Navy aviation 2020 vision

The past three years have been troubling times for the Royal Australian Navy's aviation arm with the failure of the Sea 1411 project to deliver the Kaman SH-2G(A) 'Super Seasprite' and the loss of 'Shark 02', a Westland 'Sea King' Mk 50 on Nias Island in 2005.

But despite these high profile failures Naval Aviation has also maintained an operational combat helicopter capability in the Iraqi waters of the Persian Gulf or North Arabian Gulf (NAG) since 2003. The Sikorsky S-70B-2 'Seahawk' flight attached to RAN frigates patrolling the NAG remain one of the few Australian Defence Force (ADF) aircraft constantly and consistently deployed in the face of a threat and tasked to actively defeat this threat. As a single point of failure, a lone aircraft on a small ship, the challenge of maintaining a 24-7 aviation capability (including an all weather flight deck) with only five aircrew and 10 technicians cannot be overstated.

Recognition of these successes and failures has been critical in the RAN's development of a new blueprint for its future aviation requirements – the navy aviation 2020 (NA 2020) document. That blueprint does not override other inputs into the future shape of naval aviation, such as the capability development process and the new white paper. But the RAN expects that it will provide the guiding principles for all elements of Defence to use when considering the future of naval aviation as a whole.

NA 2020 has been designed to take into account the complex legacies such as workforce retention, Sea 1411 and the operation of naval aviation flights and combine that with the expected future shape of the fleet and other established Defence objectives such as rotary wing rationalization under Air 9000.

NA 2020 maps out an objective future naval aviation combat system (FNACS) by 2020, based on up to 36 common, multi-role configurable helicopters being acquired under Air 9000 Phase 8, the joint Air 9000 Phase 7 Helicopter Aircrew Training System (HATS) in conjunction with army, and a single type of unmanned aerial system (UAS) managed by naval aviation to expand and extend the influence of the fleet.

SEASPRITE GAP FILLER

The acquisition timetable of the FNACS and a navy UAS remain dependent upon the new white paper process, especially the UAS which hasn't yet been scoped by Defence's capability development group. The immediate need for FNACS is high with the cancellation of the 11 Seasprites leaving only 16 Seahawks to provide up to nine shipboard flights.

With the Seahawk undergoing their Sea 1405 Phase 3B forward looking infra red (FLIR) and electronic support measures (ESM) upgrade, scheduled to finish in December 2009, availability has been lower than normal. The re-scoping of Sea 9000 Phase 3 for a Seahawk mid life upgrade (MLU) into two phases of Seahawk capability assurance (SCAP1 & 2) has removed some of the potential availability burden on the Seahawk.

Rather than an extensive airframe and systems rebuild SCAP1 will just address replacement of discontinued sub-systems with no capability enhancement up to 2010/11 and SCAP2 will address other obsolescence issues up to planned withdrawal date for the type.

While the overall scope of SCAP continues to be developed, elements are expected to include replacing obsolete radars and acoustics processors by 2012/13. Both SCAPs are to be managed with minimum possible risk to maximise the number of potential shipboard flights.

Despite Seahawk availability issues and the shortfall in naval aviation combat systems the RAN will not ask for a Seasprite gap filler capability until FNACS is available. Instead the retention and motivation initiative (RMI) adopted after the Seasprite had its airworthiness certification withdrawn will be extended and expanded to otherwise occupy surplus navy aircrew.

Currently the RMI includes 723 Squadron's 'Power' Flight of three AgustaWestland AW109s leased through Raytheon Australia to provide additional flying hours in a more complex aircraft other than the pedestrian Eurocopter EC350 'Squirrel' and service exchanges. In addition there are currently seven RAN aviators on threeyear tours with the United States Coast Guard (USCG) flying naval standard helicopters on operational over-water search and rescue (SAR) and law enforcement missions. As the USCG exchanges finish and the number of trained RAN aircrew grow those surplus to the reduced fleet will be exported to the army and air force placing naval aviation in a unique position in the ADF as a workforce exporter. These out of naval aviation postings will however be temporary as FNACS comes online the aircrew will be returned by mid decade to the Navy.

THE 'F-NACKS' HELICOPTER

Planning for the replacement of the Seahawk and filling the Seasprite gap is however moving quickly. The FNACS requirement is currently programmed for first pass in late 2009 and in-service delivery in the mid 2010s.

Air 9000 Phase 8 was renamed in the 2008-09 Federal Budget to recognise its centrality to the FNACS requirement and evolution of the requirement. But Phase 8 is no longer just a Seahawk and Seasprite replacement but will also include commonality with the maritime support helicopter (MSH) role currently fulfilled by the Sea King being replaced by six Eurocopter MRH90s. Those aircraft will achieve initial operating capability (IOC) from July 2010.

The new FNACS helicopter will be limited to a military off the shelf (MOTS) acquisition with capability development group adamant there will be no orphan helicopter acquired. The mission system will be open architecture and a long term collaborative development strategy with industry and other users is planned to enable spiral upgrades and cost effective sustainment.

The FNACS helicopter will be capable of rapid reconfiguration for Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW); close Anti-Surface Warfare (ASuW) with weapons like the FN Herstal M3M 12.7mm machinegun acquired under Navy minors for the Seahawk and the Lockheed Martin AGM-114 'Hellfire' missile; standoff ASuW with the Kongsberg 'Penguin' Mk 2 Mod 7 missile acquired for the Seasprite under Sea 1414 and fleet logistics support. The single type of helicopter is expected to permit role specific deployment and even at sea reconfiguration for particular missions with common support, airworthiness and workforce management.

The new Defence force structure review (FSR), being prepared as part of the current white paper process, will determine the final size of the future fleet, and everything is up for review. The existing defence capability plan (DCP) indicates by 2020 that the RAN will include three Hobart class destroyers, eight ANZAC class frigates, two Canberra class LHDs and two new AORs to replace HMA Ships Success and Sirius. To sustain each of these aviation capable ships with a naval aviation capability, not including those in periodic refit, a total of 12 shipboard flights are needed. The historical rule of thumb is another two helicopters are needed ashore to sustain each at sea requiring a total naval aviation force of 36 helicopters. That said, the nature of Defence's contemporary tendering process is to allow contenders to offer less helicopters if they can show how the system will meet the at sea requirement.

The primary candidates for Air 9000 Phase 8 are the Eurocopter NH90 NFH [NATO Frigate Helicopter] and Sikorsky's MH-60R Seahawk. The NH90 NFH will have an advantage in the role configuration for logistics support as all interior systems boxes and crew seats (up to two sensor/tactical operators) can be removed providing a similar flexible load capability with side doors and rear ramp to the MRH90 MSH. Conversely the MH-60R's combat system has proven capabilities in ASW, close and standoff ASuW and closely matches the FNACS requirement. The current scope of Phase 8 is for enough helicopters to support nine flights – meaning around 24-30 aircraft - with the balance comprising the currently contracted MRH90 MSH capability. Depending on the winner of Air 9000 Phase 8, the on order MRH90s will either be modified to FNACS standard or replaced to ensure the common helicopter across the fleet.

UNMANNING THE NAVY

While the army and air force have struggled over the past decade to acquire in-service UAS through long and muddled acquisition programs, JP 129 and JP 2062 (now Air 7000 Phase 1), navy aviation has decided that this form of capability is inevitable and offer considerable opportunity to enhance capability and overcome some of difficulties of providing aerial surveillance and response to the fleet. NA 2020 specifies that the FNACS will include a UAS capability to augment manned helicopters and provide relief to the single point of failure inherent to single air vehicle shipboard flights.

Funding issues within the DCP for Air 9000 Phase 8 mean that the UAS can't be acquired in the same project without reconsideration by Government. Capability development group expects the UAS will be acquired under its own project or phase especially considering the breadth of potential scope for the solution. NA 2020 outlines that the UAS needs to be managed by naval aviation at sea to best deliver the effect. This leaves an enormous amount of leeway to define the solution. Further complicating the issue is the space limitations of the Hobart and ANZAC ships, both of which have only single hangars sized for a 10 tonne class helicopter. There is potentially additional space for hangar expansion (but not enough for doubling) on both ships but this would require redesign and in the case of the ANZACs rebuilding.

That means that the most likely ship based UAS solution, the Northrop Grumman MQ-8B 'Fire Scout' - which is the only VTOL UAS currently moving into production for standardized ship based operations - could only be fielded from the current planned destroyer and frigate fleet in place of the FNACS helicopter. This same dilemma also faces the only likely future Fire Scout competitor - the Boeing A160T 'Hummingbird' aircraft which uses a unique variable speed rotor to provide extremely long endurance. While each FNACS helicopter could be replaced by three Fire Scouts or two Hummingbirds, such an option is unlikely considering the requirement for ASW and fleet logistics.

Smaller UAVs like the Boeing/Insitu 'Scan Eagle' and its more capable slightly larger cousin the Insitu 'Integrator' require minimal space and don’t even need to use the flight deck; being catapulted off and hooked back onto the ship. However Scan Eagle UAVs cannot currently carry the kind of typical naval warfare sensors like long range FLIRs and maritime search radars or weapons options. That capability may be possible via the Integrator aircraft however. That said the 'Scan Eagle' family is being increasingly deployed about US navy warships, including FFG 7 class ships as operated by the RAN. Likewise the USN is planning wide scale deployment of tactical class systems in the size and capability footprint of the Scan Eagle under its planned Tier II acquisition programme, draft tenders for which were released in early June with formal competition launch in the final quarter of this calendar year.

Another alternative solution may be smaller scale VTOL UAS such as the Schiebel S-100. That type is only 3m long and 1m high and could be stored alongside the FNACS helicopter. The S-100 also provides high sustained speeds similar to manned helicopters and enough payload for conventional sensors. The only problem is almost insurmountable: The S-100’s 40 kW (5 hp) Diamond Engines IAE 50R rotary engine runs on high octane Avgas that is virtually prohibited from storage onboard naval vessels due to its fire risk. Increasingly this military aversion to high flashpoint fuels is being met by small compact heavy fuel engines (HFE) using military standard kerosene jet fuel (JP-5) are being fitted to unmanned aircraft. If the S-100 was to be modified with a HFE, it could be a fleet compatible option. S-100 is expected to be offered for the USN Tier II competition, with the outcome of that programme as a whole expected to play a major role in shaping corresponding Australian thinking.

MALES IN THE FLEET

The other alternative to basing mission capable and fleet compatible UAS on destroyers and frigates in place of manned helicopters is by basing the UAS on another task group vessel like the new LHDs. Using the LHD as a mother ship to a fleet of UAS would take up a minor proportion of its hangar space, but with the caveat that only ships as part of an LHD equipped task group could gain the benefit of such a capability. Using VTOL UAS would enable them to source refuelling from the destroyers and frigates to provide an extended tactical presence away from the LHD.

Alternatively a larger naval UAS could be based ashore, with these enabling large fixed wing systems in the medium altitude long endurance (MALE) category to be considered in the force mix evaluation process. Aircraft in this class include the General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Predator B, the developmental Elbit Systems Hermes 900, and the fielded IAI Malat Heron - one of which was used in May 2008 for Customs UAS operations testing over the Gulf of Carpentaria.

MALE systems are typically capable of loitering for over 24 hours at reasonable distances (multiple 100kms) from main operating bases while carrying complete sensors payloads (FLIR, maritime search radar and ESM) and weapons. The Predator B can carry large sensors including the Elta EL/M-2022U radar, capable of detecting very small objects and provide range signature and inverse synthetic aperture radarbased automatic classification. Predator B can also carry significant weapons loads including Hellfire, Raytheon GBU-12 'Paveway II' laser guided bombs (LGB), Boeing GBU-38 JDAMs [Joint Direct Attack Munition] and Raytheon AIM-9X 'Sidewinder' air to air missiles. Potentially aircraft in this class would also be able to deploy standoff anti-ship missiles like the Penguin and light weight torpedoes for ASW.

An overhead MALE UAS would provide far more sensor and weapons options compared to ship based VTOL or catapult launched alternatives. The challenge would be to develop a shore based strategy while ensuring availability to the fleet. For example it is unrealistic to expect a shore based navy UAS could provide air support to a naval vessel operating around the Heard and McDonald Islands deep in the Southern Ocean, 5,000 km from Australia.

However in most likely conflict scenarios are littoral operations near or around coastlines. For example current operations in the NAG could be supported by MALE UAVs operating out of Al Adied Air Base in Qatar could easily sustain 12-24hr overhead loiters depending on the level of weaponry carried. On the balance side shore basing could contribute to achieving some of Navy's personnel retention goals under the 'sea change' program.

MALE and VTOL UAS solutions are however far more expensive than a Scan Eagle or even a hand launched mini UAS. But the cost involved reflects the higher levels of capability on offer: a MALE system could provide a significant sensor reach improvement in tough at-sea operating environments and the capability to supplant the shipboard flight’s single unit naval helicopter while it may be unavailable.

In turn the cost of more capable UAS reflects the ongoing challenge facing the realisation of the Navy's objective through NA 2020: Budgetary pressures may leave the objective force without the kind of capability enhancement potential a naval UAS offers.

The Snark was a boojum

Like its founder - big-talking former New Zealand politician Trevor Rogers - TGR Helicorp was always promising. It planned an unmanned helicopter with capabilities well in excess of contemporary manned and unmanned military rotorcraft.

Its 'Snark' unmanned combat air rotorcraft (UCAR) was claimed to be light, fast, quiet, virtually invisible to radar and infrared detection, fitted with a sophisticated suite of surveillance equipment and capable of carrying a 680kg weapons payload.

Named after the Lewis Carroll poem "The hunting of the snark", the UCAR was to have been powered by a DeltaHawk diesel engine, would have been capable of staying airborne for 24 hours at a time and was touted as ideal for search, rescue and evacuation operations. It was claimed to be capable of inserting two fully equipped soldiers deep behind enemy lines and pull them out again, and is known to have been briefed to the US Special Operations Command around 2004.

But even more remarkable, a civilian variant - the Alpine Wasp - was claimed to be capable of flying high enough to rescue stricken climbers from the top of Mount Everest. This application was so attractive that two of New Zealand's most well-known mountaineers Mark Inglis and Peter Hillary - son of Sir Edmund Hillary, the first man to conquer Everest - agreed to be patrons and ambassadors for Rescue on Everest, a related charitable venture to promote the Alpine Wasp.

Inglis, who became the first amputee to climb Everest in 2006, said he and Hillary agreed to back it as "we thought it was a hell of a good idea."

He is now bemused and embarrassed, and reluctant to talk about what's become of the Wasp. It all sounded so good, the remarkable work of Trevor Rogers, engineer and former politician and a man with a convincing gift of the gab. The Snark concept was first revealed publicly at the Unmanned Vehicle Systems International's (UVSI) annual Paris conference in June 2005, in a back to back presentation with DeltaHawk engine company representatives. Rogers claimed at the time that two subscale prototypes had flown and a third full scale demonstrator was in advanced assembly.

Rogers released a series of photos of a fullsized prototype in 2005 and had regularly flagged forthcoming test flights, the dates of which have strangely continued to come and go without further details emerging.

The only trouble is that the promise was and continues to be just that - the potential for a brilliant aircraft.

Now it all seems to have come crashing down - Helicorp is in receivership, the company is no longer and its principal, fuming at red tape and vicious press coverage, is vowing to pursue his dream elsewhere.

Rogers, who owned the majority of shares with his wife, has told APDR he closed the company down in February - before receivers were appointed - to sort out a problem with minority shareholders.

The company moved out of its rented Auckland base and Rogers says he walked out with all the intellectual property in his head, leaving just a shell of a company for the receivers. However, he said the venture was effectively killed by Government officials - "idiots in Wellington" - who deemed exports of his helicopters would contravene the international Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR).

"That was set up to stop proliferation of missiles, but somehow my aircraft got fitted into that by those idiots in Wellington. The MTCR controls anything that can carry anything more than 300 pounds and travel more than 150 miles so they classified it as a cruise missile. Every time we applied for an export permit it got turned down on the grounds they could be used to carry weapons of mass destruction... it's an absolutely f... joke."

"We had cutting edge technology, we still have cutting-edge technology that's light years ahead of anything that exists today anywhere in the world. It's unwanted in New Zealand and I walk out with several billion dollars worth of export business that could have been in New Zealand." Rogers said he had "a gut" and was selling up personal property and would "probably leave the country for good".

He would not say where he might go - or where he might get backing - that had nothing to do with New Zealand. However, he specifically denied he might have had backing from the United Arab Emirates or that there is any way he would try and set up a helicopter business in Australia. A major issue for Rogers and his helicopters is that there is no evidence that anything other than subscale versions have flown and that has inevitably caused some scepticism.

Rogers, 65, a National Party member of Parliament from 1990-96 and before that an Auckland local body politician, said claims that his helicopters were "all smoke and mirrors pissed me right off".

He said the likes of Boeing sell new aircraft like their new Dreamliner before they've ever flown - and modern computer design systems were sufficient to prove the capability of his aircraft.

UV Pacific 2008

The biennial Shephard UV Pacific conference was held on Queensland's Gold Coast 27-29 May, with the event now clearly the premier unmanned systems event in Australia. Incorporating a substantial exhibition component, the conference saw solid delegate participation from the Australian Defence organisation as well as local and international industry. Peter La Franchi reports.

The Defence Materiel Organisation has confirmed studies are underway of potential integration of a basic level unmanned air system (UAS) imagery display capability aboard the Royal Australian Air Force's Boeing CH-47D Chinook helicopters.

The proposed capability would see an L-3 Communications Remotely Operated Video Enhanced Receiver (ROVER) IV receiver terminal integrated aboard the helicopters to receive data direct from the Army's leased Boeing - Insitu Scan Eagle air vehicles now operationally deployed in Afghanistan.

The DMO's director general of helicopter materiel management, BRIG Charles Crocombe, says that "we have been looking at trying to Scan Eagle presentation into the back of a Chinook for use in Afghanistan and I think that would be a significant step forward for our forces."

He told the UV Pacific 2008 conference that "The way that we are approaching that is basically as a problem of how to get an antenna in there and how to get the imagery in their in an airworthy way." The current studies are focussed on "whether or not we could do it. I think what will then happen is that the customer will have to work out what the opportunities are that that creates and then we will see where that goes as to how integrated the approach might be in the future."

Boeing Australia's head of UAS operations, Andrew Duggan, told the conference that while the integration concept is initially focussed on provision of UAS imagery, Boeing has been working on development of a level four UAS control capability from an airborne platform.

That capability has been demonstrated using a US marines Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey tilt rotor aircraft and Boeing is also working on a modified package which can be carried by a CH-47 helicopter. "It really comes down to what the user wants and at the end of the day the project with Rover IV probably is a more sensible one to start with; they want to see the imagery and not necessarily control the UAS, but maybe that is a path down the track" Duggan says.

Insitu Pacific launches in Brisbane

The US-headquartered unmanned air system (UAS) manufacturer Insitu has established a new wholly owned subsidiary in Brisbane with the company planning to leverage existing Australian Defence Force (ADF) contracts to open up new business opportunities nationally and across southeast Asia.

The subsidiary, Insitu Pacific Limited (IPL) Pty Ltd, will progressively develop its own engineering and integration capabilities in Australia according to Insitu president and chief executive officer Steven Sliwa.

IPL will also seek to develop technology relationships with Australian university based researchers, commencing with the University of Queensland, and local companies with a view to including domestically sourced systems and subsystems in the Insitu global supply chain.

Sliwa says that the new subsidiary will continue to focus its military intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance services business in Australia through its longstanding commercial relationship with Boeing Company. Boeing Australia Limited is the service delivery partner for the ADF's Insitu Scan Eagle UAS operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The ADF services operation was Insitu's largest single contract during 2007 says Sliwa, with the ADF contract also incorporating support options for British forces in Iraq under a military to military funding arrangement negotiated in 2006.

Boeing and Insitu's previous primary customer for Scan Eagle UAS services had been the US navy and marines. The emergence of Australia as a major customer came as Insitu was preparing to establish its own global presence as part of an evolving growth strategy. "Last year the contracting that we did with Boeing Australia for the ADF - and ADF supporting the British - ended up being our biggest customer for that year so that was a pretty strong signal".

Sliwa says that Australia and southeast Asia had long been recognised as a focal point for Insitu strategy, particularly given the origins of Insitu's family of unmanned aircraft as an evolution of the AAI Aerosonde 'Aerosonde' UAS. "We have always had a strong affinity".

The Aerosonde system began life as a cooperative programme between the Australian Bureau of Meteorology and US-based UAS designer Tad McGeer, who was also Insitu's founder. McGeer then designed what is now referred to as the Insight series of low altitude long endurance aircraft - which provide the basis for the Scan Eagle military derivative.

Insitu had been studying options for establishment of its first offshore entity since 2006 and in fact first registered the name IPL with the Australian Securities & Investments Commission in December 2006 as a holding position. At the same time the company was assessing options for subsidiaries in Canada and the United Kingdom.

"18 months ago when we formed IPL it required a motion of the board and at that time, it was a very low dollar investment to protect ourselves. We have done similar things in a couple of other places just to protect ourselves." The ADF contracts however came as part of "confluence of things where now it looked like it was going to be a really important customer".

During 2007 the Queensland government's Department of Tourism, Regional Development and Industry approached Insitu with an invitation to pursue an economic development grant as part of encouragement for the firm proceed with investment in the state. The grant subsequently secured is "a modest one" says Sliwa: "It is a phased approach and as we grow the programme there will be a little bit more economic development."

Insitu was also familiar with the Australian regulatory environment for UAS operations, with this seen internationally as providing a developer-friendly regime under which key issues of air vehicle certification and airspace integration could be explored.

"So when it came time to have discussions with our board it became really clear: we have a heritage in Australia; we are comfortable with the potential for developing airspace with CASA; we have a very big customer here with the potential to grow into a bigger customer; and this region is important. We think this region has potential and it is really tough to serve this region from our time zone [in the USA]."

Formal Insitu board approvals to proceed with the roll-out of IPL occurred in February this year with office space leased in central Brisbane - opposite the Boeing Australia offices - and began a search for a managing director. For that key post Insitu recruited Peter Bale, AAI Aerosonde North America’s general manager, one of the worlds most experienced commercial UAS operations executives.

Originally a Royal Australian Navy fleet air arm technician, Bale was an early pioneer of commercial UAS service operations in Australia in the early 2000s as part of the former Kingfisher company that explored maritime surveillance applications using Israeli sourced systems. Bale subsequently joined Aerosonde in 2004 and was transferred to the US in 2005 to oversee the development of commercial weather monitoring services for several US government agencies, including NASA and the US air force. He formally joined Insitu in March this year.

"The fact that we brought somebody as talented as Peter Bale in isn't because we thought we would be serving our current customer" says Sliwa. "We have the belief that with the right team in place we could grow the market in other areas, both military and civilian."

IPL will have a remit that covers the entire Southeast Asian region but will be tailored as required to meet market requirements. "There is always a chance that customers can drive you in directions that you hadn't pre-planned and that is ok. We like customers to have a vision and direct. But right now our plan is to be able to support potential customers in the region through IPL, currently based in Brisbane. We believe that will be successful but we will also have dialogue with customers as programmes grow."

An early focal point for IPL will be the provision of improved subsystems and payload integration support for the full Insitu family of unmanned aircraft, including the new Integrator type which was initially released onto the market last year. Larger than the Insight / Scan Eagle series, Integrator is seen by Insitu as a pathfinder for opening up new markets for UAS services.

"Clearly one of our broader strategies with our next generation product - the Integrator - is to make it very easy to introduce new kinds of payloads and technologies into low cost UAS. We are working hard on that and we are getting closer on those milestones. One of the goals of IPL will be to help enable both the local customers here as well as the customers in the region more quickly integrate their payloads.

"It [Integrator] is kind of an opposite to Scan Eagle, because Scan Eagle is so totally integrated it almost requires the inventors to be able to add new capabilities and we are trying to make that be a whole lot easier with our Integrator - hopefully to a new level that hasn't been seen before.

"It is a new business line and in a sense, like we have this modularity built into the Scan Eagle where we can replace some of Insitu's payloads, this has the opportunity where customers can ultimately come up with different modularity’s and different payload combinations, sometimes requiring assistance - especially at the higher level of integration - but in a sense they can almost remake the UAS themselves.

"Some of the countries in this region, Australia being one of them, would like to have more local content, more local technology, partially so they can control it for security reasons but partially for speed, but also because they want to be able to have economic development and be able to grow in the programme. So in a sense it is an attempt at technology partnerships on our part, having the Integrator system here and being able to support it in the region so that people can start customising the vehicles and systems towards their particular needs."

Sliwa says that IPL will be actively exploring the Australian research and industrial bases with this including plans to secure appropriate technology releases from the US state department to provide the subsidiary with its own manufacturing licence. This should allow IPL "to work closer and quicker with local industries and universities in developing new technologies".

The existing UAS services contract with the ADF might provide one focal point for such arrangements. "What is really great is when you can have a really good customer that has needs that pull you, and one of the things we have right now is we have a flexible contract with our customer in the ADF such that if we bring new capabilities to bear, they can use it whereas if it was a kind of traditional programme it would have to go through a multi year approval cycle.

"They have started to lay out a road map of new technologies and capabilities that they are interested in. Because we have a good working relationship, they have identified some of these targets and we have started the conversation about some of these different areas, in particular different kinds of sensors that they are interested in and different ways that they want to process the data. It is not so much that Insitu will do all that work or Boeing Australia will do all that work, but between us and working together with local industry partners we can try and put together the right team for tackling each one of those.

"So we definitely have ideas and there are some regional contacts that we are aware of, companies that have capabilities that would adapt pretty nicely to fit Scan Eagle now and Integrator in the future."