Freedom of Information
CP1-6-001
PO Box 7910
CANBERRA BC ACT 2610
Tel: 02 626 62200
Fax: 02 626 62112
xxx@xxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Our reference: FOI 043/15/16
Mr Jackson Gothe-Snape
By email: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Dear Mr Gothe-Snape
NOTICE OF DECISION ON FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST
I refer to your correspondence, dated 18 September 2015, in which you requested access, under
the
Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act), to:
“The document known as QB15-000025 dated 11 February 2015.”
Background
The purpose of this letter is to provide you with the decision relating to the document that is
the subject of your request.
FOI decision maker
I am an authorised officer pursuant to section 23 of the FOI Act to make a decision on this FOI
request.
Identified document & decision
I identified the requested document and have decided to release it intact. A copy of the
identified document is at Enclosure 1.
Material taken into account
In making my decision, I had regard to:
a. the terms of your request;
b. the content of the identified document in issue;
c. relevant provisions in the FOI Act;
d. the
Guidelines published by the Office of the Australian Information
Commissioner under section 93A of the FOI Act (the Guidelines); and
e. advice and clarifying information provided by an officer in Capability
Acquisition and Sustainment Group (CASG).
Defending Australia and its National Interests
2
Contextual statements
CASG noted that release of the identified document without some additional context may lead
to confusion, and asked that I provide the following information in regards to the MH-60R:
-
The 2009 Defence White Paper stated that as a ‘matter of urgency’ the Government will
acquire a fleet of at least 24 new naval combat helicopters to provide eight or more
aircraft concurrently embarked on ships at sea. The urgency for acquiring new naval
combat helicopters was driven by two main factors: the need for a credible Anti-
Submarine Warfare and Anti-Surface Warfare helicopter capability, and the increasing
obsolescence difficulties with maintaining the current S-70B-2 Seahawk 'Classic'
fleet. This capability would replace the 16 S-70B-2 Seahawk 'Classic' helicopters then
in-service and the 11 cancelled Seasprite helicopters, which were cancelled
8 March 2008.
- On 24 February 2010, Government announced First Pass approval for Project AIR 9000
Phase 8, the Future Naval Aviation Combat System. It was announced that a cost capped
competition would be conducted to consider the MH-60R Seahawk 'Romeo' , sourced
from the US Navy (USN) via the US Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program, and the
NATO Frigate Helicopter (NFH), sourced via a direct commercial sale from Australian
Aerospace.
- A Request for Tender was issued to Australian Aerospace (now Airbus Group Australia
Pacific) in April 2010 for the NFH (based on the French Navy variant). A Letter of
Request was released to the US Navy on the same day for the MH-60R.
- Both parties responded by the due date in July 2010 and then responded, at Defence’s
request, with revised and final offers in February 2011. A detailed evaluation of the
responses was then completed, with the decision by Government on 16 June 2011 to
acquire 24 MH-60R Seahawk 'Romeos'.
- A total of 14 MH-60R Seahawk 'Romeos' have been delivered to date (as at 24 Sep 15)
- The project remains ahead of schedule.
The following relates to content relating to C-27J:
-
At the time of execution, the C-27J process was not conceived as a competitive
evaluation and its use as an exemplar after the fact risks giving undue support to the
concept
-
USG policy prevented an FMS offer being provided in direct competition to a US
supplier direct commercial sales (DCS) offer.
-
The C-27J FMS evaluation was conducted against older DCS tender data on
record, supplemented with up-dated OEM/partner information where available, and at
no point did this DCS consideration involve a US supplier.
-
The USAF JCA variant C-27J was only available via FMS at the time, the commercial
alternatives considered were for subtly different version with less capability
-
The option to procure C-27J via FMS was extremely time constrained due to the limited
duration of the USG production contract.
3
The following relates to content referring to Option 3 and Option 4 in the Background section
of the document:
-
At the time of the Senate Economics Reference Committee hearing on 30 September
2014, Future Submarine Program resources had been focused on the ‘evolved
Collins’ option (Option 3) and new design option (Option 4).
-
This work had been completed before Government’s announcement of the
Competitive Evaluation Process.
-
It remains the case that no decision has been made on submarine cooperation with
any country.
FOI Disclosure Log
In accordance with the requirements of section 11C of the FOI Act, Defence is required to
publish details of information released under the FOI Act. Defence publishes identified
documents relating to requests within five working days of receipt by the applicant. Defence
will also publish this decision notice with privacy deletions.
Your Review Rights
Internal Review
Under the provisions of section 54 of the FOI Act, you are entitled to request a review of this
decision. You must request a review, in writing, within 30 days of the date of this letter, or the
date you receive the documents. Requests can be sent to:
Email: xxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Fax: 02 626 62112
Post: Freedom of Information Directorate - Reviews
Department of Defence
CP1-6-029
PO Box 7910
CANBERRA BC ACT 2610
Australian Information Commissioner
Under the provisions of section 54 of the FOI Act, you are also entitled to request an external
review of this decision by the Australian Information Commissioner. You have 60 days to
lodge such a request, using one of the contact methods below:
Email: xxxxxxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx
Phone: 1300 363 992
Fax: 02 9284 9666
Post: GPO Box 2999
Canberra ACT 2601
Complaints
You may complain to Defence, the Information Commissioner or the Commonwealth
Ombudsman about an action taken by Defence in the exercise of its power or the performance
of its functions under the FOI Act. There is no fee for making a complaint. Should you wish to
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complain to the Department of Defence, your complaint can be addressed to
Mr Tony Corcoran using the contact details below:
Email: xxxx.xxxxxxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx.xx
Post: Tony Corcoran
Assistant Secretary Information Management and Access Branch
CP1-6-14
PO Box 7911
CANBERRA BC ACT 2610
Contact details for the Commonwealth Ombudsman are below:
Phone: 1300 362 072)
Fax: 02 6276 0123
Post: Commonwealth Ombudsman
GPO Box 442
CANBERRA ACT 2601
Contact details for the Information Commissioner are above.
Should you have any questions in regard to this matter please contact this office.
Yours sincerely
Ms Linda McCann
Director
Information Access
19 October 2015
Enclosure:
1.
Document in the form for release
