The Case for the 4Th Awd Hmas Melbourne (Iv) Sinking
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APR-JUN 2013 VOL 75 No2 AUSTRALIAN NAVAL BASES RETURN BRITANNIA MARTIME TERRORISM WHO SANK 1-178? THE CASE FOR THE 4TH AWD SINKING HMAS MELBOURNE (IV) SHIPS THE LCHS - HEAVY LIFTING FOR FOUR DECADES WAR IN THE SOUTHERN LATITUDES $5.95 AUSTRALIA’s LEADING NAVAL MAGAZINE SINCE 1938 INCL. GST Pac2013 Navy mag advert 23/11/12 10:00 AM Page 1 THE COMMERCIAL MARITIME AND NAVAL DEFENCE SHOWCASE FOR THE ASIA PACIFIC INTERNATIONAL MARITIME EXPOSITION 7 - 9 OCTOBER 2013 SYDNEY CONVENTION AND EXHIBITION CENTRE, AUSTRALIA www.pacific2013.com.au in conjunction with 1913 - 2013 SYDNEY HARBOUR, AUSTRALIA www.navy.gov.au/ifr AUSTRALIAN SALES TEAM Bob Wouda T: +61 (0) 3 5282 0538 M: +61 (0) 418 143 290 E: [email protected] Penny Haines T: +61 (0) 3 5282 0535 M: +61 (0) 407 824 400 E: [email protected] Kay McLaglen T: +61 (0) 3 5282 0502 M: +61(0) 417 011 982 E: [email protected] Volume 75 No.2 THE MAGAZINE OF THE NAVY LEAGUE OF AUSTRALIA FEDERAL COUNCIL SOUTH AUSTRALIAN DIVISION Patron in Chief: Her Excellency, Patron: His Excellency, The Governor General. The Governor of South Australia. President: Graham M Harris, RFD President: Dean Watson, RFD Senior Vice-President: Rear Admiral Hon. Secretary: Miss J E Gill 05 THE CASE FOR THE 4TH AWD DG Holthouse, AO, RAN (Rtd) PO Box 3008, Unley, SA 5061 Telephone: (08) 8272 6435 Vice-Presidents: HMAS MELBOURNE (IV) LCDR Roger Blythman, RFD, TASMANIAN DIVISION By Dr Roger Thornhill John Jeremy Patron: CDRE Malcolm Baird RAN (Rtd) Hon. Secretary: Philip Corboy President: Mr Tudor Hardy PO Box 128, Clayfield, Qld 4011 4 Illawarra Road, Perth, Tas 7300 Mob: 0421 280 481 10 SINKING SHIPS Email: [email protected] Hon. Secretary: Mrs Lorraine Cottrell, 40 Fleetwood Drive, Speyton, Tas 7310 By William Mathews NEW SOUTH WALES DIVISION State Branch: Patron: Her Excellency, Launceston: Mr Tudor Hardy, The Governor of New South Wales. 4 Illawarra Road, Perth, Tas. 7300 20 THE LCHs - HEAVY LIFTING President: R O Albert, AO, RFD, RD WESTERN AUSTRALIAN DIVISION FOR FOUR DECADES Hon. Secretary: Elizabeth Sykes Patron: His Excellency, GPO Box 1719, Sydney, NSW 2001 The Governor of Western Australia. 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(RAN) Deadline for next edition 5 May 2013 FROM THE CROW’S NEST Themistocles PAPer Tiger – Don’T ADD SEA WATER Unlike the Tiger the Viper is fully functional, military off the shelf, with greater offensive capability, endurance, speed and able to electronically It’s no secret that the acquisition of the Australian Army’s Tiger Armed integrate into the ADF seamlessly. It requires no update to enter ADF Reconnaissance Helicopter (ARH) under project AIR 87 has been a service. It should also be noted that the AH-1Z Viper uses exactly the difficult one, to say the least. The helicopter has gone from controversy same engines as the RAN’s new Seahawk Romeo (SH-60R). Common to controversy, not a good omen for soldiers relying on it as their only engines across two fleets will aid immeasurably in reducing the cost means of organic air support during amphibious operations from Navy’s of ownership in the various areas that go together to make up the FIC new LHDs. (Fundamental Inputs to Capacity – such as training, logistics, doctrine, Most recently The Telegraph newspaper carried a story about Tiger pilots support management etc) and provide better availability rates when refusing to fly the helicopter after engine fumes were detected in the deployed to sea with the Navy’s new helicopter. So far neither the Tiger cockpit during a sortie in November, forcing the aircraft to land. This was or Seahawk Romeo fleets share common components with any other actually the third time that this had occurred during 2012. So far a ‘fix’ to helicopter in the ADF. Acquisition of Viper, rather than a mid life upgrade the problem has not been published. for the Tiger, seems a no-brainer. The ARH also suffers from a number of other intrinsic issues. Their Even more appealing is the fact that the high cost of support for the 22 engines are underpowered for Australian hot and humid conditions Tigers could actually go to supporting an even larger number of Vipers (particularly when a full weapon load is required), their range is limited for no additional cost. It should also be noted that the Viper is also fully and they are unable to electronically ‘link’ with the rest of the Australian marinised and LHD certified with the USN/USMC, an important distinction Defence Force (ADF). To be fair, this is due to their land-centric European for Army if it really is serious about jointness and amphibious operations battlefield focus where cooler weather, shorter ranges and European data from our new LHDs CANBERRA and ADELAIDE. links are the norm. To highlight this ‘duck out of water’ metaphor the German Army recently deployed its Tigers to Afghanistan. In order to do so they required a significant upgrade known as ASGARD-F (Afghanistan Stabilisation German Army Rapid Deployment - Full). Even then this hasn’t been successful. The reputable media firm Jane’s published details late last year of a pre-deployment exercise in the US with German Tigers that didn’t go well. The article said that the Tiger “encountered severe difficulties coping with the “hot, high, and dusty” conditions in New Mexico, and German exercise reports indicate the two Tigers were kept from flying on numerous occasions when temperatures exceeded ISA+30ºC.” A USMC AH-1Z Viper. Faster, deadlier, cheaper and working. (BELL) All of Army’s 22 ARH were to have been accepted into full operation service by Army in Dec 2011. However, this is still yet to occur, despite many many changes to the aircraft’s in-service date to accommodate the problems it has faced. Lately it has been rumoured that Army has plans to fund a ‘mid-life upgrade’ for the ARH in the order of over a $1billion, despite the aircraft not even being in service yet. If this is so, then this is madness. Former US President Ronald Reagan once said that “sometimes you need to take the bureaucracy by the throat and say stop what you’re doing” (the bureaucracy in this case being Army). For the $1billion plus price tag to get the Tigers into something the ADF could use one day, Army could actually use the money to buy the USMC Bell AH-1Z Viper attack helicopter and acquire more airframes than it currently has in Tigers for the price of the upgrade. AH-1 VIPER The Bell AH-1Z Viper is a twin-engine attack helicopter based on the combat proven AH-1W SuperCobra, that was developed for the USMC to operate from USN LHDs. The AH-1Z features a four-blade, bearingless, composite main rotor system, uprated transmission, and a new target sighting system.