime, Charge d’Affaires Jim Caruso will continue to act in the role.

Opposition defense spokesman Richard Marles said the sooner Australia gets a new U.S. ambassador the better.

“We’re close friends, I don’t think anyone is taking offence,” Marles told Sky News television.

Former government minister and current Australian War Memorial director Brendan Nelson said while he wouldn’t describe it as a snub, the United States should have proper representation in Australia.

“I say to President Trump and those who are advising him: we need an ambassador, we deserve an ambassador and we’d like one soon,” Nelson said.

Former Deputy Prime Minister and diplomat Tim Fischer said the delay in appointing an ambassador to Australia reflected its low priority in Washington.

“Nigh on two years will be an insult with impact, notwithstanding the good work of the acting ambassador in Canberra,” Fischer said.

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Australia has been unsuccessful in its efforts to secure the participation of its forces in this year’s edition of the Indo-US naval exercise Malabar.

The country will not take part in the exercise starting in June, The Australian reported, citing a spokesperson of the Australian Defense Department as saying.

Canberra was reportedly in talks with New Delhi to be part of the naval drill, however, it had not received an invitation from India.

According to

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by Deccan Herald, the decision not to invite Australia was welcomed by China with whom India strives to revive ties.

Initiated by the Indian and US navies in 1992, the Malabar series of exercises grew in scope to include Japan in 2015.

In 2017, the 21st edition of Malabar

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in the Bay of Bengal between July 9 and 17. A total of 16 ships, 2 submarines, 95 aircraft, Marine Commandos (MARCOs) and Special Forces (SFs) deployed by Japan, India and the US participated in the naval drill.

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Jura said:

this is just not to forget "The contract for the Future Frigate program is expected to be awarded by the federal government in May and is worth AU$35 billion (approximately US$27.4 billion)."
(quoting

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)

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Lethe said:

My vote/prediction is for FREMM. ...

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