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A scathing report into the Defence Department's handling of a $1.3 billion dollar military contract has been fully released, nearly three years after the ABC exposed a high-powered legal effort to keep some details secret.
Key points:
Thales had been awarded a sole-sourced contract by the Turnbull government in 2015 The auditor-General found that the Commonwealth could have saved hundreds of millions if it stayed with the US contract A previously redacted paragraph said, Hawkei did not appear to represent "value for money" when compared to the JLTV In 2018, the ABC revealed Thales Australia had applied for a Federal Court injunction against the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) over a critical assessment of its Hawkei project to supply new armoured vehicles to the Army.
The French multinational arms company also convinced Attorney-General Christian Porter to use extraordinary powers to black out six sensitive paragraphs from the ANAO's investigation into the light protected vehicle acquisition before it was published.
Thales was concerned about Auditor-General Grant Hehir's finding that the Commonwealth could have saved hundreds of millions of dollars if it had instead stayed with the United States joint light tactical vehicle (JLTV) program.
In 2015, Thales had been awarded a sole-sourced contract by the Turnbull government to produce 1,100 locally built Hawkeis after successfully lobbying the Commonwealth to ditch the JLTV program.
Now the Administrative Appeals Tribunal has ruled the ANAO entire 2018 report into the Thales project can be publicly released, after a successful application brought by Independent Senator Rex Patrick.
Kick the tyres on a Hawkei
Take a look at the features of Australia's newest military vehicle, a next-generation light troop carrier named — in a roundabout way — after former PM Bob Hawke.
Read more In one previously unseen section of the report the ANAO concludes, "Defence has not clearly demonstrated that the acquisition provides value for money, as it did not undertake robust benchmarking in the context of a sole-source procurement."
"Publicly available information suggests that the (non-audited) per-unit price difference between the Hawkei and the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle exceeds the price difference advised to the Government."
Another previously redacted paragraph confirms that the ANAO advised Defence in August 2017 of its "preliminary finding that the Hawkei did not appear to represent value for money when compared to the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle".
The Attorney-General has always insisted he agreed to censor sections of the ANAO report on "national security" grounds, but Senator Patrick says it is now clear Mr Porter made the wrong decision.
"What he chose to censor is criticism by the Auditor-General of the Defence Department's failure to follow proper processes to ensure taxpayer's got value for money in a $1.3 billion sole source acquisition contract," Senator Patrick told the ABC.
"It is a totally inappropriate use of power. He wasn't protecting national security, he was covering up bureaucratic incompetence."
The ABC has approached the Attorney-General for comment.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-01...n-hawkei-contract-criticism-revealed/13044330
Key points:
Thales had been awarded a sole-sourced contract by the Turnbull government in 2015 The auditor-General found that the Commonwealth could have saved hundreds of millions if it stayed with the US contract A previously redacted paragraph said, Hawkei did not appear to represent "value for money" when compared to the JLTV In 2018, the ABC revealed Thales Australia had applied for a Federal Court injunction against the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) over a critical assessment of its Hawkei project to supply new armoured vehicles to the Army.
The French multinational arms company also convinced Attorney-General Christian Porter to use extraordinary powers to black out six sensitive paragraphs from the ANAO's investigation into the light protected vehicle acquisition before it was published.
Thales was concerned about Auditor-General Grant Hehir's finding that the Commonwealth could have saved hundreds of millions of dollars if it had instead stayed with the United States joint light tactical vehicle (JLTV) program.
In 2015, Thales had been awarded a sole-sourced contract by the Turnbull government to produce 1,100 locally built Hawkeis after successfully lobbying the Commonwealth to ditch the JLTV program.
Now the Administrative Appeals Tribunal has ruled the ANAO entire 2018 report into the Thales project can be publicly released, after a successful application brought by Independent Senator Rex Patrick.
Kick the tyres on a Hawkei
Take a look at the features of Australia's newest military vehicle, a next-generation light troop carrier named — in a roundabout way — after former PM Bob Hawke.
Read more In one previously unseen section of the report the ANAO concludes, "Defence has not clearly demonstrated that the acquisition provides value for money, as it did not undertake robust benchmarking in the context of a sole-source procurement."
"Publicly available information suggests that the (non-audited) per-unit price difference between the Hawkei and the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle exceeds the price difference advised to the Government."
Another previously redacted paragraph confirms that the ANAO advised Defence in August 2017 of its "preliminary finding that the Hawkei did not appear to represent value for money when compared to the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle".
The Attorney-General has always insisted he agreed to censor sections of the ANAO report on "national security" grounds, but Senator Patrick says it is now clear Mr Porter made the wrong decision.
"What he chose to censor is criticism by the Auditor-General of the Defence Department's failure to follow proper processes to ensure taxpayer's got value for money in a $1.3 billion sole source acquisition contract," Senator Patrick told the ABC.
"It is a totally inappropriate use of power. He wasn't protecting national security, he was covering up bureaucratic incompetence."
The ABC has approached the Attorney-General for comment.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-01...n-hawkei-contract-criticism-revealed/13044330
Pretty messy, I didn't realize the ADF was initially tied into the JLTV program. Has anything more come of the "no spare tire" issue that surfaced late last year, was it missed out of the design phase or deemed not a requirement at the time?A scathing report into the Defence Department's handling of a $1.3 billion dollar military contract has been fully released, nearly three years after the ABC exposed a high-powered legal effort to keep some details secret.
Key points:
Thales had been awarded a sole-sourced contract by the Turnbull government in 2015 The auditor-General found that the Commonwealth could have saved hundreds of millions if it stayed with the US contract A previously redacted paragraph said, Hawkei did not appear to represent "value for money" when compared to the JLTV In 2018, the ABC revealed Thales Australia had applied for a Federal Court injunction against the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) over a critical assessment of its Hawkei project to supply new armoured vehicles to the Army.
The French multinational arms company also convinced Attorney-General Christian Porter to use extraordinary powers to black out six sensitive paragraphs from the ANAO's investigation into the light protected vehicle acquisition before it was published.
Thales was concerned about Auditor-General Grant Hehir's finding that the Commonwealth could have saved hundreds of millions of dollars if it had instead stayed with the United States joint light tactical vehicle (JLTV) program.
In 2015, Thales had been awarded a sole-sourced contract by the Turnbull government to produce 1,100 locally built Hawkeis after successfully lobbying the Commonwealth to ditch the JLTV program.
Now the Administrative Appeals Tribunal has ruled the ANAO entire 2018 report into the Thales project can be publicly released, after a successful application brought by Independent Senator Rex Patrick.
Kick the tyres on a Hawkei
Take a look at the features of Australia's newest military vehicle, a next-generation light troop carrier named — in a roundabout way — after former PM Bob Hawke.
Read more In one previously unseen section of the report the ANAO concludes, "Defence has not clearly demonstrated that the acquisition provides value for money, as it did not undertake robust benchmarking in the context of a sole-source procurement."
"Publicly available information suggests that the (non-audited) per-unit price difference between the Hawkei and the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle exceeds the price difference advised to the Government."
Another previously redacted paragraph confirms that the ANAO advised Defence in August 2017 of its "preliminary finding that the Hawkei did not appear to represent value for money when compared to the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle".
The Attorney-General has always insisted he agreed to censor sections of the ANAO report on "national security" grounds, but Senator Patrick says it is now clear Mr Porter made the wrong decision.
"What he chose to censor is criticism by the Auditor-General of the Defence Department's failure to follow proper processes to ensure taxpayer's got value for money in a $1.3 billion sole source acquisition contract," Senator Patrick told the ABC.
"It is a totally inappropriate use of power. He wasn't protecting national security, he was covering up bureaucratic incompetence."
The ABC has approached the Attorney-General for comment.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-01...n-hawkei-contract-criticism-revealed/13044330
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I'm hearing noises the spare tyre thing is a beat up. But nothing close to official or first hand.
At the end of the day, the bulk of the cash stayed in the country. That's got to be a win, compared to helping out the US GDP. And I'm still more concerned about the fact that they built it without having a clue what they were going to use it for.
At the end of the day, the bulk of the cash stayed in the country. That's got to be a win, compared to helping out the US GDP. And I'm still more concerned about the fact that they built it without having a clue what they were going to use it for.
Yeah I was kind of getting the feeling it was more an angle getting pushed by politicians and media. I think we were looking at a range of Protected wagons but I think the bushmasters we are getting will fit any current/future needs with light unarmored wagons for everything else. Hopefully they will be based them off some civi/commercial or common military wagon design and not some bespoke design that ends up being a burden like some 6 wheeled vehicle the NZDF may have had thrust upon them.
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Australia has chosen the AH-64E Apache to replace its fleet of Tiger attack helicopters. The Boeing aircraft has beat offers by Bell (AH-1Z) and Airbus (upgraded Tiger); 29 are expected to enter service around 2025. The Australian Ministry of Defence has said its decision was informed by the Apache's proven record and the armed forces' interest in a market-available solution. (Source, English)
Nice! Also, it's good news they're buying more aircraft than need replacing; these days military growth isn't a given.
Nice! Also, it's good news they're buying more aircraft than need replacing; these days military growth isn't a given.
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Can they top the Tiger clusterfuck?
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Who would "they" be? The Australian Defence Force? Airbus? Boeing? I mean, the Australians did kind of make life awkward for themselves by relying on what they knew would be a long logistic chain, or through counterproductive decisions like deploying a non-navalised aircraft from sea-going ships.
However, at the end of the day, the Tiger is an overly complicated product with subpar reliability that's only recently come close to being usable in the way its primary operators want to use it. It's a typical example of "too many cooks spoil the broth".
No doubt the ADF will be happy with its AH-64's. Having said that, given the AH-1Z's operational history with the USMC I'm surprised they didn't give Bell the nod instead. It would seem like more logical a choice for a military keen on utilising its rotorcraft in a triphibic environment.
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I half expected the Viper to get the nod also but Army trumps Navy in this type of decision and tbh the AH-1Z airframe is pretty maxed out in relation to upgradeability and room inside the airframe physically. The Apache still has a huge amount of internal space to accommodate future upgrades
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Good point!
Is the Type 31 already the favorite for the ANZAC replacement for the RNZN, so it will be lightly armed and fitted for but not with antiship missiles again? If NZ decides to get its jet fighter capability back, what will be the most affordable but still capable option? The FA-50? Grippen? Superhornets, in this case, they will have the same logistics chain as the RAAF.
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all tiger will sole,exchanged,transfered,grounded?
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”cough” NZDF picking SeaSprites from the ADF dumpster “cough”
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The P8 has 5 internal bays and 6 external payload/weapons stations.
So the answer is yes, the P8 will be armed.
And considering the payload cubes along with known advances in military payloads, P8 could be a mothership for enhanced combat capability.
In other words, everytime you want to post again if NZ will add an air combat wing, think P8 combined with Loyal Wingman type of UCAVs.
Will NZDF do it?
Who knows. But the potential is clearly there.
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