Login
iscover
The two courses were delivered by the United States Joint Ballistic Missile Defense Training and Education Center, marking the first delivery of Integrated Air and Missile Defense courses to the Australian Defence Force.
To continue reading the rest of this article, please log in.
Create free account to get unlimited news articles and more!
According to Defence, the JBTEC is the world’s “premier” Integrated Air and Missile Defense training unit, training the US Army, Navy, Air Force, Space Command, the CIA, embassies, and partner nations on Integrated Air and Missile Defense.
The course saw the JBTEC work with the ADF to help develop building blocks for Australian IAMD capabilities, with future courses scheduled. Lessons covered doctrine, tactics, and principles.
For Wing Commander Michelle McDermott, Commanding Officer of RAAF’s Surveillance and Control Training Unit at RAAF Base Williamtown, the courses are the highest standard IAMD courses outside of the United States.
“Our strategic environment needs technical experts who can readily adapt to new ideas and technologies. The ADF has new capabilities coming in, so leveraging JBTEC’s expertise and premier suite of missile defence courses helps Australia better protect itself against current and emerging threats,” Wing Commander McDermott said.
Captain Jereme Russell, one of the participants, explained how the course was important for getting Australian warfighters used to the US IAMD systems.
“Exposure to the US doctrine, tactics and principles is extremely beneficial to our Australian IAMD planners because we primarily work within a US-led coalition,” Captain Russell said.
“Developing subject matter experts in both strategic and operational air and missile defence planning and coordination will be crucial to ensure a short-range ground-based air defence system is integrated in both joint and coalition environments.”
Other participants explained that the program provided “invaluable” insight into IAMD capabilities.
Squadron Leader Shaun O’Leary outlined that the course enabled the development of Australian IAMD doctrine.
“As the ADF continues to grow its IAMD capability, these insights will prove invaluable in the development and refinement of Australian tactics, techniques, procedures and doctrine to ensure we are interoperable with our closest partners,” he said.
The training was delivered ahead of the AIR 6500-1 announcement, for the acquisition of a Joint Air Battle Management System.
Two prime contractors have been down selected for the project, Northrop Grumman Australia and Lockheed Martin Australia.
The program has been slated to interconnect platforms across different domains on the battlespace, including air, land, sea, space, EM and cyber, providing enhanced situational awareness for the Australian Defence Force.
