After a long wait, Australia’s plans to introduce new fixed- and rotary-wing training systems for the Australian Defence Force (ADF) may finally be turning into reality.

Program plans have been gradually slipping over the past few years, prompting one industry executive at the SimTect 2009 conference and exhibition in Adelaide in June to lament that the programs are “moving like treacle.”

But the Defence Department (DoD) says it is now targeting next year for the release of request for tenders for two major training projects.

The country is aiming to implement a new Pilot Training System (PTS) under project Air 5428, while rotary-wing pilot training will be modernized under the Air 9000 Phase 7 Helicopter Aircrew Training System (HATS).

According to Australia’s recently released Defence Capability Plan (DCP) 2009, Air 5428 will provide the Air Force, Army and Navy with a new fixed-wing PTS that will “provide platforms for flight screening and cover all facets of undergraduate pilot training from basic flying up to entry into Air Force lead-in fighter and operational conversion units.”

It will also provide candidates for HATS and provide initial training for qualified flying instructors to support PTS and fixed-wing operational training.

The DCP says the project aims to use basic and advanced training systems to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the fixed-wing PTS. In particular, it is aimed at increasing graduation numbers; generating pilot skills consistent with advance fourth- and fifth-generation aircraft; enabling the withdrawal of current training media; and providing solutions for the integration of synthetic training systems.

The DCP says that although industry requirements are yet to be determined, they are expected to include the development and updating of the PTS, including the curriculum, training media, manuals and software; the development and maintenance of a training management information system; development and support of PTS-related infrastructure, including training aircraft, the synthetic training environment, facilities and systems; and training delivery. The new training aircraft are expected to be commercial- or military-off-the-shelf.

Air 5428 is at a pre-second pass stage, with a request for tenders (RFT) now expected to be released in mid- to late 2010, according to the DoD. Government second-pass approval is expected in financial year 2012/13 to financial year 2014/15, with an initial operating capability planned for 2015 to 2017, it says. The project is expected to cost in excess of 1.5 billion Australian dollars ($1.39 billion).

Under the original timeline, an RFT was expected to be released in the third quarter of 2007, responses by the second quarter of 2008 and completion of contract negotiation and design by the end of 2010.

“Air 5428 is a large and complex project. It was important that Defence had a well-reasoned and documented business case to take to government for approval,” the DoD said in response to the delay.

REQUIREMENT OUTLINES

While timescales have slipped, the requirements outlined in the 2006 RFI broadly remain unchanged, according to the DoD. The required capacity for the PTS will be approximately 110 student pilot graduates annually. Based on a 65 percent success rate overall, this would require an annual intake of approximately 170 students. Defence is seeking a 25-year operational life for the PTS. “The future system will make much greater use of synthetic training devices as an enabler for the airborne instruction. Defence also envisages a greater use of computer-based training and computer-aided instruction in the delivery of theory subjects,” it said.

What is yet to be decided on, however, is the acquisition strategy, with studies in the past conducted on the use of a public-private partnership (PPP). Defence said only: “The acquisition strategy is yet to be approved by government.”

Project Air 9000 Phase 7 HATS is also progressing, albeit equally slowly. A draft RFT was expected to be released last year, but instead a draft Operational Concept Document was released to industry, and a consultation period followed “to gauge industry preference and capacity to provide a PPP,” Defence said. Current planning calls for the RFT to be released in early to mid-2010, it says.

The project received first-pass approval in February 2007, with second-pass approval now scheduled for financial year 2011/12 to 2012/13. Initial operating capability is planned for 2014 to 2016.

According to the DCP, HATS is intended to provide a rotary-wing training capability for the Army and Navy to meet the future rotary wing training needs of the ADF. It aims to deliver a system that includes live, synthetic and classroom instruction “to overcome the broadening gap between the current rotary training systems and the advanced operational helicopters in the current and planned future ADF inventories,” such as the Tiger Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter and the multirole MRH-90 helicopter.

HATS will include commercial- or military-off-the-shelf helicopters to replace the Eurocopter Squirrel (Navy) and Bell OH-58 Kiowa (Army) training helicopters; an aviation training vessel; air, ground and maritime facilities; and a synthetic training environment including full-motion simulators, fixed-base simulators, part-task trainers and computer-based training.

HMAS Albatross at Nowra, New South Wales, has already been selected as the location for the helicopter training school for the HATS project. The $100 million Australian dollar ($93 million) school will have a capacity to train up to 60 pilots, 40 aircrewmen/loadmasters and 12 observers per annum. Construction of the new school is likely to start soon after second pass approval, DoD said.

As with the PTS, an acquisition strategy has yet to be approved. The DCP said there is “a broad range of options under consideration which could involve a direct capital acquisition or privately financed lease, or elements of both.” DoD added: “Defence will continue to seek the best value for money solution to deliver capability.”

BAE Systems Australia and Boeing Australia currently provide flight training services for the ADF. BAE has been providing flying training at its Flight Training Tamworth facility in New South Wales since 1992. In addition to providing basic flight training and flight screening for the ADF, it also provides air grading for the Republic of Singapore Air Force, as well as flight training for the air forces of Malaysia, Brunei and Papua New Guinea.

About 90 ADF students graduate from 25-week basic flying training courses each year, with Army students conducting a further period of training before proceeding to rotary wing flying training.

BAE expects to provide services under the current arrangements through to December 2011, says John Quaife, aviation solutions general manager. Beyond 2011, Defence plans a public tender for an Interim Basic Flying Training School until Project Air 5428 delivers a new PTS, including basic flying training, in the 2015 to 2017 timeframe. The Interim Basic Flying Training School contract is planned to commence in January 2012, DoD said. “The transition plans are still fairly broad at this time and will be further developed during and after tender evaluation,” it added.

AATTS CONTRACT

Boeing Australia was awarded the Army Aviation Training and Training Support (AATTS) contract at the Army Aviation Training Centres at Oakey, Queensland, in May 2007, but the company has provided logistics, operational and deeper maintenance support to the helicopter training fleet, including the Bell 206B-1 Kiowa and Squirrel AS350BA, for more than 16 years. The performance-based AATTS contract rationalized several separate support contracts, including Black Hawk maintenance and training and added training for the Kiowa. Under the terms of the contract, Boeing Australia trains Army students who have previously completed fixed-wing training to fly helicopters; mentors and trains new Army instructors and loadmasters; and supervises and trains Army technicians on the Black Hawk.

AATTS is scheduled to run until at least 2012, says Boeing, adding that the contract has a range of extension options which would allow the Army to dovetail AATTS with the replacement system acquired under Air 9000 Phase 7.

BAE and Boeing are among numerous suppliers planning to bid for the Air 5428 and Air 9000 Phase 7, with both companies proposing total flying solutions designed to meet the requirements of both projects.

BAE is developing an integrated proposal that will be a total flying training solution that will manage the progression of students across both fixed-wing and rotary elements, said Quaife. “BAE Systems has developed a revised model for pilot training that focuses on delivering the improved productivity required by the ADF,” he said. “This model will meet the overall ADF pilot training requirements and will increase the number of fast-jet-suitable graduates produced by the training system. The BAE Systems solution is designed to maintain the training effectiveness through the careful integration of training delivery with both individual student requirements and the operational requirements of the ADF. For fast-jet graduates, this integration extends to the delivery of lead-in fighter training sustained by BAE Systems through the Hawk 127 aircraft fleet,” he added.

COLLABORATION AND UNDERSTANDING

Quaife said BAE’s Air 5428 and Air 9000 Phase 7 proposal has been shaped by years of collaboration with the ADF and reflects a deep understanding of ADF training needs. “Key features of this model include the extent of risk transfer for fleet management and training delivery, proven integration of civilian service delivery with all aspects of a military school and the lowest possible overheads from a streamlined, simplified training continuum,” he said.

Boeing believes the two projects are intrinsically linked. “Together they will provide the ADF with an end-to-end training system. Whether the Commonwealth contracts for a training system integrator or separate programs, Boeing will have a whole of system view,” a Boeing spokesperson said.

“At this stage, Boeing plans to respond to both RFTs, drawing on our company’s extensive experience globally as a training systems integrator, leveraging our in-country performance on the AATTS and our ability to provide a solution that meets our customer’s needs and delivers real value for money.”

Boeing has been working with the DoD and a range of industry partners over the past four years to refine its concepts for Air 5428 and Air 9000 Phase 7. The company says it has examined several training platforms, including platform mixes and the appropriate levels of simulation required, using its experience as a training provider to the U.S. military. St. Louis-based Boeing Training Systems and Services, for example, has delivered lead-in fighter solutions to the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy with the Northrop T-38C and the Boeing/BAE Systems T-45, as well as providing the T-1A multi-engine training system to the U.S. Air Force.

Boeing says it will be in a better position to announce partnerships and teaming arrangements as the projects reach a better level of definition. Early last year, Boeing announced that it had signed a memorandum of understanding with AgustaWestland to propose an integrated aircrew training system for Air 9000 Phase 7 based around the AW109 LUH. The partnership for the Australian program follows earlier teaming on training programs for the CH-47 Chinook in Italy and the U.K.’s AH-64 Apache program. Boeing said it continues to work with AgustaWestland “and a range of other companies” in the lead up to the release of the RFTs.

But BAE Systems Australia and Boeing Australia are not alone in their interest in the new training contracts. Manufacturers and training providers including AgustaWestland, Australian Aerospace, CAE, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Sikorsky and Thales are among a long list of companies that have attended briefings by the DoD on the projects and are keenly awaiting progress to the RFT stage.

Proposals and teaming arrangements will be dependent on the type of partnership approach Australia takes for its new training contracts, whether it goes down the road of a PPP or not.

“Our solution depends on the procurement strategy decided on by Defence,” said Alan Johnson, managing director of CAE Australia, adding that CAE could team with other companies or be the prime, depending on what Defence decides.

Likewise, Thales Australia plans to be a player in the competition whichever way Defence decides to proceed, drawing on its heritage in U.K. and French military training programs. “Our training arrangement is contingent on how the Commonwealth decides to proceed. A private finance initiative would require a special purpose vehicle being established, which would be a good way of doing it and we would like to be part of that,” said Tony Landers, Thales Training and Simulation sales and marketing manager. “If they go for a classic procurement, then our role would be different,” he added.

Hopefully, industry won’t have to wait too much longer for answers.