Air Combat Command’s largest air-to-air exercise, Checkered Flag 22-1, was recently held at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida.
TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, FL.
11.15.2021
Video by Staff Sgt. Magen M. Reeves 325th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
Air Combat Command’s largest air-to-air exercise, Checkered Flag 22-1, was recently held at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida.
TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, FL.
11.15.2021
Video by Staff Sgt. Magen M. Reeves 325th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
By Pierre Tran
Paris – France expects to win arms export orders worth more than €30 billion ($34 billion) spread over this year and 2022, mainly due to sales of the Rafale fighter jet, Thierry Carlier, head of the international development department of the Direction Générale de l’Armement procurement office, said Dec. 9.
The estimate for 2021/22 “will be more than 30 billion,” he told the weekly press conference of the armed forces ministry. That forecast was based on contracts already signed and deals seen as “more or else certain.”
Such a forecast spread over two years is highly unusual for the DGA, which seeks to coordinate sales of French weapons with the services and industry. The appearance of Carlier, appointed four years ago, at the weekly briefing was unusual, the ministry spokesman, Hervé Grandjean, said.
That forecast 30 billion compared to orders worth €4.9 billion booked in 2020, and €9.1 billion in 2019. The COVID-19 pandemic led to the sharp drop in orders last year, as the health crisis hit government spending.
Aeronautics will account for the largest foreign orders, Carlier said, followed by the naval sector, and then land weapons.
The largest foreign arms deal was the United Arab Emirates’ order worth €14 billion for 80 Dassault Aviation Rafale fighter jets, which included service and training, he said. That fighter jet deal was accompanied by an order worth €2 billion of missiles, and an estimated €700 million for 12 Caracal helicopters. The UAE can also fit their own weapons to the Rafale.
The French authorities announced that large UAE arms deal Dec. 3.
For the first time in an export deal, the UAE has ordered a version still under development for the Rafale fighter, he said. That F4 version will mean the UAE will operate the same Rafale version as the French air force.
The F4 will be capable of carrying a new air-to-air missile, namely the Mica next generation, and a new guided AASM 1,000 kg bomb. Other capabilities will be the Spectra defensive aid, an upgraded Talios laser designation targeting pod, and boosted cybersecurity.
That F4 version will be on the pathway to the future combat air system, he said.
Negotiations on the UAE order started towards the end of last year, with the aim of closing the deal in time for the Dubai air show, which ran Nov. 12-16. Talks for a technical agreement ran from November 2020 to June 2021, leaving relatively little time for commercial negotiations, which were ran June to October 2021.
The Rafale deal was announced when French president Emmanuel Macron visited the UAE rather than at the air show.
That order from Abu Dhabi reflected a strategic partnership at the highest level between France and the UAE, rather simply a commercial deal, Carlier said. A bilateral intergovernmental agreement was signed in 2009, and interoperability stemmed from French forces sharing with the services of the partner nation their experience in handling “combat proven” weapons.
That combat proven tag is seen as essential in winning any arms deal.
Among major weapons competitions, Finland is expected to decide “in the next few weeks,” he said.
The Finnish defense forces have reportedly recommended the government pick the Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter in a competition which has attracted rival offers of the Boeing F-18, Eurofighter Typhoon, Rafale, and Saab Gripen.
Greece has opted for the Belharra frigate, and “negotiations are in the process of being closed,” he said.
There are sale prospects in India and Indonesia, he said. Submarines are viewed with interest – offering potential deals for the French company Naval Group. There are potential deals around the world for land weapons.
France actively and proudly pursues arms export deals, which are part of its business model for national sovereignty. Those export contracts help fund the national budget, which partly finances research and development of weapons, seen as needed for a strategic autonomy.
The government publishes an annual report to parliament on arms exports, while some parliamentarians call for a voice in authorizing foreign sales rather than simply reading about them a year later.
France lost out earlier this year when Australia cancelled a plan to build 12 conventional attack submarines with Naval Group, in a deal estimated to be worth some €30 billion. NG had conducted initial design studies in successive tranches, and had expected to sign a €1.4 billion contract for basic design work.
But an Australian decision to seek a nuclear-powered attack submarine with the UK and the U.S. under a trilateral agreement dubbed AUKUS sank that French deal.
The DGA international development department employs some 200 staff, with 180 based here, and 20 as embassy attachés. The staff are specialists in the Rafale, frigates, and submarines, and can also draw on other DGA experts if needed.
The DGA works with the foreign and finance ministries, and the treasury department in the pursuit of export deals.
Featured Photo: LE BOURGET PARIS: June 21, 2019: French Air Force Dassault Rafale fighter jet plane performing at the Paris Air Show airshow.
Photo 154812023 / Rafale Fighter Jet © VanderWolfImages | Dreamstime.com
In this report, we have included articles we have published in November and December 2021.
They cover a wide variety of topics and the table of contents for the report is as follows:
For a PDF version of the report, see below:
November-2021-ArticlesFor an e-book version of the report, see below:
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MQ-9 Reapers from Holloman Air Force Base travelled to Marine Corps Base Hawaii for Exercise Agile Combat Employment Reaper during September through October, 2021.
The two-week, joint exercise was designed to sharpen combat readiness, increase strategic impact and strengthen deterrence efforts by ensuring tactical proficiency of MQ-9 Reaper aircrew.
U.S. Air Force video by Airman 1st Class Adrian Salazar
October 8, 2021
By Pierre Tran
Paris – Airbus Defence and Space and Dassault Aviation are still in detailed talks for a development contract for a next generation fighter, a key element in a planned European future combat air system, said Michael Schoellhorn, chief executive of the Airbus unit.
“Some points still need to be tackled,” he said Nov. 30 in a virtual briefing for the trade press held by Airbus Defence and Space. “There (are) many things in the detail that need to be sorted out.”
Dassault is prime contractor for the planned European fighter, and the plan is to fly a technology demonstrator in 2027.
“It is a complex coming together of two successful companies for a program which will be significant in the coming decades,” he said. “So we have all agreed to do due diligence and invest the time that it takes to really come to the conclusion that we need.”
Dassault Aviation declined comment.
The head of the French procurement office, Joël Barre, told Oct. 14 parliamentarians that contracts were expected to be signed in the middle of November on the new fighter, with Dassault having held “difficult negotiations” with Airbus German and Spanish units.
“We should manage this difficulty in the next few weeks, to get in mid-November a signing of the DGA (Direction Général pour l’Armement) contract and related contracts for prime contractors and their main partners,” he said.
Airbus DS and Dassault have been negotiating on FCAS all this year, seeking agreement on intellectual property rights and work share on the new fighter.
Airbus units in Spain and Germany stand to win two thirds of the workload, leaving Dassault the remaining third, with the latter claiming leadership of certain key work packages.
Airbus DS has been keen to gain access to valuable “background” information on the Mirage and Rafale, as those Dassault fighter jets would help Airbus engineers understand the “foreground” technology of the new fighter.
Dassault has objected to that access, seen as handing over core knowledge of how to design and build a fighter.
Agreement is needed to sign contracts to launch work for phases 1b and 2 on a demonstrator to fly in 2027, with a budget reported to be worth some €3.5 billion ($4 billion), funded by partner nations France, Germany and Spain.
The new fighter is due to enter service in 2040, an eventual successor to the Eurofighter flown by the German air force, and Rafale flown by the French air force and navy.
Eurofighter will be a “bridge” to FCAS, Schoellhorn said, and planned upgrades will allow the present combat jet to fly to 2060.
Schoellhorn pointed up the perceived importance of FCAS for Europe, showing a continuity with his predecessor, Dirk Hoke, who left Airbus DS July 1.
The FCAS was not just a great air force project, Schoellhorn said, adding that it touched on a subject close to his heart, namely European sovereignty. There was the economic impact of tens of thousands of jobs, and an ability not to rely on the supply chain from other parts of the world, he added.
“We have it in our hands to have what Europe needs, going forward,” he said. There was a European ability to determine foreign and security policy, which hinged on projects such as FCAS.
“If we want to protect our ability to defend our way of life — European way of life — the way the free West and allied nations live, we must not take these things for granted,” he said.
“This is why there is such importance given to FCAS.”
Those corporate remarks are in line with the French political pursuit of greater European independence in foreign and military policy, with the French head of state Emmanuel Macron taking up Jan. 1 the rotating six-month presidency of the European Union.
The perceived political and industrial importance of FCAS can be seen in the light of European interest in the Lockheed Martin F-35 joint strike fighter.
The defense forces of Finland have recommended acquisition of the F-35, with a government decision expected in some 10 days’ time, Reuters news agency reported Dec. 6, drawing on Iltalehti, a local media outlet.
If that recommendation were endorsed, the F-35 will beat competing offers of Boeing F-18, Eurofighter Typhoon, Rafale, and Saab Gripen. Finland has reportedly earmarked €10 billion for its HX fighter program to replace a 64-strong fleet of F/A-18 C/D Hornets.
Macron promotes the concept of European sovereignty, and it was he and the then German chancellor Angela Merkel who announced in 2017 a project for a European new fighter. Spain later joined the project.
That three-nation group stands distinct from the Tempest new fighter jet led by the UK, partnered by Italy and Sweden.
A chaotic evacuation out of Kabul due to a sudden U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan prompted some EU nations to consider a sharper focus on European foreign and defense policy.
However, Hungary and Poland, being closer to Russia, pursue close ties with Washington.
Meanwhile, Ukraine has called on NATO to accept its application to join the transatlantic alliance, amid concern over Russian forces perceived to be massing on the common border.
Russia has denied talk of a planned invasion and called on NATO to refrain from expanding into the East.
NATO has stationed four multinational battalion-sized battle groups to protect Poland and the Baltic nations of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
On a German order last year for 38 Eurofighters, dubbed the Quadriga project, Airbus will keep its production line open into 2030, and will extend its operational life to 2060, Kurt Rossner, head of combat aircraft systems, said.
That extension will call for upgrades in capability, including weapons, and flying in manned and unmanned teams with remote carriers, he said. The German air force flew Eurofighters with two remote carriers, or unmanned aerial vehicles, in the Timber Express 2021 exercise.
Technology for the Quadriga tranche of Eurofighters will be critical to development of FCAS, with a roadmap which includes avionics, onboard computing power, man/machine interface in the cockpit, and a helmet. There will be Quadriga work on new weapons, aerodynamics, and electronically scanned radar.
The French equivalent of Quadriga for FCAS would be development of the F4 version of the Rafale, effectively a test bed for the new generation fighter.
Asked about reports of Spain showing interest in acquiring the F-35, Rossner said he would be surprised if there were no such interest, adding that the Eurofighter would be the right choice.
On a contract for a planned medium-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle, industry is waiting for the Spanish parliament to grant approval for the program, Daniela Lohwasser, chief engineer on the drone project, said.
France, Germany and Italy have given the green light and it remains for Spain to complete the “national process,” she said, then it would take a couple of months as the OCCAR joint procurement agency prepared contracts to sign.
Airbus DS declined to confirm whether a budget of some €7 billion has been agreed on the drone project.
After the contract is signed, Airbus DS will announce the engine supplier.
French parliamentarian Jean-Charles Larsonneur said June 15 his colleagues in the French senate had correctly raised concerns on the excessive budget of some €7 billion on the drone and that there was a choice of engine.
The anxiety over the drone engine stems from the search for European sovereignty, as there are those seek a pick of Safran Helicopter Engines, seen as a wholly European supplier, over a rival offer from Italian manufacturer Avio, pitching a motor from a U.S. giant, General Electric.
The push for European sovereignty on the drone, dubbed unofficially as Eurodrone, won some recognition with the July 15 signing of a €100 million grant for work on the UAV from the European Defence Industrial Development Programme, under the European Defence Fund set up by the European Union.
There is a planned total order of 20 UAV systems, with each system comprising three aircraft and two ground stations.
The drone would also fit into the FCAS program, Lohwasser said.
On the A400M, Airbus DS needed to win trust from customers, with greater availability of the transport aircraft, Schoellhorn said.
The French defense ministry failed to disclose any financial information on the retrofit on early batches of A400M, parliamentarian François Cornut-Gentille said Oct. 8 2020 in a detailed parliamentary report.
“However, availability of the aircraft remains a problem,” he said.
The retrofit was needed because those aircraft failed to meet tactical capabilities in the contract, but had been shipped as Airbus DS was late in delivery.
The parliamentary report shows in 2019 there was availability of 24.5 percent of the then 16-strong fleet of A400M flown by the French air force.
Airbus DS saw the Kabul crisis as a redeeming operational moment, with 25 A400M flown by seven nations to evacuate thousands of refugees, in an event which grabbed front pages and television news around the world.
Air forces from five nations and NATO also flew nine A330 multirole transport and tanker aircraft to airlift civilians out of the strife-ridden capital.
That was the highlight of 2021, said Jean-Brice Dumont, head of military aircraft.
Airbus has teamed with Lockheed Martin to pitch an adapted A330 MRTT in the U.S. tender for an inflight refueling fleet.
Overall, 2021 looked like a good year for Airbus DS, Schoellhorn said, with a “slight uptake” on sales compared to last year. There had been excellent order intake, cost containment, and “it does not too bad looking forward,” he added.
There were still challenges ahead, he said, but the fourth quarter showed major contract wins for transport aircraft from India, Indonesia, and Kazakhstan. There were still “irons in the fire,” he said.
The Kabul evacuation was “a turning point” in a reputation which had previously been tainted due to problems in developing the A-400 M aircraft, he said. There was a milestone in maturity with the aircraft clearing New Standard Operating Clearance 2.5. Airbus DS was pressing ahead on retrofit and availability.
Russia, after the attacks on Ukraine and Crimea, was undertaking massive rearmament, including nuclear weapons, and launching cyber and hybrid attacks, he said. There were streams of refugees on EU borders, and there was confrontation with China.
Such events had a “huge impact” on business, he said.
Since 1790, the Coast Guard has safeguarded the American people and promoted national security, border security, and economic prosperity in a complex and evolving maritime environment. The Coast Guard saves those in peril and protects the Nation from all maritime threats.
As a branch of the U.S. Armed Forces, a law enforcement organization, a regulatory agency, a member of the U.S. Intelligence Community, and a first responder, the Coast Guard employs a unique mix of authorities, broad jurisdiction, flexible operational capabilities, and a network of partnerships.
The Coast Guard is the principal Federal agency responsible for maritime safety, security, and environmental stewardship in U.S. ports and inland waterways, along more than 95,000 miles of U.S. coastline, throughout the 4.5 million square miles of U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), and on the high seas.
The over 50,000 members of the Coast Guard operate a multi-mission, interoperable fleet of 259 Cutters, 200 fixed and rotary-wing aircraft, and over 1,600 boats. Operational control of surface and air assets is vested in two Coast Guard geographical Areas (Pacific and Atlantic), nine Coast Guard Districts, and 37 Sectors located at strategic ports throughout the country.
Five Mission Support Logistics and Service Centers provide services for operational assets and shore facilities. Coast Guard program oversight, policy development, and personnel administration are carried out at Coast Guard Headquarters located on the St. Elizabeths campus in Washington, DC.
U.S. Coast Guard video by Telfair H. Brown
January 23, 2021
Recently, VMX-1 tested the Viper Attack Helicopter with the JAGM weapon, and for the purpose of enhancing the Marine Corps’s capability to support maritime/littoral missions.
This is how the December 2, 2021 USMC press release described the effort:
HEADQUARTERS MARINE CORPS – Marines from Marine Operational Test & Evaluation Squadron 1 (VMX-1) conducted an operational test and evaluation of the joint air-to-ground missile (JAGM) from an AH-1Z Viper, Nov. 3-7 at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida.
VMX-1 fired and evaluated the JAGM to determine its suitability and effectiveness to support expeditionary advanced base operations, such as conducting sea denial operations within the littorals and supporting sea control operations.
Personnel from Air Test and Evaluation Squadron Two One (HX-21), Naval Air Systems Command Direct and Time Sensitive Strike program office (PMA-242), Army Program Executive Office Missiles and Space, Air Force 780th Test Squadron, as well as industry partners were on location to observe and analyze the data from the test event. This event can lead to significant improvements in lethality of attack helicopters by arming them with newer munitions equipped with two sensor technologies and optimizes missile performance on maritime targets.
“Watching these professionals from across the services and industry come together to test the effectiveness and work on improvement for this weapon system is truly a phenomenal experience,” said VMX-1 Commanding Officer Col. Byron Sullivan. “The team is doing everything possible to ensure this capability will be the needed upgrade that enhances our ability to use precision strikes against fast-moving maritime targets.”
The team observed the test from locations across Eglin Air Force Base, honing in on weather considerations, telemetry and instrumentation, coordinating with the pilots, and observing the impact zone. Ultimately, the data collected will be analyzed to determine overall system effectiveness and develop the tactics, techniques, and procedures for its employment.
“Executing this type of concept development is very critical to get it right on paper and put more effective systems in the hands of the warfighter,” said Maj. Thomas Hutson, the Assault Support department head at VMX-1 and member of the JAGM test team.
This test is part of a larger effort to upgrade the AH-1Z and UH-1Y aircraft, in alignment with the Commandant’s vision of force modernization vision to maintain a competitive edge against potential adversaries.
The mission of VMX-1 is to conduct operational test and evaluation of Marine Corps aviation platforms and systems.
And in an interview we did last year, we discussed the way ahead with regard to Viper modernization which included the coming of the addition of the JAGM capability to the fleet.
That article was entitled: “The AH-1Z and Its Evolving Contribution to Marines in the Maritime Fight,” and was published on April 15, 2020:
By Robbin Laird
My recent discussions with Major Thomas Duff and Mr. Michael Manifor, HQMC Aviation, APW-53, Attack and Utility Helicopter Coordinators, about the Viper maritime attack helicopter provided insights into how this asset is evolving as the MAGTF itself is being reshaped for its broader spectrum missions beyond the land wars, to maritime operations, and support for embarked Marines being inserted into various types of land operating bases, including distributed expeditionary bases.
The APW-53 leaders underscored that “the Viper contributes to the entire span of assault operations. Marines are inserted in places where they can influence the fight, and it requires synchronized assault support operations involving aviation assets to do it quickly and effectively.”
They emphasized as well that the two-man team in the Viper works closely with the Ground Combat Element and with their training and operational experience are an integrated part of the C2 process with the GCE commanders. As a result, “with the Viper crew you’ve got a dedicated fires team that lives, breathes, eats, and thinks ‘how do I destroy the target, and support the ground scheme of maneuver’.”
As noted in the last article, “the Viper is involved in the entire span of assault operations. Prior to an assault, they prep the battlespace, including doing armed reconnaissance. They support fixed wing aircraft in a deep air support role, and when the Ospreys and CH-53s advance to the objective area, they provide an air escort role. With Marines in the objective area, they provide direct ground support for ground movement working directly with the Ground Combat Element.”
What I am going to do in this article, is to look at the organic systems on the Viper which allows the 2-man crew to be able to deliver this wide-ranging mission set, and then to highlight how the additions coming with the digital interoperability upgrades allow the Viper to expand its capabilities to both contribute to the fight and to pursue an integrability con-ops which allows it to play an even broader role within the evolving maritime domain.
The baseline NAVAIR chart of what is currently on the Viper provides a catalogue of the systems onboard the aircraft, but by discussing with the APW-53 team, these systems come to life in terms of how operators work with these systems to be able to be “involved in the entire span of assault operations.”
What follows is my interpretation of what I have learned about the systems onboard the Viper and how the Marines have used them and in the case of the impact of the digital interoperability upgrades, how they could be used in the return to the sea and enhanced priority on maritime missions.
A good place to start is that this is an attack platform with two crew, each with their own cockpit, placed in a front to back position. Each cockpit with the exception of about a half dozen switches is essentially the same.
But in each cockpit, the Marines can fire weapons and do so in support of one another. The Marine aviator can fly and fight from either cockpit and can fight simultaneously from those cockpits. And they can track different mission solutions, such as an air-to-air mission for one, and an air-to-ground for the other.
The systems slide above refers to a fully integrated cockpit and fire control system. The sensors and the fire control system onboard the aircraft allow the two-man team to take on multiple targets using a variety of weapon systems simultaneously. In other words, the two-man teams have a flexible ability to use the onboard weapon systems because of the nature of the fire control system on the aircraft.
The fire control system is capable of tracking multiple targets which allows for efficient engagement. This can be especially useful against moving targets in the maritime environment,
With the upgrades coming soon via the digital interoperability initiative, the Viper through its Link 16 upgrade along with its Full-Motion video access upgrade, can have access to a much wider situational awareness capability which obviously enhances both its organic targeting capability and its ability to work with a larger swath of integrated combat space.
This means that the Viper can broaden its ability to support other air platforms for an air-to-air mission set, or the ground combat commander, or in the maritime space.
A key capability which the Viper has is its high-powered machine gun. Given that the Viper can easily land on virtually any ship which the Navy or MSC operates, it can bring its machine gun as well as its Hellfires, or its rockets with a laser seeker into the sea control domain.
The increasing threat from small boats and unmanned air vehicles or the coming threat from unmanned surface vessels highlights the importance of having a platform which can use a variety of strike capabilities to destroy these relatively low value assets with potentially a high impact on the fleet.
Unmanned assets may look smart, but when running into a machine gun, they return to simply being drones.
The combination of what the organic asset can do with its expanded span of SA and shared targeting information through the DI upgrades provides a new role for the Viper within the maritime force.
This role is inherent within its current configuration coupled with the DI upgrades.
The systems slide above highlights the organic weapons capabilities carried by the Viper.
The first is the M197 20mm turreted gun.
The Viper carries a three-barreled machine gun. for close-range (up to 2km) engagement and 750 rounds of ammunition.
“With the gun in a fixed-forward position, the pilot can aim by maneuvering the helicopter.
“Either crew member can slave the turret to the helmet-mounted sight and aim the gun by looking at the target.”
The second is the AGM-114 Hellfire. This missile provides a significant ground attack capability which has been used throughout the land wars, but also has a significant capability to strike maritime surface targets as well.
The Viper will soon (IOC FY20) have the ability to fire the Joint Air-to-Ground Missile (JAGM). This missile provides increased lethality through dedicated maritime modes, enhanced moving target capability, and selectable fuzing; providing capability against both fast attack craft and small surface combatants. Millimeter wave (MMW) guidance increases survivability by providing a true fire-and-forget capability, removing the requirement for a terminal laser.
The third are APKWS rockets which is a 70-millimeter rocket with a laser guided seeker.
According to its manufacturer, BAE Systems:
There are other precision-guided weapons on the market, but few consistently hit their intended target with pinpoint accuracy, while leaving minimal collateral damage. Our guidance section is designed to lock onto targets from over 3 kilometers away, keeping your aircraft and laser designators at a safe distance from threats.
Innovative by design, the APKWS rocket includes advanced DASALS seeker optics located on all four guidance wings. Once fired, the wings deploy, and the optics lock in, guiding the rocket to the target – delivering accuracy when it matters most.
To date, 17 of the world’s most utilized rotary- and fixed-wing launch platforms are qualified with BAE Systems’ APKWS laser guided rocket system, including:
The fourth is an AIM-9M sidewinder.
This is a premier air-to-air strike missile, and is widely used by the United States and its allies in that role.
According to NAVAIR:
The Air Intercept Missile (AIM)-9 Sidewinder is a supersonic, short-range air-to-air missile developed by the U.S. Navy in the 1950s. Entering service in 1956, variants and upgrades remain in active service with many air forces after five decades. The U.S. Air Force purchased the Sidewinder after the Navy developed the missile at China Lake, California.
The Sidewinder is the most widely used missile the U.S. Armed Forces, employed on the Navy/Marine’s F/A-18A-D, F/A-18E/F, AV-8B, AH-1 and the Air Force’s F-16, F-15, F-22 and A-10 aircraft. Additionally, the Sidewinder is flown by over 30 international customers on over 12 different types of aircraft.
The missile’s main components are an infrared homing guidance section, an active optical target detector, a high-explosive warhead, and a rocket motor.
The infrared guidance head enables the missile to home on target aircraft engine exhaust. An infrared unit costs less than other types of guidance systems, and can be used in day/night and electronic countermeasures conditions. The infrared seeker also permits the pilot to launch the missile, then leave the area or take evasive action while the missile guides itself to the target….
In short, the onboard weapons for the Viper provides a wide range of mission mixes which the aircraft can perform.
They range from air-to-air, to air-to-ground, from air-to-surface in a maritime domain provides a significant mission flexibility to which the aircraft can provide.
And because it is fully marinized, it can land and refuel with virtually any ship operating in the fleet, which means it can contribute to sea control, which in my view, is a mission which the amphibious task force will engage in with the expanded reach of adversarial navies.
By Justin Burke
The announcement of the AUKUS partnership has prompted the old accusation that Australia is ‘trying to find its security from Asia rather than in Asia’ to resurface in public debate, most recently in former prime minister Paul Keating’s recent National Press Club address.
The basis for this view is twofold.
First, Australia is seeking the assistance of the United States and United Kingdom—neither of which could be described as Asian by any reasonable definition—to obtain nuclear-powered submarines. AUKUS necessarily rests upon the longstanding ANZUS alliance with the US, our historical, constitutional and contemporary security links with the UK, and the legacy of trust from intelligence-sharing with both countries through the Five Eyes. Undeniably, a commonality of language, culture and respect for democracy is a part of it too, though this is sometimes reduced to the racially tinged epithet ‘Anglosphere’.
Second, the desire for nuclear propulsion seems to have given the impression that Australia seeks greater range and underwater speed so we can zoom through and past our neighbours to get to East Asian flashpoints. It implies a sense of Australia’s impatience with the vacillation of the ASEAN nations in confronting new maritime security realities, and a go-it-alone approach. The truth of how the future submarines may confirm or disprove this impression remains to be seen and, assuredly, many things will have changed before they hit the water.
But the ‘security from Asia rather than in Asia’ accusation obscures the significant and growing efforts of the Royal Australian Navy to engage in the region, as demonstrated by the recently concluded Indo-Pacific Endeavour (IPE) mission. While in many ways it’s an example of classic naval diplomacy—with port visits, joint exercises and gifting of medical stores from HMA Ships Canberra and Anzac—the activities across Southeast Asia in the past three months actually represent the cumulative effort of the joint services and a whole-of-government approach from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to the Australian Civil-Military Centre.
To underscore the point of finding security in Asia, IPE 21 took the unprecedented step of appointing Captain Constancio Reyes of the Philippine Navy as the task group’s deputy commander, an invitation which also marked the milestone of 75 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries. Such was the enthusiastic reception for Reyes’s appointment that other regional navies have already registered interest in participating should multinational command become an ongoing feature.
It is a significant signal of trust between nations.
With IPE now in its fourth iteration, and ably led this year by Commodore Mal Wise despite the unenviable constraints of the Covid-19 pandemic, why are such achievements being overlooked? One answer is that, unlike a visiting British carrier strike group or German frigate, an Australian task group visiting the ASEAN nations is less remarkable for the fact that it is our neighbourhood, and our engagement efforts are regular and longstanding.
Rather than mere symbolism, IPE’s activities with each partner nation were painstakingly negotiated over 2021 to ensure the highest value for them. As a prosaic matter, the only time IPE seems to make headlines is when a Chinese intelligence vessel berths alongside or lasers are pointed at aviators. No journalists were onboard this year, and all interactions with foreign navies have been described as ‘safe and professional’.
There are legitimate questions to consider about the implications of nuclear-powered submarines for Australia’s immediate neighbours. Concerns about nuclear proliferation will be asked and must be answered. Port visits by Collins-class submarines have been an important part of the RAN’s naval diplomacy in the past 20 years, from the regular replenishment visits to Singapore to more diplomatically freighted visits to Brunei and New Caledonia.
With no requirement for refuelling, and representing the most closely guarded military technology, the future of such visits by nuclear-powered submarines is unclear. But earlier versions of IPE had the explicit task of introducing Australia’s landing helicopter docks to the region and reassuring our neighbours that, despite their being amphibious assault ships, there was no intention to assault anyone. IPE could one day fulfil a similar function for the nuclear-powered submarines.
In any case, the notion of Australia finding security either in or from Asia is a false dichotomy. We must continue doing the former where we can, the latter where we must—and both will be done better alongside the friends and allies we maintain from outside our immediate region.
Justin Burke is a non-resident fellow at the Center for Maritime Strategy and Security at the Institute for Security Policy at Kiel University and a PhD candidate in naval strategy at Macquarie University.
This article was published under the title ” Indo-Pacific Endeavour shows Australia’s security found in, not from, Asia” by ASPI on November 19, 2021.