Fed: Government signs deal for airborne early warning aircraft

AAP General News (Australia)
12-20-2000
Fed: Government signs deal for airborne early warning aircraft

By Max Blenkin, Defence Correspondent

CANBERRA, Dec 20 AAP - Australia will buy four airborne early warning aircraft in a
$3 billion contract signed today with Boeing.

The agreement ends a two decade saga in which successive governments have deferred
the project as too complex and too costly.

Under the contract, the RAAF will acquire four Boeing 737-700 aircraft with an option
for three more, with the first to enter service in 2007.

Outgoing Defence Minister John Moore said the airborne early warning and control (AEW
and C) aircraft would form the cornerstone of Australia's air and maritime observation
and early warning system well into the century.

"Accurate and timely surveillance is essential to Australia regardless of the type
of future operation Australian forces may be required to participate in," he said.

The four aircraft will be equipped with the advanced Northrop-Grumman MESA radars.

They will be based at Williamtown in New South Wales, and Tindal in the Northern Territory.

Each can conduct air and sea surveillance over a 400km swathe, detecting hostile ships
or aircraft or even suspected drug or people smugglers.

With air to air refuelling, the standard 10-hour mission can be almost doubled.

Successive governments and defence white papers back to the 1970s have recognised the
need for an AEW and C capability. But it has been continually postponed because of high
cost and technical complexity.

Boeing was announced the winner of this contract in July last year but progress was
deferred pending the presentation of the Defence White Paper earlier this month.

The project, known as Wedgetail, will be funded through the $23.5 billion increase
in defence funding approved in the White Paper.

Boeing vice-president for information and communications systems Carl O'Berry said
the company would prefer the stop-start not to have occurred.

"But we perfectly understand the government's concern about this program. It has turned
out well," he said.

"We are going to make this the finest system in the world."

Mr Moore said the government was taking stringent precautions to minimise the potential
for delay or cost blowout.

"We are very mindful of the risk factor. The submarine saga burned deeply," he said.

"I believe that once the four are here and operating, the remaining three will be picked
up."

Taking a leaf from the Collins submarine remediation program, Mr Moore said a full-time
program manager would be appointed.

Air Commodore Norm Gray is to be promoted to two-star rank with a brief to supervise
the program and report to government each month on progress and problems.

"This is a direct consequence of our experience with the submarines," he said. "I found
that having (Rear Admiral Peter) Briggs directly responsible for driving the (submarines)
project and answering to government was hugely beneficial."

AAP mb/ss/cjh/bwl

KEYWORD: WEDGETAIL

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