ADF Works with the French Forces in the Pacific

11/07/2022

At the September 28, 2022 Williams Foundation Seminar, the Chief of the Australian Navy, VADM Mark Hammond, noted that: “I have spent much of the past 83 days as Chief of Navy working to build strong relationships in Canberra and importantly with my counterparts from Fiji, Indonesia, the UK, France, Japan, India, Singapore, Canada, the United States, South Korea, and Thailand – just to name a few. I have been six countries in the last eight days and am pleased to hold a strong relationship with the French Navy and ADM Vandier, who has generously closed the book to our previous commercial relationship and is focused on our enduring strategic partnership.”

And several stories published by the ADF since August of 2022 have highlighted the working relationship with France.

On 27 August 2022, in an article by Captain Taylor Lynch, the engagement with French soldiers from New Caledonia was highlighted:

Soldiers and officers from the French Armed Forces in New Caledonia (FANC) have arrived at Gallipoli Barracks to begin training with the 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, for Exercise Peronne.

Following their mandatory two weeks of quarantine, the FANC contingent of 28 received a warm welcome from local Indigenous elder Uncle Desmond Sandy, who performed a Welcome to Country ceremony. 

Familiarisation training at 6 RAR soon began, so they can integrate with Alpha Company and the rest of Brisbane’s 7th Combat Brigade on Exercise Diamond Dagger. 

FANC Contingent Commander Captain Paul said he was eager for his soldiers to learn in an environment completely foreign to them, in a country which has fought side by side with France since World War I. 

“The aim is to work together with 6 RAR’s Alpha Company to see how they work, show them our procedures, and work together to improve,” Captain Paul said. 

“We are good soldiers, we’re very happy to improve ourselves on Exercise Diamond Dagger.

“The environment is new, none of us have been here before, it’s a new field training area, a new ‘enemy’, but I’m confident we will be able to work well alongside Alpha Company.”  

Uncle Desmond Sandy talks to French soldiers and members of 6 RAR during a Welcome to Country ceremony. Photo: Corporal Nicole Dorrit

Commanding Officer 6 RAR Lieutenant Colonel Richard Niessl said the FANC contingent were eager to take advantage of their time in the Australian bush. 

“They’re young, they’re energetic, they’re motivated, they’re keen to be here, they’ve got the same level of enthusiasm for being in Australia as we would have if we had the opportunity to go to France or New Caledonia,” LTCOL Niessl said. 

“This week they’ll do their integration with Alpha Company, including training on the vehicles, weapons training, some physical training sessions, so we can commence Exercise Diamond Dagger next week.

“We’ll do the field-based integration over the next few weeks.”

LTCOL Niessl said combined training with the FANC was important. 

“The most important thing is that we strengthen our relationship with the French Armed Forces, we build stronger connections, develop our interoperability, and learn from each other,” he said.

“Strengthening the connection between our two nations is vital, so when we do need to work together in the future, the foundations are already in place.

“The FANC contingent have been excellent, they fit in perfectly, and they’re very eager to learn.”

On 23 August 2022, an article focusing on cooperation with the French air and space force was published:

The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and the French Air and Space Force (FASF) rendezvoused over the Coral Sea on 17 August 2022.

Following the FASF’s deployment from France to New Caledonia, travelling over 16,000kms, Dassault Rafale fighters and a Multi-Role Tanker Transport aircraft were greeted by RAAF No. 6 Squadron EA-18G Growlers between New Caledonia and Australia.

Commander Air Combat Group, Air Commodore Tim Alsop, said the meeting highlights the strength of the continued engagement between the two nations, and the ability to deploy air combat capability at short-notice.

“The FASF conducted a rapid 36 hour deployment to New Caledonia with Dassault Rafale aircraft and a Multi-Role Tanker Transport,” Air Commodore Alsop said.

“The capability to rapidly deploy with a small but potent force demonstrates the RAAF’s ability to project power and respond efficiently at short notice.

“It was a fantastic opportunity for our Growler aircraft to join the French Dassault Rafale aircraft for the last leg of their journey to Australia.”

Australia and France’s continued defence relationship is driven by shared values and an ongoing commitment to regional stability within the Indo-Pacific region.

Air Commodore Tim Alsop said both nations are committed to further enhancing engagement and interoperability.

“We are committed to ensuring a stable, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific region, and will continue to work closely with our coalition partners.”

French and Australian forces have come together again during Exercise Pitch Black 22 in the Northern Territory which will run until September 8.

And finally in the RAAF’s official newspaper published on 27 October 2022, the cooperation on air tankers was highlighted during Exercise Pitch Black 2022.

FLTLT Rob Hodgson 33SQN recently had the privilege of hosting a French Air Force Airbus Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT), and personnel from both countries took the opportunity to strengthen mutual ties and professional development through collective training.

The French aircraft was based out of RAAF Base Amberley as part of a commitment to Exercise Pitch Black 22.

Both services are equipped with the Airbus A330 MRTT, known as the KC-30A in Australian Service and as the Phenix in French Service.

The French deployment coincided with 33SQN conducting cabin manager ground training as part of an upgrade program. All cabin managers must complete the training prior to commencing flying training.

Crew Attendant with 33SQN CPL Ryan Massingham helped facilitate the collaboration with the French Air Crews.

“The cabin manager training involved multiple scenarios, implementing a wide variety of emergency procedures such as preparing for an emergency landing or reacting to an on-board galley fire,” CPL Massingham said.

The timeliness of the visit pro- vided the opportunity to involve the French Air Force cabin crew members in the training.”

The French crew members observed how ground training evolutions and scenarios were conducted. They also provided feedback to 33SQN crew attendant instructors on how the French complete their scenarios and procedures.

“The French Air Force crews operated to a high level of professionalism and we both gained a lot through our interactions during their stay,” CPL Massingham said.

“They were also very inviting to our crew attendants, allowing us to observe how they conducted business.

“This wasn’t limited to just ground based activities as we had a mutual inter-fly agreement, so we were able to learn from each other in an airborne environment.”

As the launch operator of the air- craft type, the RAAF has built up an enviable level of expertise in the operation of the Airbus A330 MRTT.

The success of the aircraft in operational use has since led to its acquisition by a number of other nations including France, the United Kingdom, Singapore and South Korea.

And, most recently, in a 7 November 2022, a story by Sgt. Matthew Bickerton, focused on army training for the two forces:

Leeches, snakes, and a ‘velociraptor-like’ bird greeted soldiers from the French Armed Forces in New Caledonia in Tully, while training with the Australians from October 17-28.

They also encountered giant white-tailed rats, big lizards, beetles, swarms of ants and a cassowary – a large bird known for attacking humans with its dagger-like claws.

Private Thimeo, a squad leader from the 3rd Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment, said the cassowary was such a curiosity, but they were told to stay away from them.

During training soldiers discovered all sorts of critters that bit, stung and sucked.

“We had leeches all over our ankles, wrists, neck and tummy,” he said.

“We pulled them off using a lighter, salt, and the issued insect repellent, which is what the Australian soldiers recommended.”

The French soldiers trained with the 8th/9th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, taking part in camp searches, attacks, jungle living, ambushing and counter ambushing.

Private Thimeo said for most of the French soldiers, it was their first-time combat training in the jungle.

“The difference here is that it gets super-hot, then in an instant it just rains,” he said.

“We’re forced to adapt how we fight and communicate in the field.”

French Armed Forces in New Caledonia soldier Private Thimeo, left, climbs over a vertical tyre obstacle during Exercise True Grit at the Tully training area, Queensland. Photo: Sergeant Matthew Bickerton

The training ended in a resilience exercise called True Grit.

This involved a bear pit, stretcher carry, bayonet assault course, blindfolded weapon assemblage, a memory game, and an obstacle course.

Traversing ropes upside down on the obstacle course was challenging, Private Thimeo said, but found the bear pit to be a welcome cool down during the physically demanding activity.

Sections competed for the fastest time, with the French coming out on top.

Featured Photo: Corporal Ryan Massingham, a KC-30A Crew Attendant with No 33 Squadron, conducts Cabin Manager Training with a French officer of the French Armee de L’air at RAAF Base Amberley on 8th September 2022. The Armee de L’air stationed an Airbus Multi-Role tanker transport at RAAF Base Amberley in Queensland, during Exercise Pitch Black 2022. Credit: Australian Department of Defence.

 

Australia and South Korean on Air Refueling

11/06/2022

In a November 2, 2022 articled by the Australian Department of Defence, the cooperation between the A330MRTT air forces was highlighted.

The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and the Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) have signed an arrangement formalising their cooperation in air-to-air refuelling.

Air Vice-Marshal Darren Goldie, AM, CSC, Air Commander Australia and Lieutenant General Park Ha Sik, Commander, ROKAF Operation Command signed the agreement in September 2022.

The arrangement acts as an opportunity for alignment in procedures for air-to-air refuelling and to help further promote interoperability between the forces of Australia and the Republic of Korea.

RAAF regularly conducts training and exercise activities with ROKAF, with the conduct of aerial refuelling a key component of collaboration between the two.

Air Vice-Marshal Goldie said the agreement was an important step forward in enhancing the partnership between the two air forces.

“This helps further ensure that our two air forces can support one another in the skies, during exercises and training activities and on any future operations,” Air Vice-Marshal Goldie said.

“The transfer of fuel when required to sustain and prolong our presence in the air is critical to our aircraft being able to successfully project air power.”

Lieutenant General Park Ha Sik said the agreement would contribute to the expansion of the two air forces’ area of air operations and to the enhancement of the combined operational capability.

“As strategic partners, various collaboration between the two countries should take place in the future,” Lt Gen Park said

“This implementing arrangement will be the ironclad foundation for the development of the military cooperation between Australia and the Republic of Korea.”

The deployment of a ROKAF KC-330 tanker to Australia for Exercise Pitch Black was the most recent refuelling interaction between RAAF and ROKAF.

The featured photo: Royal Australian Air Force F-35A Lightning II and Republic of Korea Air Force KF-16U Fighting Falcon aircraft conduct air to air refuelling with a Royal Australian Air Force KC-30A Multi-Role Tanker Transport and a Republic of Korea Air Force Multi-Role Tanker Transport in the skies around Darwin as part of Exercise Pitch Black 2022.

August 24, 2022

Australian Department of Defence

South Korea Selects A330MRTT and Australia Buys Two More: Enhancing the Airborne Base For the Strategic Quadrangle

Northern Strike 22-2

11/04/2022

Video production of U.S. Marines with Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron (HMLA) 167 participating in exercise northern Strike 22-2 across northern Michigan, Aug. 5-20, 2022.

HMLA-167 trained with U.S. Army National Guard and U.S. Air National Guard units during joint exercise Northern Strike 22-2.

HMLA-167 is a subordinate unit of 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, the aviation combat element of II Marine Expeditionary Force. ALPENA, MI,

8.22.2022

Video by Sgt. Servante Coba

2nd Marine Aircraft Wing

NSM and JSM: A Norwegian Contribution to the “Arsenal of Democracy”

11/03/2022

By Robbin Laird

With the impact of the Ukraine war ongoing, one observation seems clear with regard to the preparation of the liberal democracies for war rather than military operations: we don’t really have an arsenal of democracy like we once did.

When confronting industrial age war, supplies become critical and an ability to ramp up rapidly depleting supplies because of combat is a key capability for the conduct of war.

The West has been prepared for warfighting of limited duration or “just in time” operational support; not war.

Rebuilding an “arsenal of democracy” frankly is beyond what any state is currently capable of doing. This means that the Western allies need to work together to shape a more comprehensive defense capability with strategic depth.

An example of such a contribution is Kongsberg’s naval strike missile and its air-delivered derivative the joint strike missile.

I first confronted the existence of the NSM when working for the Department of the Navy in my work on the Aegis system. The Norwegian’s purchased a variant of the Spanish frigate which carried the Aegis system and began to work on a replacement for its Penguin missile, a development which would lead to the development and then operation of its new Naval Strike Missile.

Then when I worked as a consultant for the Department of Defense during the Administration of George W. Bush on cooperative programs within NATO and then on USAF international programs, I began my work on the coming of the F-35 and what I labelled then as the F-35 global enterprise.

It was clear that with the interfaces on the F-35 and the large number of aircraft to be built for global as well as U.S. forces, that a missile manufacturer that built for the fleet could significantly benefit over the legacy aircraft model.

The Norwegian Defence Industry typically exports about 85% of what they make, so aiming for development of products that can be exported is crucial strategy for the Norwegian defense industry base.

And as the NSM has been adopted by a wide range of allies as well, the entire family of missiles can be seen to be significant contributors to the arsenal of democracy.

Currently, there are nine customers for the NSM: Norway, Poland, Malaysia, Germany, United States (for both the US Navy and USMC), Romania, Canada, Spain and Australia. When I was in Poland last year, I talked with the Polish military about their use of a truck-mounted version of the NSM which they moved to various points of interest to Poland, much as the Marines are now doing with their approach to mobile basing in support of the U.S. Navy.

And the agreement with Raytheon has meant that the Kongsberg missile has an additional assembly capability located in the United States which can generate a ramp up in production as well. And this historical partnership based in the NASAMS has allowed the two companies to shape innovative ways to work together in the common allied interests, such as the evolution of the capability of the NASAMS system.

As described in a September 7, 2002, Raytheon press release:

“Raytheon Missiles & Defense, a Raytheon Technologies business, and Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace, in partnership with the Air Force Research Laboratory Strategic Development Planning and Experimentation (SDPE) office, conducted a first-of-its kind Air Base Air Defense experiment.

“During the demonstration, the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System, known as NASAMS™, fired AIM-9X®, AMRAAM®, and AMRAAM-Extended Range missiles, engaging cruise missile targets at various distances.

“We demonstrated how integrated defense solutions enable the warfighter to deploy the right effector at the right time and at the right target,” said Wes Kremer, president of Raytheon Missiles & Defense. “Using fielded systems, our goal is to provide customers the quickest, most effective way to protect their people and critical infrastructure with layered cruise missile defense.”

“This complex experiment assessed NASAMS’ operational ability to fire the three missile variants when integrated with U.S. Army radars and U.S. Air Force’s operationally fielded command and control capability, the Battle Space Command and Control Center, or BC3, developed by Raytheon Solipsys. During the demonstration, the radar first passed targeting information to BC3, then BC3 relayed key data to the KDA Fire Distribution Center for threat evaluation and weapon assignment. The operator in the FDC used that information to close the kill chain by selecting and firing the most effective missile from the NASAMS multi-missile canister launcher.

“Our intent was to inform strategic investment decisions through the evaluation of low-cost, high technology readiness level capabilities that could provide near term air base air defense capability,” said Jim Simonds, SDPE experiment program manager, U.S. Air Force. “This layered defense solution can provide immediate defensive capability at a fraction of the price of currently fielded systems.”

“NASAMS, a highly adaptable medium-range air defense solution, is jointly developed and produced by RMD and Norway’s Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace.

“This experiment demonstrates NASAMS’ flexibility, providing the operator with enhanced firing alternatives to successfully execute complex threat scenarios employing a range of missiles,” said Eirik Lie, president of Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace.

The JSM is in development and close to deployment by the world’s F-35 forces. The NSM becoming transfigured into the JSM meant modifications to fit the internal bay of the F-35. It has a longer range than the NSM dependent on flight profile. It has two-way communications capability which it allows it to be used in a wolfpack concept of operations or retargeted in flight by a designated third party, which could include an ally as well.

Initial users of the missile will be Japan and Norway with the U.S., the UK, Australia and South Korea likely early adapters for their F-35s as well.

The JSM can be launched from a variety of sea-borne, land or air platforms.

And it is a kill web weapon, in that it can be re-targeted in flight by a third-party system, such as an airborne command post.  Abort mission and retargeting aspects of NSM is taken into account by the use of target matching capabilities combined with a wide field of view seeker imaging target sensor.

In a kill-web context the NSM is a rapid deployable effector that can respond to both naval and land target sets based upon 3rd party ISR resources in the web. The capabilities of the missile are discussed in both the brochure and the video at the end of this article.

But the simple point is that the missile is being widely used by many allies and can be used by a diversity of platforms.

I had a chance at the Euronaval exhibition held during the week of October 16, 2022 to talk about the NSM with Stein Engen, Regional Sales Director, Kongsberg Strike Missiles. Engen started by discussing the origin of the NSM.

“The threat scenario in developing the missile has always been the Russian Navy. We have a small navy and air force, so we needed a highly accurate and capable missile to replace the Penguin.

“As the missile developed and then was deployed by our navy, and its ability to be used against both land and sea targets became recognized by other navies to be a market leader. The evaluations made by the U.S. Navy and other allied navies underscored that NSM is cost-efficient weapon because of its accuracy and ability to get to the desired target, even in contested area and to deliver its effects even against well defended strategic target sets.

“The advanced target matching capabilities of the NSM IR seeker enables strike against prioritized targets and also avoid hitting unintentional targets and civilian shipping .”

And missiles like the NSM and JSM represent payloads to missions as key capability.

With the flexibility of launch point coupled with the flexibility in the decision of where the inflight missile needs to target, these are very capable kill web weapons.

And as allies share commonality in the missile base, not only can you build up stockpiles, but you can exercise shared use of these weapons in dealing with the adversary in situations where the allies are operating as a distributed force but seeking integrated effects from the coalition operation.

Finally, Engen noted that the heritage of the missile was that it is part of a long-standing commitment of the Norwegian government to excellence in this area of research, development and manufacturing.

Engen noted that “NSM is not a standalone product. It is part of generations of Norwegian R and D on other products as well.”

In other words, the capability represented in NSM and JSM can be seen to a key part of the wider effort to ensure that there is a viable “arsenal of democracy.”

Featured Photo: A U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon carries a developmental test version of Norway’s Joint Strike Missile. The 416th Flight Test Squadron wrapped up its JSM testing. (U.S. Air Force photo by Christian Turner).

EDWARDS, CA

03.19.2018

Photo by Christian Turner 

412th Test Wing Public Affair

11th Brigade Training at Tully

11/02/2022

The 11th brigade has formed a composite company rotation through the Tully Training Area in central Queensland to refine their foundation warfighting skills.

The Tully rainforest and jungle represents some of the toughest training environments available, with training catering to the individual and section in the first instance, then progresses to platoon and company level activities.

Australian Department of Defence

October 10, 2022.

VMA-223 Harrier Training

U.S. Marines with Marine Attack Squadron (VMA) 223 load ordnance onto an AV-8B Harrier II jet at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina, Aug. 31, 2022.

AV-8B Harrier II jets assigned to VMA-223 were loaded with AIM-120A missiles and ADM-141A Tactical Air-Launched Decoys for the pilots to practice air-to-air combat.

VMA-223 is a subordinate unit of 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, the aviation combat element of II Marine Expeditionary Force.

08.31.2022

Video by Pfc. Rowdy Vanskike

2nd Marine Aircraft Wing

Autonomous Ocean Surveillance in the Defence and Security of Australia: The Perspective of Ocius

10/31/2022

By Robbin Laird

During my September 2022 visit to Australia, I had a chance to talk with Robert Dane, the CEO of Ocius, about the way ahead for maritime autonomous systems in both defence and security missions for the Australian forces.

In 1996, Robert Dane, a passionate sailor and environmentalist, invented and patented the ‘solarsail’ a single device that could harness sun and wind energy in a seaworthy way, and designed the first ‘solarsailor’ prototype which won the Advanced Technology Boat Race in Canberra in 1997. In 2001, the first commercial ‘solarsailor’ ferry using the technology won the Australian Design Award of the Year. Robert is Intel Environment Laureate 2007, the WWF Future Maker 2012 and in 2017 Robert was awarded the Spitfire Memorial Defence Association Fellowship.

Given his interest in solar powered boats, it is not surprising that he has spearheaded an effort to develop and build solar power Uncrewed Surface Vessels (USVs). This is how Dane described the journey so far for the company and the evolution of its core Bluebottle platform. “At the INDO PACIFIC Conference in Sydney in 2013, we displayed our first USVs and got the attention of Thales Australia and Defence. In 2015, we were  awarded our first innovation contract, namely, to build an Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) USV. We redesigned our prototype boats to be able to take a large non-spooling winch to undertake such a mission and to deploy arrays at significant depths.

“Then in 2017, we received an innovation contract to work our boats in a combined operation to deliver an intelligent network in a maritime environment. We combined two Bluebottles together with simulated assets to do team behaviors. Then we received a contract in 2020 to build five Bluebottles. We now have seven Bluebottles which have taken on trials and on operations.”

Dane noted that they then took four Bluebottles for trials off of Darwin and then brought their boats to Ashmore Reef which is 840 kilometers from Darwin.  According to Dane: “It took us 4-5 days to get there and 5-10 days to get back. But while stationed there for weeks at a times, operating with wind, wave and solar powering cameras and radar we were able to detect foreign fishing vessels. For the Maritime Border Command (MBC), this meant that we could detect illegal boats with  uncrewed vessels, provide data to manned vessels to determine their own course of action.

“In other words, with our USVs it is not necessary for the manned vessels to waste their time on generating surveillance data; they could leave that to us. And they could focus on what they need to do, which is to use the data to determine what actions they needed or chose to do.”

They spent a month in the Ashmore Reef area and within a month had made a major impact on helping the Maritime Border Command surveil the area. As Dane put it: “We could stay out there continuously, and we could patrol with our sail down 350 meters off the reef and be photographing, with high-res cameras. We could see people walking on the reefs with their boats in the background. And we would notify Border Force. And they’d come steaming over the horizon and the foreign fishing vessels would depart quickly and we’d be able to say where they went and then the Border Force would be able to go and nab them. And when they said, “It wasn’t us,” the Maritime Border Patrol could say, “Well, yes it was. Here’s a picture of you and your boat.”

There are three reefs 40 miles apart and we could have a Bluebottle on each reef and patrolling the reef up and filming developments in the area which we sent to the Maritime Border Command for their follow-up.” “And within a month we basically cleaned up Rowley Shoals from having something like 30 foreign fishing vessels on it to having zero. And that had never happened before

One aspect which we discussed was the software development approach underlying Blue Bottle. As Dane put it: “I just put a deposit on a Tesla  and paid $10,000 in 2022 for the autonomous driving package, but for the lifetime of the car I’ll get upgrades. In 2025, the person buying that same car may have to pay more, because software will be better, but I get lifetime upgrades and Tesla gets the money now to develop it.

“So we’re giving people basically the same deal so allow us to improve our software. And the data that we’re getting now and the feedback and the improvements in networking and the autonomy, and denied comms are clearly going to change as we change the software.

“With the focus on software development as an ongoing effort, what we’re doing is an exponential feedback loop. The more boats you’ve got out there and the more hours you’ve got out there, the better they get. And I don’t think Navy wants to buy the 2022 version of a Bluebottle. They want to buy, a platform that gets smarter and better and carries smarter and better things.

“Over the last 20 years we’ve lived Moore’s law. Sensors and devices that we’re putting on now, 20 years ago would’ve cost $400,000 and weighed 400 kilos and used 400 watts, but now they’re a chip. It’s extraordinary what’s happening, and the uncrewed world is driving and taking advantage of sensors becoming  lighter, smaller, and requiring lower power.”

Another aspect of the driving force of software is how to look at the future of the ADF and the security force. They don’t have to wear unforms to be part of the direct defence of Australia. And they can be dispersed on a digital grid to avoid concentration which creates a target.

Dane emphasized that they had a close relationship with the university community. “We have two buildings at the University of New South Wales in Sydney 70m apart. One is an old tram shed building, which has front and back mezzanine access and  an overhead crane fit for purpose for ‘production-line’ building with hulls coming one end from boatbuilders and robots going out the front. The other building is clean work and office space and our watchfloor. And, with the university we’ve harnessing the talent from their solar car and robot soccer games teams. Bluebottles are doing teaming behaviors where they talk to each other,  they know the rules of the game and they know what the coach’s game plan so they act independently  without having to be told what to do.”

They have interns working with them from the university. In a perspective where mobilization becomes necessary, these students become the Sgt. York’s of their day, although don’t expect them to understand readily the analogy.

In addition, building uncrewed vehicles can be done exploiting non exotic materials for a defense and security capability, which can allow for a rapid build out within Australia during a crisis. Dane reinforced this point as follows:

“Ocius has made great pains not to use any exotic materials or anything that’s ITAR affected. We basically, in Australia, have a store called Bunnings. It’s like your Home Depot. All our exotic materials come from Bunnings. Our Chief Engineer says, “Don’t let the perfect get in the way of the good.” Our platform is pretty good and getting better, and we put them out there till something breaks. Our aim is we don’t want to make it more expensive or more complicated than it needs to be to deliver payloads and capability in all conditions to wherever people want them.”

Yes We Can Flyer and Quad Chart

;

 

Exercise Coastwatchers 22

Exercise COASTWATCHERS is Defence’s premier bilateral exercise series with the Solomon Islands. It is developed jointly with the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force (RSIPF) to build Solomon Islands’ Humanitarian and Disaster Relief (HADR) and policing capabilities.

There are three iterations planned for 2022 – July, September and November.

Exercise COSTWATCHERS II, held in September, will involve the conduct of small boats training package with the RSIPF, the delivery of the VHF component of the Solomon Islands Police Emergency Radio Network (RSIPERN) communications project to the RSIPF and key leadership engagements.

Exercise COASTWATCHERS forms part of Australia’s broader engagement with Solomon Islands under the Defence Cooperation Program.

Australian Department of Defence

October 7, 2022.