Australia has again delayed the launch of a tender process for the acquisition of tactical unmanned air vehicles (TUAVs) for its army, with the requirement undergoing rescoping over the past three months.
New acquisition committee approvals are to be sought for the requirement - designated Joint Project 129 - over the next two months, with a tender release now targeted for July rather than May.
The revised TUAV requirement scales back overall capability levels and may also affect equipment numbers. The Australian Defence Materiel Organisation has released two draft capability requirements to potential contenders over the past year with the most recent version indicating that the baseline now seeks "up to three" full systems, with a basic requirement for two systems.
Each system will be made up of four air vehicles, twin ground control stations, and ground support equipment. Concept documents released last year by the JP 129 project office had flagged a procurement of up to four systems.
The revised specification calls for each system to be able to perform 15 hours of reconnaissance each day for three consecutive days. While the UAVs will be attached to Australian Army artillery formation, laser target designation capability is not being sought.
JP 129 project director Wg Cdr Darren May told the Unmanned Vehicle Asia Pacific 2004 conference held in Sydney on 21 April that the revised project schedule would require tender responses to be lodged by November, with evaluation completed by April 2005. A source selection will be announced in July 2005 with the first system required to be handed over for operator trials and evaluation in August 2007. The first system is due to become operationally available in early 2008.
May said several new phases are being considered for the JP 129 project, including a capability upgrade for the initial tactical UAV system. A sea-based system continues to be examined. JP 129 was originally based on a combined broad area surveillance system (BAAS)-TUAV architecture, however the wide area requirement was dropped some two years ago.
PETER LA FRANCHI / SYDNEY
Source: Flight International
