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Australia Army Modernization

Throughout its history, Australia’s land forces have responded to a wide variety of tasks from humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, to peacekeeping and, ultimately, to combat operations. To equip the land forces to meet these challenges into the future, new investments are planned in strike weapons, watercraft, helicopters, information effects, logistics resilience and emerging robotics and autonomous systems.

These capabilities will increase the land force’s combat power, and give the Government more options to deploy the ADF in the more competitive environment Australia now faces, and is expected to face into the future. Australia’s land forces will be connected, protected, potent and enabled. Enhanced mobility, firepower, protection, and situational awareness will allow them to rapidly deploy where they are needed, achieve their missions, and return home safely. They will be better able to operate independently and to integrate with Australia’s partners and allies. This total package of capability investment in the land forces will be worth around AU$55 billion over the decade of the 2020s.

The Government has made significant investments in the ADF’s amoured fighting vehicle capability. Australia has the capability to conduct sustained close combat in the land domain, which is critical to ensuring the ADF provides a credible deterrent to any threats to Austarlian interests. To build the ADF’s capability in this regard, the Government’s plans include:

• LAND 400 PH2 Armoured Vehicles – Combat Reconnaissance Vehicle, covers acquisition of 211 Combat Reconnaissance Vehicles. Procurement of the Boxer combat reconnaissance vehicle, to be built in Queensland, will enhance the survivability of mounted land intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance elements of the combat force;
• LAND 400 PH 3 Selection and procurement of infantry fighting vehicles to replace the M113AS4 armoured personnel carrier and provide soldiers with a modern close combat vehicle with improved survivability. Armoured Vehicles – Infantry Fighting Vehicle covers acquisition of up to 450 Infantry Fighting Vehicles and 17 Manoeuvre Support Vehicles. There were four main industry contenders for this $10-15 billion Army program, each offering a different solution to Army’s request for tender (RFT), including BAE Systems Australia, Hanwha Defense Systems, General Dynamics Land Systems and Rheinmetall. On 16 September 2019, the Government announced that Hanwha Defense Australia and Rheinmetall Defence Australia had been assessed as offering vehicles that are best able to meet Defence's requirements. The total acquisition cost of the vehicles is estimated to be worth up to AU$27 billion;
• LAND 8160 PH1 - Combat Engineering Vehicles covers procurement of a new armoured combat engineering capability to ensure the survivability of engineers while supporting land force vehicles to bypass or penetrate obstacles during combat; and
• LAND 907 PH2 M1 Main Battle Tank Upgrade covers delivery of enhancements in knowledge, lethality, mobility, survivability and sustainability of the Abrams Main Battle Tank by upgrade to M1A2 configuration and incorporation of Australian BMS. Upgrades to the M1 Abrams ensures fleet remains a regionally superior main battle tank, with measures to improve the sustainability of the tank fleet.

Defence will also develop options for a system to replace the current tank capability when it reaches its end of life. This new system will integrate with reconnaissance and infantry fighting vehicles to ensure the land force retains a decisive land combat capability into the future. Life of Type for Abrams M1A2 is 2035 but work on the replacement will commence before then.

To enable joint land operations, particularly in high-intensity conflicts, Defence will require protected capabilities that give land forces the ability to shape the battlefield and strike adversaries at a distance. Land forces will also require expanded combat engineering capabilities to enable mobility and provide survivability and sustainment support. Within this program the Government has existing plans for the procurement of a long-range rocket artillery and missile system and new engineering vehicles.

To further strengthen capability to shape the battlefield and strike in contested environments, enhancements to land combat are planned, including:

• LAND 8116 Protected Mobile Fires (Self Propelled Howitzer) covers acquisition of Two regiments of Self-Propelled Howitzers (the core of the Protected Mobile Fires capability), to be built in Geelong, Victoria to complement existing land-based strike capabilities. Under the LAND 8116 Phase 1 Protected Mobility Fires requirement the Australian Army will acquire 30 new Hanwha AS9 Huntsman 155mm self-propelled howitzers (SPH) and 15 AS10 Armoured Ammunition Resupply Vehicle (AARV) a for the requirement. Hanwha Defense Corporation build the AS9s and AS10s at a plant in the Geelong area of Victoria. LAND 8116 Phase 2 is planned for later this decade and will involve the acquisition of additional vehicles. SA critical feature of this capability will be its ability to network into the Army’s battle management system – fires (BMS-F). LAND 8116 Phase 2, announced in the 2020 Force Structure Plan, is anticipated to commence in the late 2020s, delivering additional Protected Mobile Fires capability, and LAND 8116 Phase 3 is anticipated to commence in the mid-2030s, delivering a mid-life upgrade that will provide an opportunity to incorporate emerging technologies.This includes a future program of upgrades to hardware and software to ensure these systems retain their potency over time;
• The enhancement or replacement of the M777 155mm lightweight towed howitzer with a rapidly-deployable and lightweight artillery to maximise the flexibility of the ADF’s suite of artillery capabilities;
• Project LAND 8113 calls for the procurement of a battery (6 systems) of long-range rocket artillery and missile systems, upgrades to the range of these systems to enable a land based operational strike capability, and the purchase of additional units to enable the capability to be expanded into a full regiment of three batteries;
• LAND 19-7B (L19 7B) Short Range Ground Based Air Defence (SR-GBAD) will introduce a modern SR-GBAD capability - the Norwegian Advanced Surface to Air Missile System (NASAMS) firing the Advanced Medium Range Air to Air Missile (AMRAAM) produced by Raytheon - able to protect the Joint land force and provide interoperability into the wider ADF Integrated Air and Missile Defence (IAMD) System. It will introduce a highly mobile capability able to protect manoeuvre forces with advanced sensor systems able to contribute to the threat picture enabling Joint assets and land fires platforms. The advanced, highly technical nature of this project will require changes to existing training and simulation systems within the people system.
• A future program to develop a directed energy weapon system able to be integrated onto ADF protected and armoured vehicles, and capable of defeating armoured vehicles up to and including main battle tanks. The eventual deployment of directed energy weapons may also improve land force resilience by reducing the force’s dependence an ammunition stocks and supply lines;
• Introduction of smart anti-tank mines, which will strengthen the ADF’s ability to shape the battlefield;
• Provision of additional protective equipment, sensors and medical supplies for the ADF in operations in chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear contaminated environments; and
• The establishment of a coordination office for the implementation of robotics and autonomous systems across the land force to enable, enhance and protect platforms and personnel in combat.

To enhance the ADF’s ability to respond to a range of circumstances across the region, further enhancement will be made to land mobility and support through planned investment in a fleet, up to a brigade in size, of un-crewed systems, to include vehicles, to support operations by land forces. This will enhance the war-fighting capability of the ADF while also protecting Australian personnel.

Crewed and remotely piloted airborne platforms and capabilities are critical for land manoeuvre, by providing transport, battlefield support and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. The Government will continue with its investments in key battlefield aviation capabilities including:

• AIR 87 Phase 3 Replacement of the Tiger Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter from the mid-2020s. The project has contracted for delivery of 22 aircraft including an instrumented aircraft ;
• Procurement of a special operations rotary wing capability to meet the niche demands of special operations;
• AIR 9000 Phase 2 Multi-Role Helicopter (MRH) Program is a key component of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) Helicopter Strategic Master Plan that seeks to rationalise the number of helicopter types in ADF service.
• Continued operation of a multi-role troop lift helicopter and the CH-47F Chinook multi-mission heavy-lift transport helicopter for the provision of mobility, logistic support and aeromedical evacuation of land forces;
• The AIR 9000 Phase 5C Medium Lift Helicopter to replace the extant Australian Defence Force (ADF) Medium Lift Helicopter capability of CH-47D Chinook helicopters with seven new modernised CH-47F Chinook helicopters;
• Continued operation of tactical remotely piloted aerial vehicles to provide intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance in support of land forces.

Investment is also planned in future aviation capabilities to ensure the land force maintains flexibility in movement and superiority in battlefield surveillance and reconnaissance networks, including:

• LAND 129–4 Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). Small Unmanned Aerial System (SUAS) will deliver enhanced situational awareness and increased force protection. Small remotely piloted aerial systems support the land force’s surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities. The project is a new capability which will provide organic Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) support primarily for land force operations. LAND 129–4 particularly supports Battlespace Awareness in Land Combat operations including Littoral Manoeuvre. Land 129-4 SUAS will provide the tactical commander with a ‘flying pair of binoculars’ capability for enhanced day/night surveillance and reconnaissance in order to reduce the threat to soldiers attempting to identify enemy locations or activity.
• The acquisition of long-range rotorcraft to enable land force projection and support at greater ranges; and
• In the longer term, the acquisition of a Next Generation Rotorcraft will replace elements of battlefield aviation with enhanced capabilities.

Armoured Vehicle Division (AVD) was established on 21 January 2019 as a new division alongside Land Systems Division within the Land Domain of the Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group. AVD subsumed the Combined Arms Fighting Vehicle Branch of Land Systems Division, which was renamed the Armoured Fighting Vehicles Branch. AVD provides a coordinated, programmatic approach to the acquisition of Australia's armoured vehicle capabilities, including:

• LAND 400 Phase 2 - Mounted Combat Reconnaissance Capability project - for the acquisition and support of 211 Rheinmetall Boxer 8x8 Combat Reconnaissance Vehicles.
• LAND 400 Phase 3 - Mounted Close Combat Capability project - for the acquisition and support of up to 450 Infantry Fighting Vehicles and up to 17 Manoeuvre Support Vehicles.
• LAND 907 Phase 2 - Main Battle Tank Upgrade project - to upgrade the M1A1 Main Battle Tank, the M88A2 Armoured Recovery Vehicle and tank supporting systems.
• LAND 8160 Phase 1 -Combat Engineering Vehicles project - to acquire a new armoured engineering capability with assault breaching, armoured bridge launching, armoured engineer and armoured recovery capabilities.

The ADF must have the ability to have a persistent ground presence, operate in complex terrain, and defeat adversaries through close combat. Government will continue to invest in enhanced equipment to enable and protect soldiers on the modern battlefield. This includes small arms and heavy weapons systems, night vision equipment, personal ballistic protection and load carrying equipment.

The Defence special operations capability provides Government with response options for irregular and conventional threats beyond the capability of general-purpose forces or other government agencies. This capability will be increasingly important to countering the grey-zone threats Australia is likely to face in the future.

The Government is committed to maintaining Australia’s special forces capability, and is planning investments in the Special Operations Continuous Development Program and a deployable special operations engineering capability. The Government’s plans also include investment in a replacement fleet of medium/heavy special operations vehicles and the acquisition of small submersible and surface boat capabilities to support maritime counter-terrorism, special reconnaissance and warfare, and precision strike missions.