U.S. Navy Details Basing Plans For BAMS
The U.S. Navy expects its first Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) unmanned aerial system (UAS) base to achieve initial operational capability in late 2015, somewhere in the Persian Gulf.
“The intention is to base BAMS in the 5th Fleet,” says Capt. Robert Dishman, the U.S. Navy’s program manager for BAMS.
Though the 5th Fleet is headquartered in Bahrain, Dishman says the U.S. is still in negotiations with countries in the region regarding basing the UAS. If piracy continues to be a problem in the Gulf of Aden, then these UAS will also be used there, he adds.
Besides the Middle East, there will be two bases in the U.S.—one on the East and one on the West Coast—as well as a base in Sicily for the Mediterranean and one at Guam, from which the U.S. Air Force operates Global Hawk UAS. Italy has already agreed to the Sicilian base, he notes.
The Navy plans another base in the Western Pacific, Dishman says, and while it has had low-level discussions about this with Asia-Pacific nations, no formal request has been made.
The BAMS UAS has the range to cover the Asia-Pacific from Guam, but Dishman says from a cost-of-operations standpoint it is better to have the UAS within a 600-900-nm range.
When asked if export customers for BAMS could base their UAS at Guam, Dishman replies, “I would say definitely. If a country purchases a BAMS capability, it should be able to leverage off the U.S. Navy and use U.S. Navy BAMS sites.” After all, that is what being in a coalition is all about, he adds.
Dishman spoke to Aviation Week on the sidelines of Australia’s Avalon air show, held here March 1-6, where he says he spent much time meeting with Australian Defense Force officials. Australia is considered the most likely BAMS buyer in the region. The country was involved in the BAMS cooperative development effort but later withdrew. The U.S. Navy does have a “data exchange agreement with Australia,” Dishman notes. “We do keep the relationship going” and “we are regularly in discussions,” he says.
Industry executives say Japan is more likely to buy the Global Hawk before it buys BAMS, as Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force is focused now on fielding Kawasaki P-1s, a recently developed Japanese maritime patrol aircraft.
As for Australia, Dishman says the BAMS production line capacity and demand from the U.S. Navy are such that Northrop Grumman could produce BAMS UAS for export customers “shortly after 2015.” But if Australia wants those early delivery slots, “decisions have to be made soon,” he adds.
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