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Post by corsair67 on Jun 18, 2009 11:05:58 GMT 12
Just when you thought the Seasprite saga was over.............  Over to you, Mr Faulkner. ;D From The Australian -http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25653073-31477,00.html $1.4bn wasted on cancelled Seasprite Patrick Walters, National security editor | June 18, 2009 Article from: The Australian. MORE than $1.4 billion of taxpayers' money was wasted on the Defence Department's botched acquisition of the Super Seasprite helicopter, 47 per cent more than the $953 million claimed by the Defence Department last year. The Auditor-General is highly critical of the Defence Materiel Organisation's management of the US-manufactured helicopters, which were ordered for the navy's Anzac frigates but were never accepted into operational service. The long-awaited final report by the Australian National Audit Office found the Seasprite had a potential catastrophic failure rate calculated at 20,000 times greater than the US aviation standard. The Seasprite's crash worthiness was below contemporary standards, it could not be flown in bad weather, the cockpit was too small for some crewmen and the advanced computerised combat system never worked properly. But most worrying, the computerised flight control system tended to make unpredictable movements of flight controls, known as hard-overs. During flight testing, that occurred four times in 1600 flying hours. The aircraft design specification was for one potentially catastrophic failure in a million hours. The Rudd government cancelled the project to give the navy an anti-submarine capacity in March last year, terminating the prime contract with US firm Kaman Aerospace Corporation and handing the Seasprites back to them for an eventual sale. The project ran for 12 years, with a $746m contract for 11 Seasprites being signed by the Howard government in 1997. Equipped with Penguin anti-ship missiles, the Seasprites were designed to operate from the Anzac frigates, providing maritime strike and surveillance for the RAN's surface fleet. The ANAO report reveals that extra expenditure of at least $448m was incurred by Defence in establishing the Seasprite capability on top of the $953m spent on the prime contract. This included $201m spent on Penguin missiles, which cannot be used on any other aircraft, and $135m on in-service support. An extra $59m went on spare parts and $47m on last year decommissioning 805 squadron, which was destined to operate the Seasprites. The handling glitches and stability issues led to the Seasprite's grounding by the navy in March 2006 after it had been provisionally accepted by the RAN. The ANAO found the decision to cancel the project could not be attributed to any individual factor. "If there is an overriding message from this project it is that risks to project outcomes need to be better managed and related accountability for managing project performance strengthened," it said. The DMO's Seasprite project office had experienced "ongoing difficulties in attracting and retaining appropriately qualified personnel which inhibited its capacity to manage a large and complex project". Right from the start, an inadequate understanding of the risks associated with the acquisition was not attained through the requirement definition and tender-evaluation processes. "Poor contract management practices within Defence and DMO, over the life of the project, contributed to ongoing contractual uncertainty," it said. The Auditor-General said the risks associated with the project were increased by the decision to fit upgraded systems "into a smaller helicopter than the Anzac ship is designed to operate". The navy is now looking to buy a fleet of up to 24 combat helicopters at a cost of well over $1bn to replace the junked Seasprites and provide its surface fleet with a capable anti-submarine warfare platform. Defence Materiel Minister Greg Combet said last night that Defence had accepted all seven recommendations from the ANAO designed to prevent a repeat of the Seasprite. "The lessons learned from the Seasprite project have already been incorporated in reforms which have enhanced Defence project management practices and are taken further in the implementation of the Mortimer review as recently announced by government," Mr Combet said. |
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Post by oldnavy on Jun 18, 2009 12:06:08 GMT 12
From above,
It's a shame, there will always be the folk who like the old aeroplane they cut their teeth on and I am sure the Kaman sales team were full of them.
I remember the disdain the WIWOLs (when I was on Lightnings) had for the F3, and the Toom pilots had for the F16, and the sad old retired F111 pilots have for the Supadog/F35/Typhoon/Tornado/anything else that came after the venerable bomber.
The long and the short of it is that old stuff gets old, and new stuff has the benefits of being new...the Super Seasprite was old.
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Post by FlyNavy on Jun 18, 2009 12:22:47 GMT 12
ON - boom boom "the Super Seasprite was old". ;D Older than Methuselah and more dangerous than Mesothelioma methinks. What a shame though. Sheesh. Hope the BIG lessons were learnt on this one. BTW quite a different report from the SMH here: www.smh.com.au/national/defence-officials-kept-faults-from-minister-audit-20090617-chy0.htmlDefence officials kept faults from minister: audit Jonathan Pearlman Defence Correspondent June 18, 2009 "DEFENCE planners wasted at least $1.4 billion on a failed contract to buy 11 Seasprite helicopters for the navy and failed to properly inform their minister about concerns the project should be scrapped, an audit has found. A report tabled yesterday by the Australian National Audit Office notes that, despite safety concerns, an open day was held at Nowra on December 2, 2005, at which 55 family members of the navy's 805 Squadron were allowed to participate in joyflights. It says the project - which was approved in 1996 and axed by the Rudd Government last year - suffered from a string of poor management decisions, including apparent obfuscation by Department of Defence officials. Nine helicopters were delivered to the navy between 2003 and 2005. But they were affected by "significant limitations" and safety concerns, and were banned from ships from late 2004, the report says. By 2006 the aircraft were grounded amid a range of doubts about their airworthiness, including problems with the automatic flight control system and concerns that the cockpit was too small, that the helicopters could not fly in bad weather, that they were too heavy and that their crash worthiness was sub-standard. The report says a confidential 2005 "Deficiency Review" recommended the navy should find an alternative to the Seasprite, but that an internal committee decided to withdraw the finding from a report that was subsequently released to senior Defence officials. A Defence brief to the minister 10 days later made no mention of the review and indicated the Seasprites were still salvageable. "It is unclear why the confidential version of the report was not provided to senior officers," the audit says. The project was initially supposed to deliver the helicopters in May 2002 at a budget of $746 million, but continually ran late and over budget. The former defence minister, Brendan Nelson, who sought to scrap the project but was overruled by the then prime minister John Howard and cabinet, told the audit office that he convened a meeting in 2006 to discuss the contract with senior defence planners, including the then head of the Defence Materiel Organisation, the Chief of Navy and the Chief of Air Force. The former Under Secretary of Defence Materiel, Michael Roche, told the auditors he considered cancelling the contract as early as 2001 and 2002, but decided that while the problems were serious there "did appear to be a way through them"." |
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Post by yak2 on Jun 18, 2009 12:28:47 GMT 12
Fair enough ON. But this seems to be another report on what has become a tradition of project blunders by public servants. People who have never risked a dollar of their own, but are pretty careless when it comes to the public purse. Irrespective of governments in power, this blatant waste of defence funding seems to continue, and nobody is held to account. And it's not just the civillian paper shufflers..........the armed forces personnel with unrealistic/changing expectations are equally to blame. Wouldn't happen in the private sector.
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Post by harvard1041 on Jun 18, 2009 15:09:10 GMT 12
Interesting reading.....was a Design Engineer with Kaman for about a year - back in 1997-98 - and the signs were there back then that the RAN Project would eventually fail ...
Bad spec, bad decisions, poor understanding of what was possible etc etc etc ... we ( the Contractors ) used to talk amongst ourselves about it often ....
Blame - tough one - but the RAN & Commonwealth should shoulder much of it - Kaman obviously not squeaky clean however.
Contrast between the two concurrent Projects - RAN & RNZN - was huge...Kiwi spec was much much more modest - but achievable and - from memory - works fine - not perfect - but a good honest capable helo.
Recall a pair of slides we put up at one Project Review - capability comparisons...one was a P-3 - the other the SH-2G(A) - even the RAN Managers were confused which was which.
...a shambles - and a complete waste of Australian tax dollars.
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Post by oldnavy on Jun 18, 2009 15:49:47 GMT 12
All good points! Especially agree with yak2 on public service lack of accountability and harvard1041's point highlighting the fact that NZ has something (in this line of business) and AU in trying to be a bit richer/smarter have nothing!
On yak2's point, I wouldn't be surprised if some uniforms have already carried the can whilst the shiny arses still live a cushy Canberra life.
And RAN ships with helo decks currently float about without helicopters! That is the classic "fitted for but not with."
Still...I think it's a crime the RAN have been sailing blue water operations for the last 27 years when they should clearly be close inshore around Darwin and Willy if they want to survive an air attack. ;D
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Post by Leyland P75 on Jun 18, 2009 17:31:05 GMT 12
The RAN is probably still relying on a bunch of Teddy Sheehans for air defence.....
We all know how that one ended....
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Post by FlyNavy on Jun 18, 2009 18:28:48 GMT 12
ahoy.tk-jk.net/macslog/TheDeathofHMASArmidale.html"Ordinary Seaman Teddy Sheehan hailed from Latrobe in Tasmania, he was still 18, his next birthday about a month away. On seeing his shipmates being cut to pieces by the Japanese, he scrambled back to the 20 MM oerlikon mounting fitted just aft of the bridge. He strapped himself in, and must have known he was about to sacrifice himself in an attempt to save some of his fellow sailors. The Armidale was already on her way to the ocean floor, she, in fact, sank only three minutes after being struck by the first torpedo. Sheehan shot down one Japanese aircraft, and was hit by the gunfire from an attacking Zero, but he maintained his fire, even though water was lapping round his feet his gun kept up its attack against the enemy. Finally, water closed over Sheehan and his gun as Armidale sank beneath him, his heroism and ordeal at last over. No Victoria Cross had ever been awarded to an Australian sailor, if at last the Royal Australian Navy was to be awarded its first VC, then Ordinary Seaman Edward Sheehan would surely be its recipient. But no! it did not happen."
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Post by flycookie on Jun 19, 2009 10:23:33 GMT 12
Corsair67 wrote
An incurable fallacy, that line. They were ordered with scant consultation from Nowra to equip a class of eight (8) small patrol vessels which Beazley wanted to replace the Fremantle class patrol boats.
No specific helos-for-Anzacs project ever existed.
When the patrol vessels were dumped because no-one else wanted to join Oz and thus defray development and construction costs, they were immediately lumped into the Anzac fold.
It was no secret that the only answer Nowra had to the helos-for-Anzacs issue was "more Seahawks."
Oldnavy wrote
The father of a friend of mine in San Diego was a USN Seasprite driver in the 60s and 70s.
It would require vast amounts of high denomination banknotes to get him in a Seasprite, just for a joyride.
At least in USN circles, they were despised and have not been missed.
He was glad to get away from the things and finish his stretch in the Pentagon.
Yak2 wrote
In general I agree.
My specific concern is that these blunders are so big, and come from such a tiny defence budget.
While the Oz media get all excited by hearing "hundreds of millions" or "billions" when ill-reporting defence matters, they never seem to grasp that RAN, RAAF and Army have to meet unrealistic expectations from public servants and politicians.
I expect Faulkner will handily address some of Yak2's concerns.
harvard1041 wrote
A great post, Mr harvard1041.
Nailed some of the previously unmentioned comparative aspects of this shitshow in one!
Leyland wrote
Yep - HMAS Success in Gulf 1.......
Oldgirly wrote
This sort-of fits in with my outsider observer's frustration that the expectations heaped in the ADF are not met by the requisite dollars.
So long as it's never actually tasked to confront a technological enemy who's prepared to fight - and take losses - then that doesn't matter.
The politicians still get to talk about Australia "punching above its weight" and all that bullshit, and taxpayers are happily duped thusly.
Could blather on, but I'll leave it at that.
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Post by vgp on Jun 23, 2009 20:58:08 GMT 12
kaman aero's response to the ANAO Audit: Kaman Helicopters Reaffirms Maritime Helicopter Program Safety and Effectiveness 07:52 GMT, June 22, 2009 BLOOMFIELD, Conn. | Kaman Helicopters reaffirmed its strong support for its SH-2G Super Seasprite maritime multi-mission helicopter today in response to an audit report from the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO). The ANAO report evaluated the Australia Department of Defence management and administration of the Royal Australian Navy’s Super Seasprite procurement program, which was cancelled by the government in March 2008. “Kaman Helicopters is fully and completely committed to the Super Seasprite,” said Sal Bordonaro, president of Kaman Aerospace Corporation’s Helicopters Division. “This outstanding helicopter has amassed a distinguished service record in the U.S. Navy, and its exceptional performance continues today in the armed forces of Egypt, Poland and New Zealand. Furthermore, Kaman stands most strongly behind its work on the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) program.” “I want all of our dedicated employees, our customers and the rotorcraft community to understand that Kaman worked diligently, often at our own expense, to meet or exceed every contract requirement for this program,” continued Bordonaro. “We also went well beyond those requirements to develop advanced maritime helicopter capabilities for the RAN,” Bordonaro continued. “The public has a right to the whole story, and Kaman Helicopters has a commensurate right to present the facts about our Australian program.” Most of ANAO’s findings and recommendations apply to the Australia Department of Defence and its procurement and contract management agencies. “Some of these matters affected Kaman’s ability to meet contractual requirements, but they are beyond our purview,” added Bordonaro. “While the ANAO report was very comprehensive in some areas, there are several facets of the program, and areas of the helicopter’s performance, that were not sufficiently addressed in the main report.” Much of the information that is crucial to an overall understanding of the program, including Kaman’s detailed response to the audit report, is included in annexes to the audit report. The entire audit report, including annexes, may be accessed at: www.anao.gov.au/director/publications/auditreports/2008-2009.cfm The SH-2 is a path-breaking rotorcraft, the first to be embarked aboard U.S. Navy ships, completing nearly 30 years of successful support to the fleet. The SH-2G(A) variant incorporates a host of system improvements to meet the RAN’s stringent mission requirements for surface surveillance, anti-surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare and boarding party operations. As a result of the program cancellation, these capabilities are now available to international users. Kaman independently sponsored qualification of the mission software system that provides the unique capability for this aircraft to be operated in all missions by a crew of two. Aircraft flight controls have been validated for all loading conditions. Additionally, the Air Data Computer, which provides vital airspeed and altitude information, was modified for improved reliability, and the Automatic Flight Control System software was enhanced with additional error-checking capability to ensure safe operation of the SH-2G(A) flight control system under all conditions. These company efforts produced a safe and highly capable maritime helicopter, characteristics acknowledged by the people who operated it. Kaman built and delivered five SH-2G(NZ) helicopters to the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) in 2001, about the same time it worked on the RAN program. The RNZN rotorcraft have the same basic capabilities as the Australian helicopters and have performed as required since delivered, having accumulated more than 7,500 safe and reliable flight hours. “This year, we delivered the second of ten upgraded SH-2G(E) aircraft to the Egyptian Air Force, with program completion scheduled for 2011. These aircraft were qualified by the U.S. Navy and feature a flight control system that employs the Australia configuration Flight Control Computer and Automatic Flight Control System software,” Bordonaro concluded. “We also have taken title to the 11 Super Seasprites originally produced for the RAN and completed successful testing for the Integrated Tactical Avionics System (ITAS) in these helicopters. We are proud of the Super Seasprite, proud of our program and customer support, and excited by the prospect of additional future sales to international navies.” www.defpro.com/news/details/8206/ |
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