Hypohystericalhistory's Guide to the Australian Army

the australian army is perhaps australia's most hallowed national institution it has become enshrined in australia's national mythology through its immense sacrifice commitment and capability the battlefields that form the army's long military tradition have grown to become australia's sacred ground places like gallipoli posiers amiens to brooke kokoda and longtan arguably it is in the exploits of the australian army where australia's national identity was forged and where many australians feel the true national essence is most clearly revealed the primacy of the army in the minds and hearts of many australians is strange for an island nation one which is so dependent on the sea for its wealth and security however australia has a long tradition of fighting wars of global rather than local importance and it has been through the application of land power that australia has had the greatest military impact globally the modern australian army is an organization which is committed to martial excellence and professionalism in addition to upholding australia's fundamental values such as mateship democracy and the rule of law indeed when its members violate these values the army has shown that those individuals will be held accountable unlike many other nations that share land borders with their neighbours the australian army is not a critical element of the nation's defence australian strategic doctrine emphasizes the domination of an area of geography called the sea air gap essentially the air and sea to australia's north for almost four decades now the defense of the australian mainland has primarily been the job of the royal australian air force and royal australian navy after all in order for a land battle to be fought in australia an enemy would have to achieve air and naval superiority to australia's north therefore preventing an enemy naval force from being able to approach australia has been the keystone of the nation's defensive strategy for decades under this paradigm the army would primarily be deployed to counter raiding forces however it is the army which is born the greatest burden of the wars the nation has actually fought because australia very rarely fights in its own backyard since federation canberra has believed that the best way to ensure australia's fundamental security was to defend an international order first the british empire then and now the liberal democratic order the way it has most often chosen to support that order is with the australian army that makes the army primarily an offensive rather than a defensive tool which explains its relatively small size the paper strength of the australian army is around a core or two divisions total personnel in june 2020 was 29 600 permanent and 19 600 reservists for a total of just over 49 000 the first division contains the deployable formations of the professional australian army while second division is composed of reserve forces understanding the organization of the army can be confusing as the same terms are used to describe both administrative and deployable formations from an administrative perspective the army is composed of 23 different core such as the royal australian armored corps royal australian infantry corps australian intelligence corps and royal australian army ordnance corps obviously none of those are deployable field core composed of two or more divisions but are rather equivalent to business units the most confusing nomenclature is the regiment in the australian army a regiment is both a purely administrative formation such as the royal australian regiment and a deployable field formation such as the first armored regiment to make things even harder to understand in other armies a regiment is a formation that is equivalent to a brigade but that is not the case in australia australia's seven professional infantry battalions are all part of the royal australian regiment which is why they are named first battalion royal australian regiment or one rar other elements such as armoured or artillery regiments are administrated under their own core or regimental structures however this administrative organization has nothing to do with how the army deploys for battle when the australian army fights it brings all of the different arms to battle combined arms warfare is absolutely foundational to the army's doctrine and its force structure therefore the deployable formations contain units from many different administrative regiments or core the primary deployable formation is the brigade and the regular australian army can field three of these formations in total the first third and seventh during the first decade of this century these formations all had distinct roles one mechanized with armor one motorised and one liked infantry however with the decade-long deployments to iraq and afghanistan the army struggled to sustain its forces no matter their nominal role infantry battalions would be deployed to the middle east as light or motorized infantry and the specific skill sets they had developed perished for example requalifying for mechanized operations became difficult after deployment given this sustainment challenge the decision was made to reform the army's three brigades into a common structure implemented under planned beersheba the first third and seventh are all now a type of formation called a multi-role combat brigade under the hardened and networked army concept these three brigades are not only now of identical composition but they are much heavier units with more protection mobility and firepower each multi-role combat brigade is composed of an armored cavalry regiment a motorized infantry battalion a mechanized infantry battalion an artillery regiment a combat engineer regiment a combat signals regiment and a combat service support battalion the total strength of a multirole combat brigade is around 3500 personnel these formations are equivalent to a united states army brigade combat team in strength and sit between a striker brigade and an armored brigade in terms of weight and firepower each multi-role combat brigade is capable of independent operations in high to low intensity combat with the common brigade structure the army now has a three-year force generation cycle for the three brigades the first year-long element is the reset phase which imposes a low operational tempo allowing soldiers to focus on individual training and career progression the second is the readying phase where the brigade undergoes intense training including large unit exercises designed to certify them for deployment the final 12-month phase is the ready phase where the brigade is certified for global deployment by rotating the brigades through these 12-month phases the army can now sustain a brigade-level combat deployment anywhere in the world indefinitely the royal australian armoured corps fuels three armored cavalry regiments which all have an identical order of battle these units are distributed between the three multi-role combat brigades the first armored regiment seconds cavalry regiment and second slash 14th light horse regiment an australian armored cavalry regiment is composed of three squadrons or companies of armored fighting vehicles one armored squadron and two cavalry squadrons armored squadrons typically deploy around 14 main battle tanks depending on availability with a hq element and three tank platoons cavalry squadrons equipped with armored recon vehicles are much larger and are usually composed of three six vehicle troops plus a hq element bringing the total to around 20 vehicles the total combat strength of an armored cavalry regiment is around 40 recon units or labs and 14 main battle tanks in addition to numerous supporting elements such as tank recovery vehicles the army six line infantry battalions are organized as either motorized or mechanized forces with three of each mechanized infantry battalions are equipped with tracked infantry fighting vehicles or armored personnel carriers and motorized infantry used wheeled protected mobility vehicles although the regular australian army no longer fields dedicated light infantry forces all of its line infantry battalions can operate as dismounted infantry if required australian army infantry battalions are composed of a battalion hq three infantry companies a support company which deploys the battalion's heavy weapons and a logistics company each infantry company contains three rifle platoons an australian platoon is composed of a hq element and three rifle sections the rifle section is broken down into two four-man fire teams or bricks which is the basic tactical unit of the battalion the multi-role combat brigades also contain artillery and engineer regiments a standard australian artillery regiment contains three batteries of 155 millimeter howitzers each equipped with four guns an operation support battery which includes observation elements and a combat service battery engineer regiments provide mobility and counter mobility support including fortifications in addition to demolition tasks and construction each regiment contains a pair of field or combat engineer squadrons a support squadron and an operational support squadron the brigade headquarters is supported by its own dedicated signals regiment which provides high quality wideband digital communications for the brigade as a whole this includes manned portable satellite comms in addition to encrypted hf and uhf digital radios so as we can see the multi-role combat brigade contains distinct infantry cavalry engineer and artillery units each of which comes from its own regiment or core and serves its own function however this is absolutely not how the brigade fights the australian army's doctrine is fundamentally based on the concept of combined arms warfare an armored cavalry squadron does not fight on its own and neither does an infantry battalion always under virtually any circumstances the army will deploy its forces in combined arms teams within the brigade this concept is realized by a formation called the battle group a multi-role combat brigade can field a pair of battle groups each built on the infantry battalion headquarters depending on the mission the brigade commander can tailor a battle group formation by adding different elements from the brigade's various regiments to the infantry battalion for example a typical balanced battle group may contain an infantry battalion a tank platoon and cavalry squadron from the armor cavalry regiment a battery of 155 millimeter houses from the artillery regiment a combat engineer squadron and a signal squadron in addition to a logistics and support company therefore when the brigade is deployed for battle as a single formation it can deploy a pair of combined arms battle groups which operate together additionally as the battle group has all of the supporting arms attached it can be deployed independently of the brigade hq this means the regular australian army can deploy six combined arms battle groups based on its line infantry battalions effectively a brigade in miniature the battle group is the smallest formation the army would typically deploy into a medium or high-intensity combat environment below the level of the battle group there is a combined arms formation called a combat team which is based on an infantry company with supporting heavy weapons and mobility finally the army has a single division level deployable headquarters that can effectively handle the deployment of multiple brigades this is called the deployable joint force headquarters and would serve as the primary command node for all adf assets in the event of a very large deployment it is these three formations the multi-role combat brigade the battle group and the combat team that the army actually deploys for conventional battle the only regular battalion that is not integrated into one of the multi-role combat brigades is the second battalion royal australian regiment two rar has now been converted into australia's dedicated amphibious force and routinely deploys on the navy's two canberra class lhds over the last 10 years the army has embraced a new amphibious identity and works diligently to develop an integrated amphibious doctrine and wider capability to rar is the centerpiece of this new amphibious warfare identity the battalion is now configured as a dedicated maritime recon force it is composed of two company strength formations called a pre-landing force or plf each plf contains a small boat platoon a recon and sniper platoon and a security platoon the plf is designed to be covertly inserted either by a helicopter or by small boat and provide information on possible landing zones and enemy dispositions once helicopter lz's and beaches have been secured by the plf the amphibious ready group can then begin deployment from the navy's amphibious ships once the force is ashore two rar will remain and provide the battle group with a dedicated recon element the army's line infantry battalions rotate through the amphibious role with one serving as the foundation of the amphibious ready group each year by this method the whole army maintains a highly capable amphibious force which can be rapidly deployed if required without sacrificing its other roles or capabilities the army reserve is an often overlooked element of the adf affectionately called chocos or chocolate soldiers the australian army reserve has a long and proud history as early as world war one the australian army had a large-scale reserve force however it was during the second world war the citizen military forces would earn their place in history the legendary exploits of the 39th battalion along the kokoda track or the 7th infantry brigade at milne bay form the foundation of the proud tradition that australia's reservists are still building today apart from a short time during the vietnam war the australian army has typically been an army of two halves a smaller elite professional force called the australian imperial force in the two world wars and a larger part-time organization that was designed for home defense this force structure has essentially remained the same since the founding of the adf until the reforms under planned beersheba the australian army reserve was purely a mass mobilization force designed for deployment within the australian mainland the reserve has six maneuver brigades which are formed from paper battalions raised in australia's various states and territories much like the u.s national guard the reserve units are referred to by their state of origin such as the 5th 6th battalion royal victorian regiment the 6 reserve brigades all of which are typically manned at half strength or less are composed of composite battalions that would be split during mobilization thus the reserve structure would be able to rapidly form 12 light infantry brigades with the decade-long commitment to the global war on terror the army began to re-evaluate the utility of using its reserve force in such a defensive manner australia as has been the case throughout its history has far more often deployed its forces very far from home and sustaining various deployments in oceania or the middle east underscored the need for the army to be able to sustain its forces in the reserve there lay a nearly untapped resource which could be far more productively used to support the regular army battalions rather than being optimized for the very unlikely event of mass mobilization under planned beersheba the army would strive to align the regular and reserve formations to the greatest extent possible ensuring both receive the same quality of training including the amalgamation of army recruit training the six reserve brigades would now be structured to provide support to the three regular multi-role combat brigades with two reserve units being paired with a single regular formation thus the reserve brigades would undergo the same three-year force generation cycle as the partnered regular unit and would have to be able to provide an infantry battalion for deployment if required under this new structure the army would be able to generate a third battle group during its ready phase which would be ideal for low-intensity operations in oceania for example if the army had to deploy a multi-role combat brigade in a future middle east campaign it could still deploy a battle group to the solomon islands or east timor without disrupting the forced generation cycle or if the multi-role combat brigade required more personnel the third battle group could be provided by reserve units by restructuring the reserve the army now had far more options for overseas deployment and a force structure that was more aligned with australia's actual security priorities there were however several sacrifices that had to be made within the reserve in order to meet these new force structure goals the six reserve brigades had for decades been at least theoretically able to deploy as independent light infantry brigades they were equipped with their own organic 105 millimeter artillery and light recon elements however in order to better transition these brigades into their new role the artillery was removed from the order of battle leaving only the organic mortar elements within the infantry battalions additionally the recon units which have been part of the royal australian armored corps transition to protected mobility vehicle crews these changes made the generation of a battalion which would be most useful to the regular brigade commander easier but it did degrade the reserve's mobilization potential although already very limited plan beersheba reduced the reserve's ability to mobilize and deploy light infantry brigades additionally the ability of the reserve to generate forces that could effectively operate with regular formations required greater congruity between its forces not only in training but also in equipment historically the reserve has always had the short end of the stick in terms of kit and allowing greater access to modern weapons remains a key challenge the other major combat element of the australian army is its special forces in 2003 with the growing demands placed upon australia's special forces community by the global war on terror the various units were amalgamated into a single command structure special operations command effectively a brigade in strength special operations command contains both australia's combat sf units and several supporting elements into one integrated command structure perhaps the most famous australian special forces unit is the special air service regiment or sasr formed in the wake of the malayan emergency installed on the british sas the special air service regiment proved to be extremely effective in combat operations across the globe in vietnam the regiment claimed 492 enemy killed for the loss of only three men to combat in the 2003 invasion of iraq for a period of time a vehicle-mounted patrol was the closest allied element to baghdad providing key intelligence on major highways and air bases the regiment is composed of four sabre squadrons which are around a company in strength each squadron has a freefall troop small boat troop and vehicle troop the primary unit of the sasr is the sixth man patrol although capable across the full spectrum of special forces operations by utilizing these small teams sasr patrols can operate independently behind enemy lines for extended periods deep covert reconnaissance is the regiment's forte special operations command also has a pair of commando regiments the first and the second the commandos forebears are the independent companies of world war ii formations of around 250 men who operated behind enemy lines waging a guerrilla war on the japanese for years in the jungles of new guinea and timor although again these forces are able to conduct the full spectrum of special forces tasks the commandos are perhaps a little better suited to large-scale action than the sasr commandos typically operate in platoons or companies and are much more optimized to conduct large-scale raiding such as seizing air bases or destroying enemy assets such as hqs essentially the commandos now serve as the army's airborne forces as they are able to readily insert company level units by parachute the second commando regiment is the primary formation and is composed of four commando companies the first commando regiment is a hybrid reserve unit and can deploy a further two commando companies the other major combat element of australia's special forces is the special operations engineer regiment or soer soer provides dedicated mobility combat engineer and nuclear biological and chemical response capabilities to both the other special forces elements and the adf as a whole originally formed as the army's incident response regiment the unit was optimized to respond to nbc incidents however as the burden on australia's special forces grew during operations in afghanistan the regiment's role was expanded to providing dedicated engineer support to special operations as a whole much like other combat engineer regiments soer supports the special forces community through the provision of protected mobility explosive ordnance disposal and explosive device detection these roles are critical in theaters such as afghanistan where the ied threat is so substantial soer sappers are trained in special forces insertion extraction and combat techniques the most iconic piece of equipment the australian army possesses may be the steya aug or the australian licensed production variant the f-88 hostile whenever you have seen an australian soldier over the last 30 years chances are they were holding the iconic aug introduced in 1999 to replace the fn fal the slr and australian service and the m16a1 the aug has served the adf well for nearly three decades as part of the land 125 program the adf was looking for a lighter and more modular replacement rifle lithgow small arms proposed a development of the aug platform which was accepted in 2015 called the f90 or ef-88 in australian military service the new rifle has been substantially redesigned there are many minor improvements over the baseline f-88 including additional rail space folding charging handle improved economics a better trigger pack room for battery storage and provision for an electrified picatinny rail just to name a few unlike the integrated 1.5 power optical sight of the f-88 the f90 now has substantial rail space for a number of different optics lights lasers and forward grips but the real heart of the f90 and what makes it a brand new rifle is both its weight and the barrel assembly the weapon is 500 grams basically a pound lighter than the f-88 despite all of the additional features and rail space at its introduction it was the lightest military bullpup in the world although the short stroke gas piston operating system is the same the f90 features a whole new barrel assembly that makes the weapon much more modular just like an ar-15 pattern rifle the optical rail barrel and short gas piston form one integrated upper receiver which can be swapped out by simply pushing a single captive pin when you remove the barrel you also remove the optics so there is no need to re-zero the weapon what this means is a single rifle can be reconfigured for different roles in a matter of seconds in fact even into different calibers such as the 300 blackout the utility of this level of modularity has been questioned on the basis that it is unlikely that every soldier will carry three or four different barrels however this is not how the system is designed to be used this modularity makes the weapon mission configurable at the forward operating base if the fire team is about to conduct a foot patrol through open terrain where the engagement distances will be longer the rifles can rapidly be changed to marksman configuration with 20 inch barrels if the next mission is a mechanized insertion into an urban environment where the fire team will be clearing houses the weapons can be configured for cqb with 14 inch barrels this is a level of modularity that is really only achieved in ar15 pattern rifles the other major improvement is the barrel itself the weapon uses a fluted cold hammer forged barrel that is free floated giving the f90 excellent accuracy equipped with the 20-inch barrel the rifle is able to make repeated hits out to 600 meters with standard ball ammunition and is much more thermally efficient than the weapon it replaces in order to take better advantage of the increased long long-range potential the new rifle provides the adf was looking to procure a standard optical sighting system to replace the numerous acog style sites that were previously in service the winner of land 125 phase 3c was raytheon's lcan spectre which is now the standard optic for the adf the spectre is a combined one and four power optic that includes an illuminated reticle unlike variable powered scopes the spectre uses a lever to internally swap between a pair of lenses which gives the optic a true one power magnification in this setting the spectre acts as a red dot system with an illuminated reticle wide field of view and no eye relief box however with a single pull of the lever the system is now a true 4 power optic giving every soldier the kind of target acquisition capability that in years past was only enjoyed by designated marksmen additionally by having a true red dot and scope in one optic the spectre eliminates the need for multiple sighting systems although the army may now field a very modern assault rifle its primary pistol is still the venerable browning high power the high power is an all steel single action semi-automatic pistol with a 13 round magazine it was in continuous production for some 82 years and has been in the adf's infantry since 1972 after 50 years of continuous service under project land 159 in 2022 the adf will finally be looking to replace the weapon in that time the united states has gone through two generations of sidearms the high power's longevity is testament to its excellent design as in its basic function it is still competitive with far more modern pistols for example it only gives up two rounds of capacity when compared to the beretta 92 or glock 19. where the weapon is outclassed is in terms of weight and its inability to mount accessories such as lights in special forces service where sidearms play a much more important role the high power has been supplemented or replaced by weapons such as the h k usp tactical and glock 19. additionally australia's special forces units do not use the ef-88 but are rather equipped with the m4 carbine the reduced weight and improved ergonomics of the m4 are more suited to special forces operations where the advantages of a bullpup design specifically in areas such as mechanized or motorized operations are certainly less important special forces also use a wide variety of other weapons such as the mp5 the army's primary section light support weapon is the minimi belt fed light machine gun this weapon fires the standard 5.56 millimeter cartridge called the saw and american service the minime acts as the base of fire for australian army fire teams and there are two in every section under australian doctrine the section is split into two identical four-man fire teams or bricks which are composed of a fireteam commander with an ef-88 rifle an lsw gunner with a minime a grenadier with an ef-88 equipped with a 40 millimeter under-barrel grenade launcher and a rifleman with an ef-88 who may deploy a 20-inch barrel for longer range engagements every member of the fire team carries 200 rounds of belted ammunition for the f-89 and the rifleman may also deploy light anti-tank weapons with two identical fire teams both can alternate as suppression or maneuver elements allowing the section to bound meaning that while one fire team suppresses the other maneuvers although intended to be integrated into a platoon support section the infantry's heavy weapons are still concentrated in the battalion support company the adf's primary general purpose machine gun is the fn mag which is a belt-fed 7.62 millimeter medium machine gun the mag is a highly durable and dependable weapon although it is heavy this weapon is supplemented by the maximi which is a 7.62 version of the f-89 minimi the infantry battalion also deploys a large number of the carl gustav recoilless rifle which are key direct fire weapons first introduced in 1948 the legendary carl gustav is still going strong with the brand new m4 variant the 84 millimeter recoilless rifle is a two-person system with a gunner and a loader which can engage vehicles light buildings bunkers and even dismounted infantry the weapon acts as an 84 millimeter anti-tank gun that fires a 1.7 kilogram explosive warhead at ranges in excess of 500 meters however as the majority of the blast is allowed to escape out of the back of the rifle this weapon is light and small enough that it can be fired by a single person the army's primary man portable anti-tank weapon is the fgm-148 javelin anti-tank guided missile utilizing infrared guidance technology the javelin is a fire and forget weapon the operator designates the target through an integrated thermal imaging site and then launches the missile at which point they are free to reposition the weapon seeker then acquires the target and autonomously engages it its 8.4 kilogram tandem charge warhead is capable of penetrating over 600 millimeters of rolled homogenous armor behind explosive reactive armor plating using a top attack profile the javelin is capable of destroying any main battle tank in the world the support company also includes 81 millimeter mortars and 50 caliber heavy machine guns as a result of the increased combat ranges in afghanistan the army has now introduced designated marksmen into the infantry battalion support company equipped with the h k 417 semi-automatic precision rifle these marksmen are capable of effectively engaging targets at far greater distances than the ef-88 although a highly accurate rifle the ef-88 is limited by the ballistic potential of the 5.56 millimeter round and the hk-417 fires the more capable 7.62 by 51 millimeter this fills the gap between a rifleman and a sniper who are generally equipped with an australian variant of the accuracy international arctic warfare sniper rifle although the army has always relied on a large number of vehicles this requirement has only grown with the increasing mechanization and motorization of the multi-role combat brigades in addition to general purpose manned trucks and mercedes g-wagons the army uses two australian designed and manufactured protected mobility vehicles the first is the hawkeye protected mobility vehicle light comparable in roll to the us humvee the hawkeye is a seven ton four-wheel drive vehicle that can accommodate five soldiers in their equipment the hawkeye offers a comparable level of ballistic protection to larger vehicles such as the bushmaster but does it in a much smaller and lighter package the armor is rated against 7.62 nato ball ammunition fired at 30 meters and small explosive devices such as hand grenades or claymores detonated under the vehicle over a thousand hawkeyes are currently under order from thales australia the mainstay of the army's motorized divisions is the bushmaster protected mobility vehicle effectively a large armored 4x4 truck the bushmaster can accommodate a section of infantry with all of their equipment and sustain them for up to three days the vehicle has the same level of ballistic protection as the hawkeye it is rated against 7.62 ball ammunition however it is much more survivable when struck by ieds the bushmaster has a v-shaped monocoque hull which is capable of reliably defeating a dedicated 8 kilogram anti-tank mine it also has a remote weapon station which can deploy a 50 caliber heavy machine gun meaning it can provide direct fire support for dismounted forces if required the bushmasters combination of protection range off-road mobility and its ability to be rapidly transported by air make it a foundational element in australia's motorized forces the vehicle is so useful it can be found in units all throughout the adf the current state of australia's mechanized forces is unfortunately not so positive at the time this video was published the australian army's primary infantry fighting vehicle is still the m113 armoured personnel carrier the ads3 mechanized battalions seven rar three rar and six rar are all equipped with the upgraded m113 as4 apcs and the army has a total of some 431 platforms in service the story of the m113 and australian service is perhaps the greatest tale of neglect in the modern history of the australian defense force when they were first introduced in 1964 nearly 60 years ago the m113 was a highly capable vehicle that served the australian military well in vietnam its combination of a very lightweight approximately as heavy as a bushmaster and excellent cross-country mobility made the m113 a very useful armored fighting vehicle however the problem with the m113 is its aluminium armor which is only capable of defeating 7.62 millimeter ball ammunition giving the vehicle no better ballistic protection than a bushmaster as early as 1980 the need to replace the m113 with more capable infantry fighting vehicles was realized however it was decided to simply upgrade the platform and keep it in service for another 30 years the m113 as4 has a new enclosed turret with a 50 caliber heavy machine gun night vision equipment spore liners and an upgraded engine however by the time the upgrade program was complete in 2012 the m113 as4 was already declared unfit for deployment to low-intensity combat operations in afghanistan specifically because it provided too little protection from heavy machine gun fire and ieds its mind protection is inferior to a bushmaster the notion that australia's fighting men and women would ever engage in enemy mechanized force in vehicles that were not fit for counter-insurgency operations is a breathtaking level of negligence in essence for over two decades now australia's mechanized forces have only been paper formations simply not equipped for the kind of high-intensity war fighting for which mechanized forces are designed almost 30 years late this deplorable state of affairs is finally being addressed under the land 400 program australia's m113 fleet will be replaced with a truly capable infantry fighting vehicle at a cost of between 10 and 15 billion australian dollars around 400 tracked armored fighting vehicles will be procured at the time this video was made a final selection between the two primary contenders has not been announced the first option is ryan mattel's lynx infantry fighting vehicle the lynx is a state-of-the-art ifv which has only been designed in the last five years it combines a modular design with very high levels of protection and armament the primary weapon is a 35 millimeter autocannon which can effectively engage targets out to 3 000 meters this weapon uses air burst munitions meaning the links can very effectively engage entrenched infantry by detonating munitions right over them although the exact level of protection has not been stated the vehicle is designed to withstand not only small caliber arm and piercing ammunition but light anti-tank weapons in addition to substantial ieds and mines the links can be fitted with the active defense system which detects incoming missiles and engages them with hit-to-kill countermeasures the system can detect a missile and engage it in 560 micro seconds the lynx is highly modular and can be reconfigured from an ifv to an apc in less than eight hours by removing the turret apparently this can be done in the field in ifv configuration the links can deploy a section of eight soldiers the kf-41 variant being offered to australia has a maximum gross weight of some 50 tonnes a top speed in excess of 70 kilometers per hour and a range of 500 kilometers the second option is an australianized derivative of the k21 infantry fighting vehicle which is currently operational with the south korean military called the as21 red back although a less modern design than the lynx the k21 is an already proven platform and provides exceptional firepower the k21 is specifically designed to engage other infantry fighting vehicles and is sufficiently armed and protected to defeat the bmp3 fielding a 40 millimeter auto cannon the k21 is capable of firing armor-piercing discarding sabo rounds that can penetrate up to 220 millimeters of steel armor around 8 inches this is in addition to air burst and proximity munitions that are highly capable anti-personnel rounds and can engage helicopters or drones the gun has a comparable stabilization mechanism to current main battle tanks such as the m1 abrams allowing for accurate fire while moving however the as-21 prototype currently deploys a 30 millimeter bushmaster auto cannon which is a major departure from the k21 30 millimeter air burst ammunition is also available but its armor piercing performance is inferior to the 40 millimeter weapon used on the k21 the red back is also equipped with a dedicated anti-tank guided missile the spike er-2 the vehicle is protected by a composite glass fiber ceramic and aluminium armor system that is designed to stop 30 millimeter ap ammunition from the front and 14 millimeter armor piecing rounds from the side the as21 is equipped with night vision and thermal imaging systems and can identify and engage targets out to 3000 meters it also deploys the israeli iron fist active missile defense system which uses hard and soft kill techniques to defeat anti-tank missiles the red back can deploy nine soldiers weigh some 25 tons as a maximum speed in excess of 70 kilometers per hour and has a total range of 500 kilometers as we can see the two vehicles are very closely matched whatever the decision is with the introduction of the new ifv the army will finally have a true mechanized capability able to undertake high-end armored combat against well-equipped adversaries for the first time in decades australia's mechanized capability will be a credible one the cavalry squadrons are currently equipped with the aslab armoured fighting vehicle the astlab is an australian variant of the canadian lab-3 is a light eight-wheel drive armoured fighting vehicle family that can act in a number of different roles the primary recon variant deploys a turret with a 25 millimeter auto cannon but ambulance command and personnel carrier variants are also in service the much beloved ass lab has been a cornerstone of the army's combined arms operations since its introduction in 1995. deployed to timor iraq and afghanistan the icelab has been critical in providing dismounted infantry with direct fire support in addition to its nominal role of reconnaissance now at the end of its very successful service life the aslab is currently being replaced with the boxer armoured fighting vehicle developed and manufactured by ryan mattel almost twice the weight of the aslab the boxer provides substantially increased levels of protection integration situational awareness and firepower also an eight-wheeled vehicle the recon variant of the boxer fuels the 30 millimeter lance auto cannon and turret which integrates the weapon with a fully digital fire control system and programmable 30 millimeter munitions the vehicle is equipped with the spike lr2 fire and forget anti-tank guided missile giving the cavalry squadrons a significant anti-tank capability the boxer will provide substantially greater protection than the aslav although its exact armor specifications have been classified it is believed to be at least rated to defeat 14.5 millimeter ap rounds from all sides currently 211 vehicles are on order with the first deliveries taking place in 2019 some 186 platforms will be manufactured in australia and will be a mix of recon apc surveillance joint fires and ambulance variants the army's current main battle tank is the m1a1 abrams the fleet of 59 vehicles were purchased from us stockpiles in 2006 and were both x army and x usmc units the m1 abrams fields 120 millimeter smooth ball gun weighs 67 tons and has a top speed in excess of 70 kilometers per hour in 2021 the us department of defense approved the sale of 160 m1a1 structure hulls to australia these hulls taken out of the united states vast tank stockpile will be used to remanufacture a new class of armoured vehicles for the australian army 75 will be converted into the most modern variant of the abrams main battle tank the m1a2 sep3 the m1a2 features numerous internal improvements specifically to the computer system and wider digital architecture they will be much more able to network with other adf assets such as the new ifes the australian variants will include an enhanced armor package which may incorporate depleted uranium a commander's remote weapon system enhanced target acquisition systems and an improved engine in addition to the tanks numerous other vehicles based on the abrams hull will be produced for various units 29 m1150 assault breacher vehicles optimized for mine clearance will be produced in addition to 18 m1074 joint assault bridges the m1074 allows for the rapid bridging of rivers and obstacles of up to 11 meters in just three minutes these two vehicles will greatly increase the army's assault engineering capability finally an additional six hercules armoured recovery vehicles will be added to the inventory leaving 32 hulls as spares currently the army only deploys a single artillery system the m7777 155 millimeter howitzer at just over four tons the m7777 is exceptionally light for a 155 millimeter gun at this weight range the weapon can be easily transported by air including helicopter insertion although the system is still almost twice as heavy as the l-119 105 millimeter hammer guns that were previously in service given the m triple seven's mobility it was decided to retire all of the army's 105 millimeter weapons the 155 millimeter system offers several advantages over the 105 including far greater range and the lethality of its munitions the army's 57 guns are equipped with both conventional high explosive shells and the m982 excalibur gps guided munition the excalibur greatly extends the range of the artillery system by allowing the shell to glide at the top of its ballistic arc excalibur extends the absolute maximum range to some 57 kilometers twice that of normal shells it has a reported accuracy of around five meters on average currently the adf is planning to introduce a self-propelled 155 millimeter artillery system which is based on the south korean canine thunder called the as9 huntsman self-propelled artillery has substantial advantages over towed systems in high threat environments specifically their ability to rapidly relocate after firing this is critical in enabling the system to avoid counter battery fire the 2024 structure plan outlined a requirement for a long-range precision rocket artillery system comparable to highmars to be introduced in the late 2020s air defense has been a critical weakness over the past two decades since the retirement of the rapier surface-to-air missile the army's only ground-based air defense system has been the rbs 70. this man pads weapon uses beam riding technology meaning the operator needs to constantly paint the incoming aircraft with a laser this system has a very short range and relies on visual detection of the threat and in general terms provides only a very basic air defense capability for deployed forces the role of the rbs 70 is currently being replaced by an australian version of the norwegian nasams ii ground-based air defense system a development of the surface-launched amram project the australian nasams will utilize the hawkeye protected mobility vehicle and an australian aisa radar developed by cea technologies the missiles deployed by the system are standard am120d amrams which can be pulled with the rwaf stockpile although the air launched range of the am120d is in excess of 75 nautical miles when launched from a stationary ground vehicle its effective engagement envelope will be much less perhaps 20 to 30 kilometers the system could eventually field the evolved sea sparrow missile block 2 which could increase its range to some 50 kilometers currently two batteries are on order and six are planned in the 2020 strategic update a requirement for a medium-range ground-based air defense system was also listed presumably comparable to the patriot system however currently no tenders have been issued the army's primary multi-role helicopter is the mrh-90 taipan an australian variant of the nh90 helicopter used by many european armed forces the taipan is a fast long ranged and modern multi-role helicopter that uses an all digital flyby wire system however the introduction of the taipan posed several substantial issues from a procurement perspective as the full operational capability was delayed by some five years these delays forced the army to maintain 20 uh-60 blackhawks specifically to support special forces operations until the mrh-90 could be configured to support fast roping and other sf requirements these blackhawks are currently being replaced by 12 mrh90s bringing the total up to 41. heavy lift requirements are covered by a fleet of 10 ch-47 chinook helicopters the twin engine ch-47 can lift a total payload of over 9 tonnes allowing for the movement of artillery and light protected mobility vehicles currently the army deploys 22 tiger armed reconnaissance helicopters which fulfill both the recon and attack helicopter roles the story of the eurocopter tiger is not a happy one in the adf although when originally procured the tiger promised to be one of the most capable long-range armed reconnaissance helicopters in the world just five years after it achieved final operational capability its replacement has been announced the tiger arh program is perhaps the worst procurement and sustainment program in the modern history of the adf initially intended to be a low-risk military off-the-shelf program due to the very small international fleet australia effectively became the lead operator taking on the lion's share of the program's risk as described by the australian national audit office report final operating capability was eventually achieved in 2016. however at that time the platform had 76 capability deficiencies 60 of which were deemed to be critical the cost of sustaining the tiger now an australian service for over a decade was almost 40 000 per flight hour roughly double the target for a platform at foc during 2015 out of the fleet of 22 aircraft at 10 am on any given day the average number of platforms which were declared serviceable was 3.5 the target was 12. the lack of sustainment support from europe and the very small pool of users were found to be critical problems for the tiger program in january 2021 the tiger's fate was sealed it was announced that australia would purchase 29 ah-64e apache guardian attack helicopters which would enter service from 2026. the ah-64 apache is the most widely used and successful attack helicopter in the western world and is operated by many of australia's allies unlike the tiger with apache australia will join a pool of 16 different users with a total of 1200 operational airframes worldwide this helicopter truly is a military off-the-shelf option as australia's apache fleet will be able to leverage the us army's modernization program which is planned to continue into the 2040s although the original apache was introduced in the mid-1980s the guardian is a highly advanced platform and a far cry from the original ah 64-a able to network seamlessly with other assets through the joint tactical information distribution system in 2014 the ah-64e was able to routinely control uavs whilst in contact with taliban forces additionally the guardian is 30 kilometers per hour faster than the ah64d and has substantially greater range increasing its persistence and recon capability equipped with the longbow radar system the guardian can locate up to 256 ground targets and a range of 50 kilometers and engage them with 16 hellfire missiles over the last 15 years the australian army has undergone one of the most thorough periods of reform reorganization and recapitalization in its history organizational reform has been substantial from the structure of the army's large units and how they function to the composition of the armoured cavalry regiment to the makeup of the individual rifle section through planned beersheba the army as a whole including the reserves have seen the largest transformation since the founding of the australian defence force in 1975 and for the first time since the vietnam war the army is optimized to sustain out of area operations indefinitely the level of equipment recapitalization is vast the introduction of a new service rifle infantry fighting vehicle reconnaissance vehicle mobile artillery system main battle tank multirole helicopter ground-based air defense system and attack helicopter just to name a few in fact as long as this video is there were many systems such as unmanned aerial vehicles which have not been mentioned many lessons have been learned and perhaps the greatest improvement has been in the area of domestic industry through the production of world-class armored fighting vehicles some of which were designed in australia undeniably the australian army of 2025 will be a very far cry from the force of 2005 as much of the sinful neglect of key capabilities such as mechanized forces have finally been redressed it is becoming a highly mechanized heavier force one that is capable of delivering far higher levels of firepower and mobility nevertheless given the much higher threat of high-intensity warfare in the indo-pacific the worst since 1941 it remains to be seen whether this substantial level of investment impressive though it is will be enough

Channel: hypohystericalhistory

Views: 213,233

Keywords:

Id: xH_CyDOHnps

Length: 51min 6sec (3066 seconds)

Published: Sun May 23 2021