ENGINE - Royal Australian Navy

BY DAN CU RTlS, M PLG
SECRETARY
MARITIME PLATFORM
LIAISON GROUP
As the Navy Technical Regulator, Head of Navy Engineering, CORE Bryson,
is responsible for the Technical Integrity of all ADF Maritime Materiel assets.
This encompasses fitness-for-service, safety and environmental compliance of
these assets from design and construction, through life to disposal. To ensure
Technical Integrity of the fleet is maintained, Naval Engineering Division, under
the direction of HNE, has developed a suite of documents called the Maritime
Materiel Requirement Set (MRS).
The vast majority of these documents are now written. It is an appropriate time
to look at how they are being used and how they could be improved
Improving Navy Technical
Requirements
Some of the MRS documents
are very mature and tend to be
used with little discussion or
variation. Others have developed
recently and are stil l developing
as they are being used. It is
important to note here that the
MRS documents represent what
is considered to be an acceptable
level of risk. In the provision of
systems. hardware and so on
against these requirements it is
not always necessary to exactly
meet these requirements, it is
however necessary to carefully
measure and assess the risk
against the MRS requirements.
While it is vital to ensure the MRS
documents effectively capture
Technical Integrity requirements,
it is important that they promote
innovation and are also able to be
achieved by current technology.
Stakeholders who work with the
MRS, such as DMO and industry,
need to have the opportunity to
provide input to the MRS for
improvement. To achieve this aim
HNE has stood up the Maritime
Platform Liaison Group.
Formation of Maritime Platform
Liaison Group
The MPLG, made up of
representatives from Navy,
Defence and industry, is open to
anyone who feels they might be
able to contribute usefully to the
work program.
The MPLG enables the Maritime
Platform engineering community
(from Defence , industry and
other parts of government) the
opportunity to discuss engineering
issues that affect multiple
platforms, Maritime Materiel
Requirements, delivery against
technical requirements and
incorporation of new technology
into ADF Maritime Materiel and the
Maritime Materiel Requirements
Set (MRS). It is worthy of note
that the MPLG is limited in scope
of Naval Architecture, Mechanical
and Electrical Engin eerin g
elemen ts of ADF Maritime
Platforms. It specifically does
not address issue covered by the
Maritime Survivability Working
Group.
MPLG Objectives
The specific objectives of the
MPLG are:
• Development of the MRS to
ensu re it adequately captures
ADF Maritime Requirements;
• Provide feedback and advice
on implementation of existing
MRS documents including
suggestions for improvement;
• Techn ical information exchange
within Australia;
• Identify areas where additional
MRS coverage is required; and
• Identify areas for cooperation
and information exchange
unde r existing international
agreements.
MPLG Organisation
The MPLG has essentially two
levels of organisation. The fi rst
is the Advisory Group and the
second are the Expert Teams (ET) .
The Advisory Group is cha ired
by HNE and consists mostly of
individuals at the CAPT or EL2
eq uiva lent level and they provide
oversight and gu idan ce for the
work of the ET and advise the
HNE on what should be done
with outcomes of the ET efforts.
The Advisory Group meets every
6 months.
The Expert Teams are formed
to investigate particular issues
and have definite timeframes
and deliverables required of
them. They have a particular
work program and are led by the
relevant Technology Manager from
the Directorate of Navy Platform
Systems (DNPS). The work of
the ET is done online, using a
website hosted by DNPS. This
allows easy access and promotes
active discussion. The members
of ET come from organisations
with an interest in and an abi lity