Defence: Satellite Bandwidth

Senator Johnston asked the Minister for Defence, upon notice, on 13 August 2009:

Given that video communications is integrated into robots, soldiers, and unmanned aerial vehicles, network-centric warfare is becoming the organising principle of war fighting, frontline demands for bandwidth are rising at a rapid rate and the military of the United States of America is focusing on Transformation Communications Satellite System as part of a larger effort to address that need and close the gap:

1. For the period 1 January to 30 June 2009 what did the ADF do and how much did it spend on addressing the issue of increased bandwidth?
2. For the period 1 January to 30 June 2009 what did the ADF do and how much did it spend on establishing a network centric-warfare capability?

Senator Faulkner - The answer to the honourable senator’s questions are as follows:

1. Defence was engaged in the following Satellite bandwidth acquisition activities:

   • Defence completed the installation of equipment at one United States satellite ground station site and commenced work towards equipment installation at a second site.
   • The Defence Material Organisation continued the contracted acquisition of interim ground station capabilities on the Australian west and east coasts to provide for long term access to the Wideband Global SATCOM System.
   • Defence expanded the fleet of wideband SATCOM terminals in our major war vessels, completing installation work on HMAS Anzac.
   • Defence contracted the acquisition of an Ultra High Frequency payload on a commercial satellite over the Indian Ocean Region, which will become operational in 2012.
   • The total cost of increasing bandwidth within the period was $102.2 million.
2. Defence was engaged in the following Network Centric Warfare activities:
   • The Networked Special Operations Task Unit milestone progressed with the continued delivery of vehicles to Special Forces through Defence Joint Project 2097 Phase 1A.
   • The Networked Air Combat Force milestone progressed with the introduction of a limited Link 16 capability into the Eastern Regional Operations Centre.
   • The Networked Maritime Task Group milestone continued the provision of broadband Satellite Communications to Major Fleet units under Defence Joint Project 2008 Phase 3E.
   • Defence tested and refined the Link 11/16 hardware fitted to the four Adelaide class frigates under Defence Project SEA 1390 Phase 2.
   • Defence achieved its first Networked Deployable Joint Task Force Headquarters milestone deliverable with the opening of Headquarters Joint Operations Command in February 2009.
   • Initiatives including the Services' New Generation Navy, The Adaptive Army and the Air Force Adaptive Culture programs progressed to prepare the ADF for operating in a networked battlespace.
   • The Rapid Prototyping Development and Evaluation organisation, under Capability Development Group, completed six Quicklooks and three Tasks to accelerate network capability.
   • A 2009 version of the Network Centric Warfare Roadmap was drafted during the period and aligned with the White Paper and Defence Capability Plan 2009.
   • $5.8 million. Expenditure on projects within the Defence Capability Plan is not included in the summation of expenditure attributed to the establishment of a networked ADF capability.

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