Equip and Sustain the Australian Defence Force
Project management metrics of
time, cost and performance
must be viewed as only part of
the longer and wider story
Equip and Sustain the Australian Defence Force
Baker rifle was a Flintlock Rifle used by the British
Army during the Napoleonic wars. It was the 1st
standard - issue, British-made rifle accepted by the
military.
Equip and Sustain the Australian Defence Force
The Springfield Model 1861 was a percussion cap muzzle
loader used during the American Civil War and was favoured
for its range, accuracy, and reliability. Great Britain exported
nearly one million of the guns to America during the conflict
Equip and Sustain the Australian Defence Force
The Martini-Henry designed in 1870, with a single-shot action
was the first gun built from the ground up as a breech loading
rifle. Production began in Great Britain in 1871, and remained in
service with the British military for nearly 30 years.
Equip and Sustain the Australian Defence Force
The Lee-Enfield bolt-action, magazine fed, repeating rifle was the
main firearm used by the military forces of the British Empire
(from 1895 until 1957) and the and Commonwealth during the first
half of the 20th century.
Equip and Sustain the Australian Defence Force
The technology line of
development confers a transient
capability edge.
But getting it wrong can be
catastrophic.
Equip and Sustain the Australian Defence Force
An ambition for leading-edge
technology is not compatible
with an expectation of certainty
in terms of performance, time
and cost
Equip and Sustain the Australian Defence Force
This binary, absolutist notion of
“success” or “failure” is
problematic, as a project that is
late or over-budget is not
necessarily a failure in terms of
capabilities generated.
Equip and Sustain the Australian Defence Force
Consider 3 projects from different walks of life and over eras –
St Paul’s Cathedral, The Houses of Parliament and the C-17
aircraft
all late and over-budget but now considered a significant
functional success
Equip and Sustain the Australian Defence Force
For technologically–demanding
requirements, all stakeholders,
including parliamentarians
should recognise a readiness to
tolerate significant
technological and managerial
risk
Equip and Sustain the Australian Defence Force
Known Unknowns
“There are known
unknowns. These are
things that we know.
There are known
unknowns. That is to say,
there are things that we
know we don’t know. But
there are also unknown
unknowns. These are
things we don’t know we
don’t know”.
Donald Rumsfeld