THE COMING OF THE AUSTRALIAN ARAFURA CLASS OFFSHORE PATROL VESSEL A CASE STUDY OF BUILDING APRIL 2020 APRIL A NEW PLATFORM FOR THE AUSTRALIAN FIFTH GENERATION FORCE By Dr. Robbin F. Laird Research Fellow, The Williams Foundation, Canberra, Australia TABLE OF CONTENTS 4 Introduction 5 The OPV Project: Overview The Royal Australian Navy on the Arafura Class OPVs Auditor General Report on the Australian Offshore Patrol Vessel Project, 2018-2019 9 Visiting the Henderson Shipyard: March 2020 Industry and the Australian Arafura Class Patrol Vessel: The Role of Luerssen Industry and the Australian Arafura Class Offshore Patrol Vessel: The Role of CIVMEC 23 Government Perspectives The Australian Government The Maritime Border Command: Concepts of Operations and the Coming of the Arafura Class Offshore Patrol Vessel Rear Admiral Goddard’s Presentation The Building of the OPV as a Reflection of the New Approach 30 Additional Perspectives Shaping a New Build Platform for an Integratable Force: What is the Role for Suppliers? L3Harris Australia: Working as Part of Team Luerssen The Impact of an Integrated Systems Approach Delivering an Integrated Warfare Suite The Impact of the Cognitive Engine The New Build OPV Approach as a Driver for Change The Perspective of Vice Admiral (Retired) Tim Barrett Air Marshal (Retired) Geoff Brown on the Impact of Arafura Class Offshore Patrol Vessel A Contribution To Smart Sovereignty The New Build Attack Submarine: Convergent Forces and Expectations 50 Conclusions ARAFURA Report 3 April 2020 When I first came to Australia in 2014, I Australian Navy and the Australian Defence was asked to write a report for the Williams Force. Foundation on their seminar on the evolu- tion of airpower, which focused in a signifi- From the F-35 to working on the new build cant way on the coming of fifth generation OPV may seem a strange journey, but the aircraft and their impact on airpower mo- connectors were set in place during the se- dernization. During my most recent visit to veral years of Williams Seminars in which Australia in March 2020, the seminar was to I participated and have written the reports. be on next generation autonomous systems, Over the past several years, the focus of at- but that seminar has been postponed until tention broadened from air power per se to later this year. the process of transformation of the Austra- lian Defence Force (ADF), and the shaping My other objective during the visit was to of what has been referred to as the process work on the topic of this report, namely the of building a fifth generation ADF. coming of the Arafura Class Offshore Patrol Vessel as a template of change for the Royal The focus has expanded to a broader pro- 4 INTRODUCTION >>> cess of transformation, enabled by the co- point that ADF integration was crucial in ming of the F-35 and associated processes order for the ADF to support government of change. For the Royal Australian Navy, objectives in the region and beyond and to this process of change has been upon what provide for a force capable of decisive letha- the former Chief of Navy, Vice Admiral (Re- lity. tired) Tim Barrett has referred as building not just an integrated navy but a navy able By so doing, Australia would have a force to contribute significantly to an integrated equally useful in coalition operations in ADF. which distributed lethality was the opera- tional objective. The Australian military is During his presentation at the August 2016 shaping a transformed military force, one Williams Foundation on air—sea integra- built around new platforms but ones that tion, the Chief of Navy argued that “we are operate in a joint manner in an extended not building an interoperable navy; we are battlespace. building an integrated force for the Austra- lian Defence Force.” He drove home the They also recognize a key reality of 21st cen- ARAFURA Report 5 April 2020 tury military evolution in terms of shaping build out their integrated distributed force. an integrated information-based operating I decided during my visit last October 2019 force. Interactive modernization of the that a case study of the OPV focusing on force is built around decision-making supe- how the government, the services and in- riority and that will come with an effective dustry were putting in place a template of information dominant force. change would provide insights into how the Aussies are working to realize this vision. The goal was put clearly by Air Commo- dore Craig Heap, then commander of the Vice Admiral (Retired) Barrett, now on the Surveillance and Response Group in the board of the Williams Foundation, agreed Royal Australian Air Force, in an interview: to help set up meetings and visits to support such a project. “We are small but we want to be capable of being a little Tasmanian Devil that you don’t During my recent visit in March 2020, I was want to play with because if you come at us, able to hold the visits and interviews crucial were going to give you a seriously hard time to the project. The report reflects my fin- that will probably not be worth the effort; de- dings and draws as well upon other visits in terrence in its purest form.” the past to Sydney, Canberra, and Adelaide as well. The contours of the new template To achieve the goals identified by Vice Ad- are in place and can be identified and this miral (Retired) Barrett, a new shipbuilding report provides an initial identification and approach has been envisaged to shape the assessment of the new approach. capabilities which an integratable force would need to have going forward. Seve- The new build OPV is not just a new platform; ral new platforms emerged from the com- it is the spearhead of a new approach. And that mitments of the Australian government in approach as well as the OPV template is the 2016, namely, a new Offshore Patrol vessel, focus of this report. a new ASW Frigate and a new build subma- rine. “ WE ARE SMALL BUT WE WANT TO BE CAPABLE OF BEING A Just listing these three ships would in the normal course of affairs appear to be three LITTLE TASMANIAN DEVIL THAT platforms, which would be built sequential- YOU DON’T WANT TO PLAY WITH ly but with separate tasks, missions and hull BECAUSE IF YOU COME AT US, forms. But the continuous shipbuilding ap- WERE GOING TO GIVE YOU A proach articulated at the time of launching these projects has a more ambitious goal – SERIOUSLY HARD TIME THAT WILL linking these builds into a continuous mo- PROBABLY NOT BE WORTH THE dernization process in which integratability EFFORT; DETERRENCE IN ITS is a core outcome of the evolving force. PUREST FORM. ” The Arafura Class Offshore Patrol Vessel is Air Commodore Craig Heap, the first of the new build platforms. It pro- Commander of the Surveillance vides the template with regard to the entire and Response Group in the Royal Australian Air Force reset of how the Australians are seeking to 6 The Arafura class offshore patrol vessels (OPV) are being built for the Royal Aus- tralian Navy (RAN). The new OPVs are intended to replace the existing Armidale class and Cape class patrol boats, Huon class coastal minehunters, and Leeuwin class survey ships in service with the RAN. The program is building a single class of ships to perform the functions of four le- gacy ships. This has its challenges, notably in terms of ensuring that the ships can be configured for the different missions, but the advantages of a common build of a class The OPVs in the class will be able to per- of ships in terms of manufacturing, sustaina- form maritime patrol, response duties, and bility and possibilities for export are obvious. constabulary missions. The Royal Australian Navy on the Arafura Class OPVs Australia’s current Armidale class and Cape class patrol boats are planned to be replaced with a single class of Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV), under Project SEA 1180 Phase 1, to be built in Australia by German shipbuilder, Lürssen’s subsidiary, Luerssen Australia partnering with Australian shipbuilder, Civmec in the joint venture, Australian Maritime Shipbuilding & Export Group (AMSEG). The twelve Australian vessels are based on the PV80 design with the first two vessels to be built at ASC’s Osborne ship yard in South Australia before production moves to Civmec’s Henderson ship yard in Western Australia. On 15 November 2018, the Chief of Navy, VADM Mike Noonan, announced that the OPV will be known as the Arafura Class with construction commencing at the Osborne ship yard. The primary role of the OPV will be to undertake constabulary missions, maritime patrol and response duties. State of the art sensors as well as command and communication systems will allow the OPVs to operate alongside Australian Border Force vessels, other Australian Defence Force units and other regional partners. The OPV design will support specialist mission packages, such as a maritime tactical unmanned OPV OVERVIEW aerial system, and into the future, rapid environmental assessment and deployable mine counter measure capabilities. The lead vessel, HMAS Arafura is planned to enter service in 2021. Source: https://www.navy.gov.au/fleet/ships-boats-craft/future/opv THE OPV PROJECT >>> ARAFURA Report 7 April 2020 The vessels can be customized to perform Following the build of the first two vessels in mine hunting, hydrographic survey, fisheries South Australia, the next 10 vessels will be patrol, disaster relief, and unmanned aerial built at the new shipbuilding facility in Hen- system (UAS) missions. derson, Western Australia.