Australian Department of Defense, The Chief of the Defence Force, Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, said today that recent media reports have revived unjustified speculation that Australian Defence Force personnel deployed overseas lack the highest quality weapons and equipment.
He said that the high quality of ADF weapons and equipment is supported comprehensively by results of reviews and aggregated reports from the field.
“The Minister for Defence directed extensive reviews of combat equipment and procurement to be undertaken in 2006,” Air Chief Marshal Houston said.
“The results of those reviews and ongoing Defence assessment of reports from the field show ADF weapons and equipment in general to be among the best available.”
Air Chief Marshal Houston said that Defence maintains constant attention to the effectiveness of weapons and equipment during the continuing ADF deployments on operations in many parts of the world.
“We are committed to ensuring that ADF personnel have a very high standard of weapons and equipment to protect themselves and do their job,” Air Chief Marshal Houston said.
“The continuing successes experienced by Australian Defence Force personnel deployed on operations testify to the quality of their training, personal commitment and their equipment.
“I have great confidence in our operational capabilities and the systems in place to ensure Defence equipment and clothing are repaired or replaced with the highest priority, if and when problems are identified.”
Air Chief Marshal Houston said that the effectiveness of the Government commitment to providing the ADF with high quality weapons and equipment has been demonstrated by a series of acquisitions including the early introduction into service of the Bushmaster vehicles, enhanced protection to the Australian Light Armoured Vehicles, unmanned aerial vehicles, Javelin medium direct-fire guided weapons and protective clothing including body armour, night vision and ballistic goggles.
Where necessary, Defence undertakes rigorous testing of newly acquired weapons and equipment to ensure they are fit for purpose and safe for use.
Once introduced into service, supporting management processes enable weapon and equipment malfunctions to be dealt with effectively and provide the opportunity for soldiers to identify areas for improvement and contribute to Defence’s ongoing enhancement of equipment.
In-service management processes, such as the Army’s Report on Defective or Unsatisfactory Materiel (RODUM) system, enable weapons and equipment malfunctions to be reported by soldiers and dealt with effectively by specialists in Australia, including enhancements and modifications to be made based on user feedback.
“The RODUM report system is effective in ensuring safe equipment within our land fleet,” Air Chief Marshal Houston said.
“RODUMs show that we have a robust and rapid method of identifying and fixing equipment problems. Although some commentators use the RODUM system as a means of highlighting negative aspects of equipment quality, the fact is that the relatively small number of RODUMs compared to Defence’s extensive inventory, reinforces the very high standard of our weapons and equipment.”
“These problems relate only to a tiny fraction of the enormous volume and variety of equipment in service.”
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