Defence Magazine

ADF connected: The ISD-managed, Optus C1 satellites support the ADF in the Solomon Islands and East Timor, as well as Navy ships at sea. Photo provided by CIO.

On December 3, 2004, the Chief Information Officer took on the added responsibility for provision of information and communication technology support to Defence when Information Systems Division (ISD) began reporting to him.

ISD is a business enterprise that has an annual budget in excess of $350 million, with 1160 staff. ISD supplies information and communication infrastructure, networks and systems to Defence, providing a secure and cost-effective information environment that connects the right people with the right information at the right time. The Division delivers Defence information infrastructure policy and planning, operates and supports in-service systems, develops enhancements to existing information capabilities and manages fixed communications infrastructure. Of the 650 sites ISD supports, 39 are located overseas and 16 of these represent Defence personnel abroad on operations.

Recognising the need to provide specialised support to deployed forces, and do so in a highly responsive manner, ISD established the Support to Military Operations (SMO) cell a little over 12 months ago. SMO coordinates the necessary support from ISD to provide communications and IT support to operations and CDF-directed activities. The military staff in SMO act as a single point of contact for planning advice to Joint Operations Command and tasking of ISD business units in support of Australian Defence Force ADF operations and exercises.

ISD has been hard at work supporting the ADF in recent months. Late last year, ISD procured and installed commercial satellite terminals at locations in the Middle East Area of Operations to enable the return of military satellite equipment to Australia. An addition to this project was the development of a technical solution to connect these commercial satellite terminals, located half way across the globe, into a Defence-owned and operated satellite earth station. Previously, Defence was reliant on commercial vendors to provide this capability. These satellite links are important as they facilitate command and control of ADF forces and the rapid transfer of large amounts of data between widely dispersed forces.

ISD is also making good use of satellite communications on the Optus C1 satellite. The Defence-owned transponders on this satellite, which are directly managed by ISD, support the ADF located in the Solomon Islands and East Timor, and Navy ships at sea. Optus C1 underpins Defence's satellite communications capability in the Asia Pacific region and facilitates dynamic control of satellite communications to deployed forces and the provision of greater bandwidth than that available through commercial means.

The commissioning, in October 2004, of the Defence Communications Station Australia, known as DEFCOMSTAR, represented another great stride forward in the provision of a wide range of high frequency voice and data communications to the ADF. The network has already been extensively used to support operational deployments and day-to-day fleet and air movements.

More recently, ISD responded rapidly to establish communications and information systems to support Operation Sumatra Assist, the ADF operation helping tsunami victims on the Indonesian archipelago. The communication support activities undertaken include the provision of broadband satellite communications to major ADF concentrations on the Indonesian island of Sumatra and the provision of communications to HMAS Kanimbla.

ISD is actively involved in supporting the achievement of the Defence mission, by providing its customers with highly responsive, secure and cost-effective information services. ISD is proud to be playing a vital role in support of military operations and exercises and strives for continuous improvement in the provision of information and communications technology.

Paula Wilkes is a Communications Officer in the ISD Customer Relationships Office.

Defence

Chief Information Officer

The complete dish

Paula Wilkes looks at the role ISD plays in providing information and communication infrastructure to the ADF.