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Tuesday, 8 May 2012
Page: 2842

Defence: Helicopters

(Question No. 1685)

Senator Johnston asked the Minister representing the Minister for Defence, upon notice, on 5 March 2012:

With reference to Landing Helicopter Dock (LHD) ships and personnel development:

(1) What is the proposed posted strength of the LHD.

(2) What is the breakdown of personnel posted to the LHD in each of the service areas (ie. army, navy and airforce).

(3) What will the ORBAT be, including the: (a) size; (b) nature; (c) Corps, Category or Mustering; and (d) ranks.

(4) Can details be provided of how the members will be stationed aboard, including: (a) if it will be a posting or short-term secondment; and (b) the length of time.

(5) Which service area will have command over personnel.

(6) What allowances will be paid to members on board.

(7) Does the department currently have technically proficient personnel for each component of the LHD, in particular, for high voltage ancillaries.

(8) What tri-service training has been conducted to prepare members for employment aboard the LHD.

(9) Where will members be sourced from, for example, from a single brigade, ship or group.

(10) Has a tri-service training continuum been developed.

Senator Chris Evans: The Minister for Defence has provided the following answer to the honourable senator's question:

(1) The proposed posted strength for each of the permanent LHD crews is 351 Australian Defence Force personnel.

(2) The breakdown of the personnel is as follows:

Navy: 292

Army: 57

Air Force: 2

(3) The embarked landing force will be drawn from a Battle Group based upon the 2nd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment and a cross section of combat and enabling capabilities. This Battle Group will form the core of the amphibious ready element and the amphibious ready group. The ready element will be based upon a combat team and the ready group will be based upon the Battle Group. The ready element and ready group will be task organised and tailored for specific missions. As such it is not possible to provide specific details regarding the size, corps, trade and ranks that will form the embarked landing force as they will change dependant on the task.

(4) (a) and (b) Permanent crew will be posted to the ship on an 18 month to 2 year posting cycle. Embarked force and other attached support will be allocated for shorter periods to be determined by the requirement of the force generation cycle and operational imperative.

(5) The Ship's commanding officer will exercise command over the LHD's crew in all matters and over all other embarked forces, mainly Army personnel, for some administrative and safety issues. Responsibility for the conduct of actual amphibious operations will rest between the Commander Amphibious Task Force (CATF - a Naval officer) and the Commander Landing Forces (CLF - an Army officer). The CATF is normally separate to the Ship's commanding officer. The CATF and CLF are considered co-equal commanders and close cooperation between the two is critical to success.

(6) Permanent members of the ship's crew including Army and Royal Australian Air Force personnel, as detailed in the scheme of complement, will be eligible for seagoing allowance. Members of the embarked force will generally be eligible for an equivalent hard lying allowance payable once the ship has sailed.

(7) The prime contractor for the LHD capability has the responsibility for development of introduction into service individual training. This training will provide specific proficiencies for operation and maintenance of equipment fitted to the LHDs that is not currently in service in the ADF and builds upon the competencies of the personnel designated for the LHD positions. High voltage is a relatively new area of training for the Royal Australian Navy, with specific training to be delivered as part of the LHD introduction into service training. The Navy, however, is already building its expertise in high voltage through the training delivered for the acquisition and operation of HMAS Choules, which is fitted with a high voltage electric podded propulsion system similar to the LHDs.

(8) Significant overseas training has been accessed in the past few years to prepare ADF personnel for the new amphibious capability. Personnel from Army and Navy have been attending United States amphibious courses in increasing numbers. Air Force personnel will conduct training this year with United States Marine Corp and United States Navy air control agencies. Further individual training opportunities with the United Kingdom have been scheduled. Several UK and US collective training activities have been attended by ADF personnel in the past few years, all with a focus on development of amphibious proficiencies. These opportunities are managed through bi-lateral working groups with the UK and US.

(9) The core of the embarked landing force will be drawn from the 2nd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment from the 3rd Brigade. Combat and other enabling capabilities that may be tasked as part of the amphibious ready element or amphibious ready group could be drawn from the 1st Brigade, 6th Brigade, 16th Aviation Brigade, 17th Combat Service Support Brigade and Special Operations Command.

(10) A tri-service training continuum for the amphibious ready element and amphibious ready group is currently being developed by the deployable Joint Force Headquarters. This involves enabling exercises for the components of these task groups that are scheduled in the program of major service activities and additional force collective training activities to certify the ready element and ready group models.