Well, rumours that the Wedgetail program was in touble appear to have been well-founded, although I suspect the whole story is yet to emerge.
I'd heard rumblings about this several weeks ago, although I heard the delay could be as long as two years, but nobody at Boeing nor Defence were talking. I'd also heard that there were studies on CAF's desk for the continuation of the F-111C force through 2012, and that as many as 55 Hornet centre-barrels will be done! I guess they're all inter-related!
No wonder Norm Gray jumped ship to ADI when he did! This one's gonna hurt!!!
Magoo
By Max Blenkin, Defence Correspondent
CANBERRA, June 26 AAP - The RAAF's new Wedgetail airborne early warning aircraft face delays in the latest problem to beset Australian Defence Force's high-tech procurement projects.
The first two of six aircraft were initially scheduled for delivery in November, in what has been regularly billed as an exemplary defence project.
But that was then pushed out to early next year, and it now appears to be substantially further away.
A defence spokeswoman today said only that a potential schedule slip in the delivery of the Wedgetail had been identified.
"The Defence Materiel Organisation (DMO) has arranged for the program manager and several key members of his team to meet with Boeing representatives in the United States this week, in order to conduct an evaluation and gauge the impact of any such delay," she said.
A spokesman for Boeing, the Wedgetail prime contractor, said the delivery program was under review.
"We are not on schedule for November and that was announced in January. We are evaluating the program schedule with the Commonwealth in light of progress to date," he said.
No explanation for the delay has been given at this stage.
In its budget brief for 2006-07, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) cites industry rumours of a possible 12-month delay.
It suggests the problems with the Wedgetail are the same as that have afflicted other Australian high-tech defence project including Collins submarines, over-the-horizon radar and Seasprite helicopters - software integration.
"Any large and technically complex military procurement project carries an element of risk and AEW and C (airborne early warning and control) is no exception," ASPI said. "The most challenging area will be integration of the radar and mission system computing software." This is the task of getting the assorted electronic systems to all work together.
In the case of Wedgetail, the basic systems include the radar, data links, communications, navigation, countermeasures and electronic support measures, as well as aircraft flight-control systems.
Each Wedgetail contains 863 electronic boxes, 300 kilometres of extra wiring and four million lines of software code.
As launch customer, Australia faced substantial risk, essentially buying a product unproven by any other defence force, in a project worth $3.459 billion in 2005 dollars.
The procurement process for Wedgetail was set in train under the former Labor government - to provide a long-desired capability for surveillance over Australia's vast landmass, and sea approaches. Boeing was announced the winner in July 1999, with a contract signed in December 2000.
Under the initial deal, Boeing would supply four of its 737-700 aircraft, each fitted with an advanced Northrop Grumman MESA radar. The government subsequently ordered two extra aircraft.
The first two were to be modified and have their mission systems installed by Boeing in the US, with the other four modified by Boeing Australia, at the RAAF base at Amberley, just outside Brisbane.
CANBERRA, June 26 AAP - The RAAF's new Wedgetail airborne early warning aircraft face delays in the latest problem to beset Australian Defence Force's high-tech procurement projects.
The first two of six aircraft were initially scheduled for delivery in November, in what has been regularly billed as an exemplary defence project.
But that was then pushed out to early next year, and it now appears to be substantially further away.
A defence spokeswoman today said only that a potential schedule slip in the delivery of the Wedgetail had been identified.
"The Defence Materiel Organisation (DMO) has arranged for the program manager and several key members of his team to meet with Boeing representatives in the United States this week, in order to conduct an evaluation and gauge the impact of any such delay," she said.
A spokesman for Boeing, the Wedgetail prime contractor, said the delivery program was under review.
"We are not on schedule for November and that was announced in January. We are evaluating the program schedule with the Commonwealth in light of progress to date," he said.
No explanation for the delay has been given at this stage.
In its budget brief for 2006-07, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) cites industry rumours of a possible 12-month delay.
It suggests the problems with the Wedgetail are the same as that have afflicted other Australian high-tech defence project including Collins submarines, over-the-horizon radar and Seasprite helicopters - software integration.
"Any large and technically complex military procurement project carries an element of risk and AEW and C (airborne early warning and control) is no exception," ASPI said. "The most challenging area will be integration of the radar and mission system computing software." This is the task of getting the assorted electronic systems to all work together.
In the case of Wedgetail, the basic systems include the radar, data links, communications, navigation, countermeasures and electronic support measures, as well as aircraft flight-control systems.
Each Wedgetail contains 863 electronic boxes, 300 kilometres of extra wiring and four million lines of software code.
As launch customer, Australia faced substantial risk, essentially buying a product unproven by any other defence force, in a project worth $3.459 billion in 2005 dollars.
The procurement process for Wedgetail was set in train under the former Labor government - to provide a long-desired capability for surveillance over Australia's vast landmass, and sea approaches. Boeing was announced the winner in July 1999, with a contract signed in December 2000.
Under the initial deal, Boeing would supply four of its 737-700 aircraft, each fitted with an advanced Northrop Grumman MESA radar. The government subsequently ordered two extra aircraft.
The first two were to be modified and have their mission systems installed by Boeing in the US, with the other four modified by Boeing Australia, at the RAAF base at Amberley, just outside Brisbane.
I'd heard rumblings about this several weeks ago, although I heard the delay could be as long as two years, but nobody at Boeing nor Defence were talking. I'd also heard that there were studies on CAF's desk for the continuation of the F-111C force through 2012, and that as many as 55 Hornet centre-barrels will be done! I guess they're all inter-related!
No wonder Norm Gray jumped ship to ADI when he did! This one's gonna hurt!!!
Magoo
