The
Navy continues to move to the forefront of modern military capability
following the signing of a $72 million contract with BAE Systems
Australia for a high bandwidth maritime satellite communications
system.
Contracts for the land force component of the project will be
let in the near future.
The system’s high bandwidth communication capability will
provide ships at sea with secure, high-speed communication access
to the Defence information environment.
This will enhance the flow of real-time information, coordination
and administration between Maritime Headquarters and ships.
The system will utilise the Defence payload on the recently commissioned
Optus C1 satellite, which was launched from French Guiana in June
this year.
The satellite recently successfully completed in-orbit testing
and has now drifted into its operational orbit.
Its operations are supported by fixed ground anchor stations and
control facilities at HMAS Harman (CMDR Suzanne Smith) in Canberra.
The large and technically complex satellite was six years in the
making and will be completed some $28 million under budget.
Defence Minister Senator Robert Hill said the maritime satellite
communications capability, as part of an integrated communications
system, confirms the Government’s commitment to a leading
edge, network-centric backbone to support Defence operations.
BAE Systems in South Australia will undertake the project management
and system integration work.
BAE Systems will also provide the initial through life support
for the project under a separate five-year contract worth $4.6
million.
