{"id":50224,"date":"2019-08-30T13:27:35","date_gmt":"2019-08-30T03:27:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=50224"},"modified":"2019-08-30T13:27:35","modified_gmt":"2019-08-30T03:27:35","slug":"australias-new-armoured-vehicles-must-operate-from-the-north","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australias-new-armoured-vehicles-must-operate-from-the-north\/","title":{"rendered":"Australia\u2019s new armoured vehicles must operate from the north"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n

It\u2019s been 12 months since former major general and senator Jim Molan<\/a> locked horns with ASPI\u2019s Marcus Hellyer<\/a> in the Strategist<\/em> over armoured fighting vehicles (AFVs). Both put some great arguments forward, and the matter has rested there since.<\/p>\n

However, recent discussions with Depfence Department officials indicate that the Australian Army 1st Brigade\u2019s LAND 400 phase 3 vehicles are likely to skip Darwin for Adelaide so that they can be used year-round warrant a return to the issue.<\/p>\n

In an August 2018 article<\/a> in The Australian<\/em>, Hellyer suggested that AFVs might be \u2018ill-suited to tasks that feature heavily in modern counterinsurgency operations, such as route clearance and patrolling\u2019, and highlighted their vulnerabilities on the conventional battlefield. He made a strong case that AFVs may be \u2018poor value for the likely tasks the ADF will have to perform in the future\u2019.<\/p>\n

Later, Molan argued that AFVs have proven their worth, in terms of both winning conflicts and saving soldiers\u2019 lives, through hard-earned experience on the battlefield.<\/p>\n

These arguments are particularly relevant now as two contenders will soon be shortlisted for the army\u2019s new infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs).<\/p>\n

In 2011, the army released Plan Beersheeba, which sought to create three combined-arms multi-role combat brigades. Each brigade<\/a> was to comprise two infantry battalions and an armoured cavalry regiment, \u2018with organic armoured, cavalry and mounted combat lift capabilities along with the usual supporting element of artillery, signals, combat engineers and combat service support units\u2019.<\/p>\n

The army is more cognisant than ever that even in low-threat environments, non-state actors like insurgent groups and terrorists have the technology to seriously threaten Australia\u2019s current armoured capabilities.<\/p>\n

The LAND 400 program will provide the Australian Army with the means to reshape and reorganise its combat formation. The army is acquiring new IFVs to improve safety and minimise casualties across all conflict scenarios, while simultaneously providing increased firepower to operate in concert with tanks in offensive operations.<\/p>\n

Former defence minister Marise Payne opened a request for tender for phase 3 of the LAND 400 program in August last year. The $10\u201315 billion project aims to replace the army\u2019s ageing M113 armoured personnel carriers with a fleet of up to 450 state-of-the-art IFVs and 17 manoeuvre support vehicles.<\/p>\n

The tender sought vehicles with high levels of protection, mobility and lethality. It also required the vehicle to be tracked, have the capability to carry a section of eight soldiers, and be able to engage in combined arms manoeuvres with Australia\u2019s M1 Abrams tanks.<\/p>\n

Three brigades will be equipped with vehicles from phases 2 and 3 of LAND 400. But rumour has it that 1st Brigade\u2019s IFVs will likely be based in South Australia, where they can avoid Darwin\u2019s wet season and train all year.<\/p>\n

Professor Paul Dibb\u2019s 1986 review<\/a> of defence capabilities highlighted that when it came to Australia\u2019s north, the army needed forces that could move quickly and effectively, with minimum logistical support and some fire support. It\u2019s little wonder, then, that the first capability to be moved north after Dibb\u2019s review was the 2nd Cavalry Regiment, which was soon followed by the mechanised 1st Brigade.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s surprising that, three decades later, the unchanged environmental challenge of \u2018the wet\u2019 has become a justification for moving whole units and capabilities\u2014such as the tanks of the 1st Armoured Regiment\u2014south to Adelaide.<\/p>\n

If wet season factors are driving any plans to divert 1st Brigade\u2019s IFVs to Adelaide from Darwin, it must be asked whether the vehicles themselves are fit for purpose.<\/p>\n

As a former soldier, Molan argues convincingly that \u2018there can be no sound defence policy or strategy without sound tactics\u2019. At the same time, however, tactics should not be the sole driver of policy and strategy decisions. In this case, it seems that the tactical and administrative challenges of raising, training and maintaining capabilities in northern Australia are driving decisions that run counter to good national strategy.<\/p>\n

In today\u2019s increasingly unpredictable strategic environment, we are more likely to find ourselves operating throughout our region than defending our nation from within our own borders. That means the possibility of having to operate our armoured vehicles in the tropics is high. At the very least, the IFVs need to be able to operate across the length and breadth of Australia regardless of the season and the weather. Without that ability they\u2019ll be of neither tactical nor strategic value.<\/p>\n

If the army is saying that its IFVs wouldn\u2019t be able to operate in our region for large parts of the year if they were in Darwin, or that they will only be able to be deployed on sealed roads, it\u2019s hard to justify the project\u2019s price tag.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s been 12 months since former major general and senator Jim Molan locked horns with ASPI\u2019s Marcus Hellyer in the Strategist over armoured fighting vehicles (AFVs). Both put some great arguments forward, and the matter …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":310,"featured_media":50227,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[44,1303,488,1005],"class_list":["post-50224","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-australian-defence-force","tag-armour","tag-australian-army","tag-northern-australia","dinkus-north-of-26-south"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAustralia\u2019s new armoured vehicles must operate from the north | The Strategist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australias-new-armoured-vehicles-must-operate-from-the-north\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Australia\u2019s new armoured vehicles must operate from the north | The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It\u2019s been 12 months since former major general and senator Jim Molan locked horns with ASPI\u2019s Marcus Hellyer in the Strategist over armoured fighting vehicles (AFVs). 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