Does the R.A.N need an Aircraft carrier?, page 3

Finally in 1993/4 The ALP announced they were purchasing two 20+ year old USN surplus Newport News LSTs. The US DoD was almost giving them away. They announced that they ships had been in Reserve for several years and were the best of the lot. The plan was to rebuild them (Lose the horns & bow ramp, stretch the superstructure, create a stern flight deck) in local yards and operate them as LPAs....they were also initially described by politicians and staff as helecopter support ships, a reference they quickly dropped when asked if this was an admission of error over the carrier decision of 1983. The fact they could carry four helecopters but only operate one at a time was besides the point. They created the impression. The problem was the refit was supposed to take two years and AUS$40 million.

The ships, renamed HMA Ships Kanimbla and Manoora were not fully commissioned until after the East Timor operations in 1999 at cost of well over AUS$100 million. The ships have performed stirling service within thier limited capabilities, and largely thanks to the work of thier crews. Both ships have been involved in the war on terror, in the Persian gulf, immigration and in humanitarian operations in the Solomon Islands and Bouganville. They spend more time away than at home. Critics say however, that in a long line of Labour mistakes during thier years in office, this was yet another, and that we would have got more value for money sooner, by building two larger more capable ships in a foreign yard.

The final acquisition of the RAN to date has been "new" light ASW helecopters for the Anzac class FFH ordered under the Labour Government in 1989. Deliveries of the Anzacs began in 1995/6 with the last of eight commissioning next year (2005). There was also a plan to build up to 12 Patrol Corvettes. Belatedly the Labour Government accepted the need to buy additional ASW helos. The S-70/SH-60 was rejected on cost basis.

The Anzacs were the only good call the ALP made, and even then they built the worlds biggest patrol boats. They only funded some of the weapons systems to be fitted. They referred to it as being "Fitted For, Not With"...which doesnt mean you just plug them in. The ships have to go back in for major yard work to plumb and wire them if they ever get the systems. Its just the big gapping spaces that are there for the weapons to go into. This has been what the Howard government was correcting during thier building. God knows how good they would have been if the ALP had stayed in throughout the nineties.

A new Westland Lynx or Eurocopter was the expected winner. Instead a proposal was accepted from Kaman Helecopters of the USA to supply up to 20 zero timed upgraded SH-2 Super Seasprites. the proposal involved taking 20+ year old ex-USN SH-2F and gutting them, fitting them with new engines (like in the S-70) and avionics and calling them SH-2G(A)s. the Australian Government also called for a redesign of the cockpit and a system that allowed them to operate with 2 rather than the usual 3 crew.

The deal was accepted despite the fact that the USN was phasing out the SH-2. At the time it was signed even the USNRes squadrons had stopped flying them. the order was also cut to 11 machines when the Labour Government cancelled plans for the corvettes because they couldnt sell the design to regional neighbours who were looking at European types.

The ALP was voted out, but the Liberal government of John Howard largely got stuck with the ALPs problems (Our Collins Subs were their product, but its only been through the hard efforts of the crew and the willingness of the current government to fund the necessary measures that we now have some of the best conventional subs in the world)

The final straw was that Littons in the USA was the prime sub contractor on the two crew operating systems. When Littons got a big US Defence Contract, they found a big loophole in the Australian Contract and pulled most of the development team off the RAN job and onto the US one. We considered suing Kaman, the helos were overdue. The system software wasnt done and we had payed like 95% of a billion plus contract out. The Howard Government realised we would still be out of pocket a billion dollars and still be in need of helecopters.

The SH-2G(A)s began to be delivered to the RAN four years late, and on restricted conditions (work still pending). Thier original specification was to supply an over the horizon attack capabilty to thier other wise weapons light corvette design, using Penguin ASMs. But we never got the corvettes. They were used to fill gaps in the Anzacs hangars, but now the spare Sea Hawks of the FFGs having been filling in quite nicely thank you.

The NZ Government and RNZAF used thier brains however. They acquired three SH-2F pending getting thier six SH-2G(NZ). Then they got the Gs in 1999 on time because they took them off the shelf with three crew and no clever specific mods.