This article was first published in the Australian Naval Review, 2022, Issue 1, in June 2022.
Vice Admiral Mike Noonan, AO, RAN (Chief of the Navy 2018-2022)
For every sailor in the Navy, each posting brings a mixture of the expected and the unexpected. For me, I think the past four years have probably brought more of the unexpected than I had experienced previously.
On assuming command of the Royal Australian Navy on 7 July 2018, I had a clear view that it was an important time to be in the Navy, that there was increasing uncertainty around our region and around the world; Australia would need its Navy and its Defence Force to deliver in terms of operations, and in terms of the delivery and sustainment of current and future forces. At one level, that has certainly been as expected. However, the scale and pace of the changes, the willingness of some nations to challenge the global rules based order to the detriment of all nations, let alone the sheer reach and scale of the COVID-19 pandemic, have meant the last four years have brought far more than was expected.
Throughout all of the events during my tenure as the Chief of Navy, it has been our people who have underpinned every aspect of our success. At the outset of this account of the activities of the Navy in the last four years, I wish to offer my thanks and deep respect to the officers and sailors of the Royal Australian Navy, and to their families, who share equally in the service to our nation. Without them, none of this would have been possible.
The Navy at Work – Domestic Challenges
As with most of the world’s navies the Royal Australian Navy has been faced with myriad challenges over the last four years. These challenges have served to test and prove the adaptability and the resilience of the Navy as it continued its broad maritime security operations while also contributing large numbers of our people to the unprecedented domestic challenges. The nation’s connection to the sea was starkly highlighted by operations of HMAS Choules and MV Sycamore evacuating people from Mallacoota in January 2020. The flexibility of our people was further highlighted by HMAS Adelaide; despite being at extended notice for sea, she was able to sail within 48 hours to reinforce Operation BUSHFIRE ASSIST. Ashore, the Naval Air Station HMAS Albatross, supported Fleet Air Arm and civilian response agencies despite bushfires reaching the base itself.
There was little time to reflect on the Navy’s response to the bushfire crisis as it was soon overshadowed by the COVID-19 pandemic and an immense national effort to contain the spread of the virus. On 1 April 2020, Operation COVID-19 ASSIST (OP C19A) commenced to provide ADF support to a whole-of-government response to COVID-19 across all states and territories. Alongside their Army and Air Force colleagues, Navy people assisted in quarantine hotels, vehicle and security checks at border crossings, and logistic support for contact tracing, and helped in aged care facilities. The effort continued into 2022, when Navy people were also part of the flood relief efforts in northern New South Wales and southern Queensland. These domestic crisis responses have driven an extraordinarily high operational tempo for our people. The Navy will always turn out for Australia; I am both proud of what our people have done and conscious of the load it has placed on them and their families.
The Fleet at Sea
The responses to COVID-19 affected the way Navy conducted its operations at sea too, with extensive quarantine measures used in preparation for ships deploying, as well as reduced-contact port visits. Despite this, on average over the last four years the Navy has maintained approximately 20 ships and 2000 Navy people at sea deployed on domestic operations for resource security and border protection, or overseas operations giving effect to Australian maritime security policy throughout the Indo-Pacific, supporting the Australian Government’s efforts to counter terrorism and violent extremist organisations.
Using 2021 as an example, the high tempo and changing pattern of Navy’s activities over the past four years is evident. While the majority of Navy deployments in 2021 were around Australia and in the near regions of the Indo-Pacific, reflecting the Government’s 2020 Defence Strategic Update, HMAS Toowoomba conducted the final rotation of our 20-year commitment of near continuous deployment of major fleet units to the Middle East Area of Operations under Operations MANITOU and SLIPPER.
At the start of the year, HMAS Adelaide conducted Operation FIJI ASSIST, with four regional presence deployments, one Indo-Pacific Endeavour Task Group deployment and five deployments to the south-west Pacific. During these deployments, there were more than 16 international engagements and exercises and over 46 international port visits. Navy vessels continued to support Operation RESOLUTE, protecting Australia’s maritime resources, and Operation ARGOS, enforcing sanctions against North Korea. In April, HMA Ships Ballarat and Sirius both diverted to assist in the search for the Indonesian submarine KRI Nanggala,which sank north of Bali with the tragic loss of all on board. Our hydrographers conducted surveys around Australia and assisted neighbours in Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea and Timor-Leste, which, like Australia, all depend on safe navigation for their national prosperity. In May, HMAS Anzac, in cooperation with the Japanese fishing vessel Fukuseki Maru 15, assisted in the rescue of the crew of the Indonesian vessel Bandar Nelayan, which capsized over 600 nautical miles off the Western Australian coast.
July was a busy and important month for the RAN. Exercise TALISMAN SABRE included military personnel from Australia, the United States, Canada, Japan, Republic of Korea, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, with France, India and Indonesia participating as observer nations. For Navy, HMA Ships Parramatta, Ballarat, Brisbane, Diamantina, Melville, Collins, Rankin, Canberra and Choules all participated. One of the highlights of the exercise was the demonstration of the capability of our amphibious vessels, with Canberra operating an integrated landing force with amphibious forces from Australia, the United States, Japan and the United Kingdom.
In September, HMA Ships Rankin and Warramunga conducted AUSINDEX 21 with the Indian Navy, held for the first time in the waters off Darwin. In conjunction with aircraft from the Royal Australian Air Force, this exercise provided an important opportunity to work with the largest navy based in the Indian Ocean.
Building the Future Fleet
One of the highest priorities during my tenure has been the national naval shipbuilding enterprise, for which the Government has provided significant resources, reflecting the importance of maritime security for Australia and the maritime focus of our defence strategy. The 2020 Force Structure Plan includes plans for the acquisition or upgrade of up to 23 different classes of Navy and Army maritime vessels, with investment of approximately $50 billion over the decade 2020–2030. Importantly, we are maturing in our relationships with industry and academia, which is essential for the success of the Naval Shipbuilding Plan.
In 2020 the third DDG, HMAS Sydney, was commissioned; in 2021 the two replenishment vessels Supply and Stalwart were commissioned and HMAS Sirius was decommissioned; and in 2022 the transition from the Armidale-class patrol boats to the evolved Cape-class patrol boats and the Arafura-class offshore patrol vessels passed more milestones. In the hydrographic force in 2021, HMA Ships Paluma and Mermaid were decommissioned as part of the transition to the future maritime mine countermeasure and military survey capability.
Across the Indo-Pacific, Australia faces an increasingly complex and deteriorating strategic environment, particularly in the undersea domain. By 2030, there will be 300 submarines operating in the region with advanced capabilities and enhanced lethality, making them harder to deter and defeat. Although just one element of capability, it is indicative of the pace and extent of change in our strategic circumstances, which was not expected at the start of my tenure. I have, however, been impressed by the way in which our Navy has adapted to this change. To maintain a credible capability in the undersea domain, Navy will adopt a full-spectrum, programmatic approach to undersea warfare through the establishment of the Maritime Undersea Combat and Surveillance Program. This will maintain the capabilities of the force in being and will augment current capabilities with our own emergent technologies. One example of such augmentation will include Defence investing in extra-large autonomous undersea vehicles.
The change in our strategic environment also provided the background to the 16 September 2021 announcement of the Government’s decision to acquire a nuclear submarine capability. As a consequence, the current submarine force will expand from the six conventionally powered Collins-class submarines to at least eight nuclear-powered submarines. The introduction of a nuclear-powered submarine force will require an expanded uniformed and civilian workforce and supporting infrastructure, with operating bases on both the east and west coasts.
The capability development investment in our undersea combat capability is also evident in our frigate program. While the Hunter-class frigates will be impressive in themselves, just as impressive and important is the shipbuilding and system development capabilities that will produce them. The Osborne Naval Shipyard and land-based test facilities in Adelaide are crucial additions to our overall national capability. These facilities and the many contributors to them will enable the Hunter-class frigates to rapidly adapt to incorporate new technologies throughout their service lives; this capability will grow beyond the Hunter class to support more and more of the fleet. The first four ships of the class will now be named Hunter, Melbourne, Darwin and Flinders, to acknowledge the great cities and regions whose communities have supported our ships, and the service given by those vessels which have previously borne the names.
There is probably no aspect of the current and future fleet that is not being upgraded or reformed. While often out of sight, the vessels of the National Support Squadron, crewed by Australian seafarers under the Australian Red Ensign, are evolving beyond simple contracted solutions into capability elements of the Fleet. The significance of their contribution to training, safety and logistics cannot be understated and the potential for future growth is clear.
It is not just individual platforms or classes of ships that are being upgraded or improved. The guided weapons that arm our destroyers and frigates are growing in reach and lethality. Tomahawk land attack missiles, with a range of 1000+ kilometres, will be rapidly integrated into the Hobart-class destroyers, introducing a modern maritime strategic strike capability. In addition, the Naval Strike Missile (NSM) (250+ kilometre range) will replace the Harpoon missile in both the Royal Australian Navy’s Hobart-class destroyers and Anzac-class frigates. In both cases Navy is pursuing an increase in weapon inventory to enable sustained operations.
The Fleet Air Arm is now poised to undertake significant growth towards 26 deployable flights, through expansion of its crewed and uncrewed systems. With Navy’s amphibious and afloat support fleet increasing in number and capability, the Australian Government approved an additional 12 Romeo helicopters to expand and rationalise the Fleet Air Arm, creating a common fleet of manned helicopters. Furthermore, the Government also approved the replacement of the aircraft lost in the Philippine Sea in October 2021.
Uncrewed aircraft systems are transforming modern warfare by generating the battlespace awareness needed to operate in contested zones. One promising approach is the increased employment of small unmanned aircraft systems to perform missions, including intelligence gathering, surveillance and reconnaissance with the aim of closing the passive/active kill chain. The Schiebel S-100 Camcopter has been selected to perform these roles and more in the next phase of development of uncrewed systems.
Safety, Seaworthiness and Airworthiness
One aspect of Navy’s development in the last four years which has helped manage the unexpected is the continued focus on seaworthiness in action: the development of the culture and systems to maximise the ability of our ships, submarines and watercraft to achieve their mission, while minimising harm. Our seaworthiness management system is being improved by better coordination of fundamental inputs to capability, facilitating data-driven decisions, and by being risk savvy. Operation BUSHFIRE ASSIST was an excellent example of seaworthiness in action, highlighting the significant work undertaken by Defence since the Rizzo Review, which ensured our maritime assets were available when they were most needed, and at no notice on New Year’s Day 2020. As Australia continues to mature the National Naval Shipbuilding Enterprise, seaworthiness management will ensure our new ships, submarines and watercraft are seaworthy by design and have seaworthiness built in.
Navy People and Culture
In everything I’ve described so far – the operations, exercises, deployments, projects and programs – the driving force has been our people. They make things happen; they animate and direct what would otherwise be lifeless steel and carbon fibre; they are the Navy. In recognition of this, one of my early decisions as Chief of Navy was to evolve and relaunch the NEXT Generation Navy (NGN) program. Our NGN culture reform program has remained central to our workforce for over a decade. Just as technology does not remain static, neither do our society and our culture, so we must constantly be ready, willing and able to evolve. Only by doing this will we attract and retain good people, drawn from across our society. Through NGN, we continue to strive to foster a culture that encourages those who are currently serving to continue to serve, those who have left to want to return, and those Australians who are looking to be part of something bigger to see in our Navy the attributes of a unique, representative organisation worthy of their commitment and service.
The success of NGN and our people policies more generally is essential if we are to succeed in growing our Navy. Our success as a warfighting organisation and our ability to grow the necessary capability requires more people than we’ve had in Navy for over 30 years. The approval of an increase in the Navy workforce is, for me, the most significant achievement during my tenure as Chief of Navy. Like so many of us, I have experienced firsthand the impact of personnel shortages and workforce hollowness, the impact on our people and their families, and the impact on our capability. So our growth from under 14,000 people in March 2018 to over 15,400 in March 2022 is an achievement of which we can all be proud. But it is not enough. When you take into consideration the numbers in training and the people who are unable to provide unrestricted service, we are still thousands of people short. Moreover, the impact of COVID-19, the low unemployment rate and the strong demand for technical skills across Australia will make recruiting and retention challenging in the years to come. And the size of our task is only growing as the Navy workforce Australia needs in the future will be 20,000 strong and probably more. It is a task that will take a whole-of-Navy effort to achieve and it will be a clear indication of the health and strength of our service.
Conclusion
My term as Chief of Navy has seen a fair share of global challenges; the pandemic has wrought havoc globally and has resulted in the imposition of severe social and health restrictions that have not been experienced for generations. During this unprecedented period, the Royal Australian Navy has pushed forward. We have demonstrated our ability to pursue goals and to be a ready and able naval force that is committed to fight and win at sea. It is also abundantly clear that we have no time to rest on our laurels, as there is much, expected and unexpected, that Australia requires of us, not only for the national wellbeing but also for the international security of the seas. The critical need to defend an island nation requires a capable Navy, one that will solve problems and meet its responsibilities head on with courage, integrity, respect, excellence and a clear sense of service.
