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Redefining
Sustainment
With the increased pressure on the
Australian Defence Force to reduce
acquisition spend and drive savings,
there is an even greater focus on the
sustainment of existing capability.
As part of the 2013-14 FY Federal Budget
released in May, the Australian Government
announced its intention to increase funding
for sustainment initiatives by about $1 billion.
With a drive to find further significant savings
through the Strategic Reform Program, Defence
faces the challenge of extending the life of its
current capability.
In this environment, the defence industry needs
to find innovative, cost effective solutions that
increase availability and provide capability
growth options for Defence, which is not
a simple task. The development of these
sustainment solutions requires strong expertise
in the integration of engineering, logistics and
maintenance, bolstered by processes and tools
that have been proven over time.
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Equally important is the ability to share data
through a common source database, allowing
for timely and accurate information to support
decision making and drive down costs.
By taking a holistic capability view and
developing an integrated, systems engineering
approach to sustainment, Raytheon Australia
has redefined how to deliver cost savings while
increasing the availability of existing Defence
capabilities.
This unique model for delivering sustainment
has enabled Raytheon Australia to significantly
increase the availability of systems on multiple
programs for Defence, most recently extending
the life of type of the Australian Defence Air
Traffic System by five years.
On the Collins class submarine program, the
company has increased the availability of the
combat system by decreasing the turnaround
time of critical assets to just four weeks.
The availability of the APG-73 program was
improved by transitioning the sustainment
activities from the US-based original equipment
manufacturer to Raytheon Australia, with the
company now repairing 60 per cent of assets
in-country.
Guided Weapons Systems:
How in-country sustainment solutions will
improve availability
With more than 24 different types
of guided weapons in its portfolio,
the Australian Defence Force (ADF)
has a critical weapons inventory
that represents billions of dollars in
capital investment.
In the late 1960s the Royal Australian Navy (RAN)
first equipped its ships with guided weapon
capabilities with the introduction of the Charles F.
Adams class of destroyers. Over the decades that
followed, the RAN steadily and significantly grew
the level of capabilities on its surface combatants.
Today, each ship has its own suite of guided
weapon systems for air defence and surface
warfare. This expansive suite of guided weapons
plays a vital role in protecting Australia and its
interests. Because these systems are such a critical
capability for Australia, it is important that they
remain available to the RAN to support operations.
Managing the availability of such weapons relies
upon its sustainment process. The sustainment of
guided weapons is a complex task, due to the fact
that there are multiple organisations and steps
involved. For weapons of US origin, sustainment
is performed under Foreign Military Sales
arrangements with engagement from the original
equipment manufacturer (OEM) and Australian
Defence Force (ADF).
But what if this comprehensive in-country testing
and repair capability existed in Australia? This
would mean that guided weapons capability could
be tested and repaired in just four months rather
than two years. And it is a possible scenario.
This US testing equipment could be made available
for the ADF to use in-country if both parties
agreed to an appropriate licensing arrangement
to allow greater testing of guided weapons parts
in Australia. One approach to developing such a
model would be to engage local defence industry
to partner with their US parent companies and
the ADF to deliver in-country smart sustainment
solutions for these capabilities.
For example, of the ADF’s suite of 24 guided
weapons, Raytheon is the prime contractor for
more than half of these systems. As an in-country
provider of smart sustainment solutions, Raytheon
Australia can work closely with its US parent
company and the ADF to ensure compliance and
deliver a more streamlined support model.
Raytheon Australia’s proven smart sustainment
solutions are based on a systems approach that
draws upon the collection of timely and accurate
data from engineering, maintenance and supply
support. Ultimately, this model drives towards a
“single source of the truth” to improve availability
whilst reducing costs.
Defence Calibrations:
How big data improved availability and cut costs
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THE GUIDED WEAPONS
CASE STUDY
One specific opportunity as part of this model
would be the in-country establishment and
operational launch of an Augmented Intermediate
As part of this process, the ADF is largely reliant
Logistic Maintenance Facility (AILMF) forRaytheon
the
Australia also acknowledged an
on overseas repair and has a limited in-country
While large scale
platform-based
Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM). This
would be to improve the turnaround time from
opportunity
testing and maintenance capability. Many
of the programs are often at
defence
a new test capability for Australia and would
allow
capability
pick up to drop off. The team partnered
capabilities that are in need of testing and repair
the in-country
testing for
and repair of guided
the centre offorpublic
attention
with Star Track, an industry-leading express freight
require sea transport back to the US, resulting in
sections, further reducing turnaround times.
and logistics company that could more efficiently
better or worse,
most of these
an average turnaround time of two years.
move serviced capability from one location to
This capability
wouldwithout
also allow the ADF to replace
programs would
not exist
This means that guided weapon parts can be out
the next.
approved
components
that
will
significantly
the calibration and testing services
of the country for years at a time, undergoing
improve the reliability and, in some cases
the these two improvements were in place,
Once
testing and repair in the US, where therethat
is an are critical to keeping them
capability, of the ESSM inventory. By implementing
the team took it one step further by linking Star
extensive and comprehensive inventory of testing
operational. the AILMF, the ADF will be able to complete
Trackthis
to the centralised database. In doing so,
equipment.
the team was able to book new jobs whilst Star
Track was delivering on other jobs – a benchmark
The calibration and testing capability for the
new efficiency, which saved one full day of turn
Australian Defence Force (ADF) was a service that
around time.
the ADF managed in-house until 2010, when
Raytheon Australia was awarded a contract to
provide this service.
Drawing upon the lessons learned from the F-111
sustainment approach, Raytheon Australia applied
the same theory to evaluate defence calibrations
and testing services. The company’s team of
engineering and integrated logistics experts
worked together to analyse the current program
to determine where they could find even greater
efficiencies.
This enabled 98.4 per cent of all capabilities to be
picked up, serviced and returned to the customer
all within just 10 days. Not only did this new
approach improve availability, it also delivered
considerable cost savings to the customer. The
team was able to halve the number of calibrations
With this in mind, the team recognised that if they
labs needed for servicing – from six labs down
centralised all of the data into one system, they
to three. Additionally, because this new database
could gain improvements across multiple aspects
delivered automated call-outs, the team was able
of Defence calibration services. Raytheon Australia
to consolidate from four production controllers
created a central repository of collated, accurate
down to one.
The company’s team of sustainment experts
and timely data of all the capabilities around
the
The Collins
class submarine
working
country that it serviced. With this database, the
to Raytheon Australia servicing
moreon the program’s in-service support
program has This
hadhasaledlong
and often
have delivered
significant benefits to the Collins
team would be able to use ‘big data’ – analysing
than 11,000 calibrations per year, in support
of
misunderstood
In thetheearly
program.
Most recently, the team was approached
capabilities from a whole-of-life perspective
for
350history.
units throughout
Australian Defence
Force
in 2012 to provide an enhanced contractorthe first time.
across multiple
domains.
1990s the Australian
Government
managed supply support network for the
undertook to advance sovereign
platform’s combat system.
One recurring issue facing the team was the
localised nature of the existing calibration
capability, which was not able to manage ADF
calibrations on a ‘whole of system’ basis.
Collins:
Over a decade of sustainment
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THE CALIBRATIONS
CASE STUDY
shipbuilding capabilities by
creating the government-owned
Australian Submarine Corporation
to build a foreign designed
submarine class in Adelaide,
South Australia.
In 1999, Raytheon Company became engaged
with the Collins program. In early 2000, Raytheon
Australia acquired the assets and skills of a
number of in-country resources, while also gaining
access to proven processes from Raytheon’s global
suite of best practices, transferring this knowledge
to Australia.
One of Raytheon Australia’s early engagements
on the Collins program was with the Combat
System Augmentation (CSA) program. The CSA
program was a collaborative effort between key
stakeholders that comprised the Defence Materiel
Organisation (DMO), the Royal Australian Navy
(RAN), the United States Navy and a number of
companies within the Australian Defence industry,
including Raytheon Australia. Following on from
its involvement in the successful CSA program,
Raytheon Australia was selected for the Collins
Replacement Combat System (RCS) program and
tasked with designing and delivering the Combat
Systems hardware necessary to accommodate the
USN AN/BYG-1 Tactical Weapon Control system.
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THE COLLINS
CASE STUDY
Throughout Raytheon Australia’s involvement on
the Collins program, the company established and
invested in combat system design and sustainment
facilities across the country. In Western Australia,
the company’s Henderson facility has become the
main base for more than 80 employees supporting
Collins, as well as various other sites around the
country, with many employees co-located with
the customer.
By early 2013, the team had developed a
warehouse within the company’s Henderson
facility to store combat system inventory for this
network. High priority assets labelled ‘critical
items’ were then delivered to the warehouse and
received by Raytheon Australia as part of their
repair pipeline.
80 Raytheon Australia employees support Collins
Through the successful implementation and
management of the effective repair process, these
initial ‘critical items’ were returned to the RAN in
a serviceable state within four weeks, reducing the
average turnaround time from 43 days to 12 days.
One recurring theme throughout Raytheon
Australia’s involvement on the Collins program has
been the company’s collaboration with the DMO
and the RAN. Because this strong partnership
has been built on trust and proven performance,
Raytheon Australia is able to proactively
manage customer challenges whilst meeting all
performance benchmarks.
This collaborative approach is focused on
achieving significant and immediate cost savings
for the Collins customer by applying a holistic,
through-life approach to the program that aims
to improve the reliability and availability of the
combat system.
In addition to improved availability, the company
has delivered noteworthy cost savings to Defence,
including a $20 million reduction in the total life
cycle costs for the F-111 program. As part of
its Defence Calibrations program, the company
successfully halved the number of labs needed
to execute 11,000 calibrations per year with an
average turnaround time of just 10 days.
Raytheon Australia continues to build on this
strong pedigree of smart sustainment solutions,
delivered by its capable in-country workforce,
providing real capability that is ready now.
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