20 SURVEILLANCE AND TARGET ACQUISITION REGIMENT

ROYAL REGIMENT OF AUSTRALIAN ARTILLERY

The STA Regt is responsible for managing the commander’s counter-fire fight through the integration and synchronisation of target acquisition assets and effects.

Counter-fires is a critical STA and joint fires responsibility; unless enemy artillery is suppressed, they will be free to strike friendly targets, break-up friendly force concentrations, and provide fire-support to enable hostile ground manoeuvre.

The STA system combines the means of acquiring information and targets, and carrying out an appropriate level of target information processing. The STA system incorporates a cyclical process which informs, directs and updates the priorities and the rate of the collection effort.

• Surveillance is described as the systematic observation of aerospace, surface or sub-surface areas, places, persons, or things by visual, aural, electronic, photographic or other means. The STA Regt conducts surveillance, in conjunction with other arms, to collect and disseminate tactical information to enable joint fires and effects (lethal and non-lethal).

• Target Acquisition is described as the detection and identification of the location of a target in sufficient detail to permit the effective employment of joint fires and effects (lethal and non-lethal). The locating of enemy joint fires assets is critical to enabling the execution of effective counter fires.

Role

'There is nothing like the urgent need for accurate and timely counter-battery fire to bring into focus the role that locating artillery plays on the modern battlefield.'1

Since the end of the First World War, surface-to-surface fires capabilities have undergone tremendous developments, mostly linked to improved range and munitions. Similarly, artillery locating and target acquisition capabilities have progressed commensurately. The most notable development occurred around the time of the Second World War: the radar. Constantly refined ever since, the primary weapon of artillery STA over the past seventy years has been the Weapon Locating Radar. Of course Artillery calibration, survey, meteorology and sensor2 capabilities have also continued to develop exponentially.

		Specific to the Australian Army, ‘locators’ didn’t come onto the ORBAT until just after the First World War. Initially starting as militia, our locators served meritoriously in the Second World War and Korea. Eventually becoming regular units on the Army establishment, Divisional Locating (and later STA) sub-units continued to serve with distinction in Vietnam, East Timor, and Iraq. The Solomon Islands and Iraq saw the introduction of Unmanned Aerial Systems as an STA capability, which also provided continuous service to operations in Afghanistan for nearly a decade. The STA Regt also maintains a technical artillery intelligence capability; this is the ability to analyse enemy artillery tactics, techniques, procedures and equipment to best enable the execution of counter-fires and support to the manoeuvre plan.

Core tasks of Artillery STA

Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) Planning

Surveillance and Reconnaissance Operations

Manoeuvre Support Operations

Targeting Operations

What does 20 Regt (Army’s ST A unit) consist of and provide?

20 Regt consists of four sub-units: Ops Spt Bty (C3 of the Regiment, SUAS capabilities,3 ISTAR planning support to DJFHQ/HQ 1 Div/JTF), 131 Bty and 132 Bty (TUAS capabilities,4 ISTAR planning support to JTF/Bde/BG HQ), and CSS Bty (maintenance and logistics support to the entire Regt). From 2022, an additional TUAS sub-unit (133 Bty) will be activated.

The future of Australian Artillery STA

The future of the STA Regt is exciting. Land 129-3 will see the replacement of the RQ-7B Shadow 200, from 2022. This replacement TUAS will have a range of 120km+, be runway independent, and provide small and agile Forward Ground Control Stations to better support land, joint and inter-agency operations. The SUAS capability continues to rapidly develop, with some impressive Australian Industry options that will enable 20 Regt to provide robust and scalable support options.
		The Artillery Modernisation Plan will likely see the introduction of Long-Range Fires (with candidate systems such as the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rockets System – HIMARS), and the re-introduction of Weapon Locating Radar capabilities (evolution of the AN/TPQ-36). While the organisational structures are still under consideration, as a STA Regt, 20 Regt would be well- positioned to receive systems like these; they will only serve to increase the STA capability through improved sensor-to- shooter/effector linkages. Looking further into the future, 20 Regt is well positioned to lead the introduction of armed-UAVs into Army, if/when that is directed by Army and Government. The Artillery Modernisation Plan will likely see the introduction of Long-Range Fires (with candidate systems such as the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rockets System – HIMARS), and the re-introduction of Weapon Locating Radar capabilities (evolution of the AN/TPQ-36). While the organisational structures are still under consideration, as a STA Regt, 20 Regt would be well- positioned to receive systems like these; they will only serve to increase the STA capability through improved sensor-to- shooter/effector linkages. Looking further into the future, 20 Regt is well positioned to lead the introduction of armed-UAVs into Army, if/when that is directed by Army and Government.
Conclusion 20 Regt remains focussed on providing high-readiness, scalable ISTAR options (as part of 6 Brigade) to Army and Government, across the spectrum of operations, both domestically and abroad. As part of an Army in Motion, 20 Regt will ensure Army has an organic, intimate and responsive STA capability that feeds the land-based Joint Fires system. As part of the Royal Regiment of Australian Artillery, 20 Regt continues to work with other artillery units and headquarters to achieve its motto: Seek to Strike.