dweezil.comm.op said:
not a clue, i've seen pix of us using em in somalia, they still havent given our guys the ASLAV's ovr there yet
Over where? Do you mean the 10th Light Horse in Western Australia or Iraq and Afghanistan? If you mean Western Australia I wouldn't hold my breath. Australia operates the "phase II" model LAV-25 and variants and this model is not in production anymore. Australia has all the ASLAV's (257 in fact) it is ever going to get.
If you mean Iraq or Afghanistan, I suggest you do a bit of research. ASLAV's are currently deployed in 2 separate locations within Iraq and are and have been deployed in Afghanistan since the start of the specwarops deployment in 2005. They have remained there and in fact been added to since the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) deployed in September 2006. If you meant Somalia, we did not have any ASLAV's (besides 15 ex-USMC LAV-25's we were trialling) when 1 RAR deployed to Somalia in 92/93. The M113 (and variants) apart from Leopard tanks, were the only armoured vehicle we had in-service then.
The reason we use M113's is we do not have anything to replace it with. Neither ASLAV or Bushmaster are sufficiently capable of replacing it. The upgrade program will provide a reasonably capable tracked APC, with some shortcomings in firepower and armoured protection, but will still be a vast leap in capability compared to our existing M113A1's.
FYI, 10th LHR has all ready traded it's M113A1's in for the 4x4 recon/surveillance variant (RSV) of the Landrover 110. The other armoured units that are also trading it's M113's in for Landrovers are the: 12/16th Hunter River Lancers, 3rd/9th South Australian Mounted Rifles, 4/19th Prince of Wales Light Horse and 1/15 New South Wales Lancers. Out of all Australian units the only ones with anything like an armoured vehicle will be:
B Squadron 3/4 Cavalry Regiment equipped with Bushmaster Infantry mobility vehicles (IMV's).
2/14th Light Horse Regiment (Queensland Mounted Infantry) with ASLAV and variants.
2nd Cavalry Regiment with ASLAV and variants.
1 Armoured Regiment with M1A1 AIM - SA (Abrams Integrated Management - Situational Awareness upgrade package) and upgraded M113AS3/4 APC's.
5th Battalion Royal Australian Regiment - upgraded M113AS3/4 APC's and Bushmaster IMV's.
7th Battalion Royal Australian Regiment - upgraded M113AS3/4 APC's and Bushmaster IMV's.
8/12 Medium Artillery Regiment - upgraded M113AS3/4's and Bushmaster IMV's.
1st Combat Engineer Regiment - M113AS3/4's and Bushmaster IMV's.
12/16th Hunter River Lancers - a single sqn is to be equipped with Bushmaster IMV's as a "poster" unit to show the general public what top level kit the Army Reserve gets to use and also to provide support for the School of Infantry at Singelton. The other 12/16th Squadrons will get Landrover RSV's.
I'll chip in from time to time if this thread if it keeps going.
In relation to a few things:
2 of the Adelaide Class FFG frigates have already been decommissioned. Only 4 now exist. HMAS Sydney has completed it's FFG-Upgrade program and is now equipped with the "Evolved Seasparrow Missile" (ESSM) system and a single 8x cell Mk 41 vertical launch system (VLS). It is not yet operational however and is still undergoing trials to the best of my knowledge. HMAS Melbourne is currently undergoing it's FFG-UP program and is nearing completion. FFG frigates are equipped from a rotational pool of Rafael "Mini-Typhoon" remote weapon station - 12.7mm guns as needed for operations.
When all 4 of the vessels have completed FFG-UP they will be armed with: 8x Harpoon Block II SSM, 32x ESSM, 32x SM-2 Block IIIA "Standard" Surface to Air missiles", a Super Rapido 76mm gun, a Block 1A Phalanx CIWS, MU-90 lightweight torpedo's and 2x "mini-typhoon" 12.7mm guns.
All 8 of the ANZAC frigates have been delivered. HMAS Warramunga and Arunta (I believe though it could in fact be ANZAC) are now also equipped with 2x 4 cell Harpoon Block II canister missile launchers. 4 out of the 8 vessels are also equipped with ESSM instead of the standard "Seasparrow" system. 3x of the ANZAC frigates are also equipped with the MU-90 lightweight Torpedo (in an interim integration program) and a number of ANZAC frigates are equipped with the "Mini-Typhoon" stabilised and remote operated 12.7mm gun, as required from a rotational pool.
All ANZAC frigates are to be upgraded and will be equipped with 8x Harpoon II SSM, 32x ESSM, a Mk 45 Mod 2 5 inch gun, MU-90 and 2x "mini-Typhoon" 12.7mm guns. Vessels not already fitted with these armaments will be upgraded during regular maintenance periods.
On-going studies will decide if the ANZAC frigates are to receive an upgrade to the Mk 45 gun (to bring it up to Mod 4 standard and the same as that which will be on the AWD destroyer) an additional 8x cell Mk 41 VLS and additional ESSM missiles (to bring the magazine capacity up to 64x missiles) and an additional close in weapon system (Mistral, RAM or Phalanx CIWS) are the likely contenders for this.
The Collins Class submarines currently operate Mk 48 Mod 5 "heavy weight" torpedo's (HWT's) but are to operate Mk 48 ADCAP Mod 7 torpedo's which will provide a great enhancement to it's current capability. HMAS Waller is to operate a number of interim Mk 48 Mod 6 HWT's as they weigh the same as the Mod 7 variant (both are considerably heavier than the current Mod 5 variant) for an on-going trial. The Collins Class subs are also capable of operating "encapsulated" AGM-84 Harpoon missiles. The current edition - Block 1C variant is used. I am not certain if the Block II variant can be fired from a Submarine. Perhaps Gf or AMPTE10 might know?
Only 14 Armidale Class Patrol boats (ACPB's) are to be purchased, not 15 as mentioned by someone else. Only 12 were originally contracted for. An extra 2 were announced for by Government in 2006. They are to specifically provide extra surveillance and response capacity for the North West shelf area of Australia.
6x Huon Class minehunters are operated by the RAN. These are armed with a 30mm cannon and 12.7mm guns. 2 were deactivated as a cost and "crew" saving measure in 2004, but have been re-activated to assist with on-going patrol demand requirements as well as their normal counter-mine role.
In relation to small arms here is a list of the basic small arms and fire support weapons operated by Australian Army conventional units:
F-88A1 Steyr AUG rifle. Standard issue Assault rifle for ADF. It is a "Bullpup" styled 5.56mm rifle with single shot and "full automatic" firing options and fitted with a 30-round magazine. It also has F-88A1 'S' variants which offer a number of different sighting systems, through the addition of a Piccatinny rail. The most common is the ELCAN - "Wildcat" sight.
F-88A1/40mm GLA-PI. This weapon includes the standard F-88A1, 5.56mm rifle along with an "underslung" single shot 40mm grenade launcher assembly (GLA). This weapon closely resembles the classic "M203 grenade launcher" but is actually manufactured by a completely separate company and is claimed to be a much improved version hence the PI (Product Improvement) tag.
F-89A1 'Minimi' Light support weapon (LSW). This weapon is issued on the basis of 2x per section to provide fire support for a section (9) of infantry. This weapon in it's A1 form is an improved version over the standard Minimi, thanks to the addition of a rail system to allow a telescopic scope and night vision scopes to be fitted to the weapon. A different variant known as the "Para-SAW" is on issue to Special forces and Parachute qualified soldiers, employed within units tasked for parachute operations (3RAR and "A" Battery primarily). This variant features a much shorter barrel and modified "sliding" stock.
F1 hand grenade. The standard hand thrown fragmentation grenade of the Australian Army.
M9 "buck knife". The standard field knife / Bayonet of the Australian Army. (A piece of sh*t it is too).
Browning Hi-Power 9mm pistol. Standard pistol for the ADF.
SR-98 7.62mm sniper rifle. This is a modified variant of the 7.62mm "Accuracy International" sniper rifle.
AWF-50 12.7mm "anti-materiel rifle" (AMR). This is a modified version of the "Accuracy Internationl" 0.50 calibre / 12.7mm sniper rifle.
M72A6 66mm LAW rocket. An updated version of the famous "66" LAW rocket. A good, cheap and extremely simple "disposable" anti-armour weapon.
84mm Carl Gustav anti-armour weapon. A re-useable short ranged anti-armour weapon. Has a massive BBDA (back-blast danger area) but is a powerful and effective weapon.
M98A1 Javelin medium ranged anti-armour weapon.
MAG-58 7.62mm General purpose machine gun.
M2 "Quick change barrel" 12.7mm machine gun.
Mk 19 40mm Auto-Grenade launcher (AGL). (Used only by the 2nd Cavalry Regiment on ASLAV-PC variants in Iraq and Special Forces. Possible additional purchase to equip remainer of Army in the future).
RBS-70 surface to air missile system. A recent upgrade has added the new "Bolide" missile which provides a significant range, speed and lethality advancement over existing munitions. A number of Lockheed Martin PSTAR radars to cue the missiles have also been purchased.
I'll put up a bit more about our vehicles etc later. I'm too tired too keep going at present...
