PETER LA FRANCHI / CANBERRA
Defence department ponders the flexibility of unmanned air vehicles for Project Bunyip
The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) has revealed its interest in airship-mounted passive array signals intelligence (SIGINT) gathering systems as part of the Australian Department of Defence's Project Bunyip force-wide electronic warfare (EW) system.
The RAAF says it is examining the potential for unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) to carry SIGINT payloads as part of the Bunyip architecture. Trials of a conceptual co-operative-UAV based SIGINT system will be carried out by the Australian Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO) in May using two Aerosonde UAVs and a DSTO-developed payload.
Senior defence officials at the biannual Australian Association of Old Crows electronic warfare conference in Canberra last week said interest in airships is focusing on craft that would operate in the stratosphere for long periods.
Wg Cdr Alex Gibbs, commanding officer of the RAAF's Information Operations (IO) Squadron, says airship-mounted SIGINT would have a "lot of flexibility that we are interested in".
Gibbs says airship systems would be complemented by SIGINT systems carried by Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk and Aerosonde endurance UAVs. Australia plans to acquire a Global Hawk fleet equipped with a SIGINT capability after 2005.
Gibbs says the RAAF is working with DSTO on development of a SIGINT-capable version of the Aerosonde. He says:" We are very excited about what Aerosonde can do. It has a lot of advantages in the littoral environment, supporting EW and IO around an airbase."
Project Bunyip first received funding from the Australian defence budget in May 2001. It is being used to carry out upgrades to existing Australian maritime and land-based EW systems.
According to data released at the Old Crows conference, Bunyip is intended to provide a force-level EW/SIGINT capability for the entire Australian Defence Force. A market survey will be released next month.
The project is seeking A$100-150 million ($52-77 million) in the 2003 Australian defence budget to enable the development of the replacement architecture. Senior-level defence committees will consider the case in October. The replacement equipment would become operational from 2008.
Source: Flight International
