On Thursday the 4th September, The Australian Society of Defence Engineers (ASDE) and the Engineers Australia Quality in Engineering Panel (EAQEP) hosted a joint technical seminar held at the Engineers Australia’s Harricks Auditorium in Chatswood. The seminar titled ‘Australia Air Defence RAAF F/A 18 Classic Hornet Tactical Fighter – What it can do, what it takes to keep it flying and where are we headed? was presented by Wing Commander Neil Armstrong BEng (Hons) MEngSci MIEAust CPEng RAAF.
The presentation covered the Classic Hornet capability, the inception of the aircraft, the current support model, the challenges in retiring and disposing of the aircraft, an introduction to the Super Hornet model and the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) potential support model.
Wing Commander Armstrong began by providing the background of the Classic Hornet aircraft stating the aircraft is a multirole fighter and a ground attack aircraft which originated in the US designed by McDonnell Douglas. The Classic Hornet includes fly by wire control systems, advanced avionics and a higher degree of manoeuvrability and underwent extensive upgrades in the 2000s improving its structure, avionics and weapons capabilities producing an aircraft with state of the art on board equipment, and munitions which represents a potent deterrent within our theatre of operations for the remainder of this decade.
The Classic Hornet was acquired between 1984 – 1990 as the lead tactical fighter with 75 purchased through the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) with 71 currently remaining in service. The aircraft sustainment budget is in the order of approximately $175 – 200m and is maintained by a large team of Defence staff and contractors.
The Classic Hornet has a complicated support model which is heavily reliant on the Tactical Fighter System Program Office (TFSPO) as the integrator of 26 different contractors, the RAAF workshops and the US FMS system. In recent years, as the aircraft has aged, the RAAF has introduced Australian unique upgrades in a strong effort to support local industry as well as ordering from the FMS. The current support model offers great flexibility, allowing the control of costs and risks at an all platform level. The model also provides a responsive and effective service to meet demands.
Wing Commander Armstrong explained that before the transition to the Joint Strike Fighter, a large volume of Classic Hornet aircraft and support equipment requires disposing of or reallocating for use within the Air Force. The disposal of the aircraft and equipment are bound by the rules of the FMS acquisition and the international Trade in Arms Regulations (ITAR). The process is labour intensive and bureaucratic with a key difficulty being the finite number of RAAF and APS staff available to be involved in the process.
In recent times, the RAAF have acquired through the FMS in 2010 as a bridging capability 24 F/A - 18F Super Hornet Fighters to replace the classic F-111 Hornets for 10 years. The operating support costs for the new aircraft is approximately $160m and was acquired with a Total Support Contract from a sole contractor with strong reliance on Boeing Defence Australia and the US for contractor and FMS support.
Wing Commander Armstrong presented the future direction of the RAAF in the acquisition of 75 Joint Strike Fighters which are sophisticated, fifth generation, limited production aircraft. The aircraft are complicated to maintain and manage requiring specialist skills which the RAAF currently does not possess. Furthermore, the RAAF staff is capped and is reassigning some of its technical workforce positions for other trades such as GIAs and in the security force. To overcome this challenge, the primary option is to buy into the US regional support hub model however there are questions needing clarification in that option including; what would this support model mean for local industry? Where do they fit in? What would this model do to the flexible effective models of the past? Does it guarantee efficiency and economy required in a budget limited environment? These questions are critical to ensure the establishment and retainment of the ability to influence how the RAAF supports Australia’s major Air Defence capabilities and will be answered before the implementation of a new support model.
The seminar concluded with a question and answer session with numerous questions from the audience in regards to the future of the Hornet Fighters, the JSFs, the associated costs and operation & maintenance capabilities of the RAAF and quality control in the aircraft support models. The audience then had the opportunity to network with fellow engineers, interested people and Wing Commander Armstrong.
For further information on joining the Australian Society of Defence Engineers (ASDE) committee and/or mailing list, please visit:
www.engineersaustralia.org.au/australian-society-defence-engineering
For further information on joining the Engineers Australia Quality in Engineering Panel (EAQEP) committee and/or mailing list, please visit:
www.engineersaustralia.org.au/sydney-division/quality-engineering-panel
David Zhao
EAQEP Secretary
This article has been posted by Engineers Australia Sydney Division. For enquiries please email EA Sydney.