Australian naval officers complete Aegis course in US

Australian naval officers recently graduated from a two month Aegis combat systems course at the Combat Systems Engineering Development Site (CSEDS) in New Jersey, United States.

The officers learned to use the Aegis Combat System that is installed onboard the RAN’s newest Air Warfare Destroyer, the future HMAS Hobart.

Lockheed Martin and government civilians supported the training at CSEDS along with the Navy’s Center for Surface Combat Systems.

“This course marks the commencement of the Australian Navy’s integration of the Aegis Combat System into the future Australian fleet and a continuation of a very close cooperation with one of our most strategic international partners,” said Captain Terry Morrison, Director Destroyers, Surface Combatant and Aircraft Branch for the Royal Australian Navy.

“It provided mid-level officers with the management level information required to direct the operation in anti-air, anti-surface, and antisubmarine warfare and to manage combat system maintenance.”

In the course, students directed all warfare area operations, operated the Aegis display system and commanded system consoles to participate in multi-warfare scenarios, simulating underway conditions.

The prospective commanding officer course was also being taught simultaneously at the CSEDS site. The objective of the course is, to train senior officers to direct warfare area operations and operate the Aegis display system and command and decision system consoles in a command role.

The two courses are taught separately until the final week of training when they are joined together. During this final week, the combat systems officer students are presented with an operational scenario that required in depth planning. The combined class then used the combat system to effectively “fight the ship” in multi-warfare scenarios.