Australia Picks Boeing for Air Defense Deal (Mar. 1)
Defence has today signed a $114 million contract with Boeing Australia Limited to deliver a new state-of-the-art air defence command and control system for the Australian Defence Force, Defence Minister Robert Hill announced.
The Vigilare system will provide the ADF with the capability to support national surveillance and the air defence of Australia from operations centres RAAF Bases Williamtown and Tindal.
“Vigilare will consolidate information from a variety of sources to produce a comprehensive picture of the skies above and around Australia,” Senator Hill said.
“This means we will be able to better respond to possible future incursions into Australia’s airspace, not only by aircraft but also by any missiles that are detected.”
Vigilare will use information from sources such the Jindalee Operational Radar Network (JORN), our new Airborne Early Warning and Control aircraft, civil and military microwave radars, fighter and maritime patrol aircraft, Royal Australian Navy air warfare-capable ships and various intelligence sources.
It will provide high-tech communication facilities to enable ADF commanders to command and control widely dispersed air, sea and ground assets. These facilities will be networked with other ADF and allied surveillance and combat assets.
Senator Hill said that although the Vigilare contract had been delayed far too long, Defence used the opportunity to incorporate additional communications and sensor integration work in the contract. The contract was also updated to reflect modern network centric warfare concepts.
The contract involves the complex task of integrating and installing high technology systems and will bring together capabilities developed both overseas and within Australia. Boeing will maintain the Vigilare system in Australia under a five-year support contract valued at $11.4 million that was also signed today.
Australian industry will benefit significantly from being involved in the development, installation, testing, and maintenance phases of the project with the level of Australian industry involvement for the project set at 64 per cent.
Boeing Australia Limited is working closely with three major suppliers for its Vigilare contract. Daronmont Technologies (Adelaide, South Australia) and Raytheon Solipsys (Maryland, USA) and are expected to supply and develop the tracking, display and data processing elements of the system and Frequentis (Vienna, Austria) is expected to supply the communications switching element of Vigilare.
The first command and control system is expected to be installed and operational at RAAF Base Tindal by mid 2007.
