The test demonstrated Vigilare's ability to connect a large number of assets - including F/A-18 Hornets, AP-3C Orions, Navy frigates, and sensors and data sources located across the Australian continent - into the system simultaneously, while satisfying operational load demands.
This was the final acceptance test of the Vigilare system at NROC, and verifies the system as ready for battlespace management, training and surveillance mission operations.
The RAAF now plans to use Vigilare for the multi-national air defence exercise Pitch Black, currently underway in the Northern Territory.
System prime contractor Boeing Defence Australia expects to receive Conditional Acceptance of the system from the Commonwealth later this month.
The company will begin installation and testing at the Eastern Regional Operations Centre (EROC) at RAAF Base Williamtown, NSW, in late September.
Developed by Boeing Defence Australia, the system integrates advanced technologies that combine data from land, sea, air and space platforms, sensors, data links and intelligence agencies to provide tactical- and strategic-level surveillance and battlespace management operations across wide geographic regions.
Boeing's program director for Vigilare Arthur Mamalis says the company is on-target to deliver Vigilare's full network-centric-warfare capability to the RAAF by mid 2011.
According to the DMO's 2010-11 Budget statement the major technical and schedule risk is the development of integrated tactical datalinks, specifically Link-16 capability.
Approved project expenditure is $275 million.
Vigilare's chequered history
Back in May 1993 ADI Electronics Division was notified that it had been selected as prime contractor for AIR 5333 (Project Vigilare) over four other shortlisted contenders.
Two months later ADI was awarded the $36 million prime contract with Westinghouse Electronics as major subcontractor with the lion's share of the contract.
AWADI was to receive about $6 million for the comms.
Four other tenderers, generally regarded as being at the high end of air defence systems in that era, namely Hughes, AWADI/Ferranti, Thomson-CSF and CelsiusTech, were dropped early in the evaluation because their prices exceeded the project's overall budget of $45 million!
Westinghouse was an aggressive tenderer costwise, hence ADI's low, winning bid, but it transpired that Westinghouse's prices to ADI were based on an OTS system which - as later transpired - did not meet the technical requirements of the project.
ADI turned to Unisys and hoped that the switch in technology provider could be managed within the existing contract through a series of equipment change proposals.
But ADI's rivals thought otherwise and, as one opined, the Unisys technology had not been evaluated against those of the original bidders and it was manifestly unfair to renegotiate the contract on that basis.
In January 1995 Defence announced that ADI's contract had been terminated and that AIR 5333 would be retendered in May that year.
Following the project's 2.5-year delay the deadlines were: contract signature May 1996 and delivery mid 1998.
But by late 1996 the new AIR 5333 had broader requirements (ie Link-16) and much more money in the kitty (rumoured to be $90 million).
The classified RFT was released worldwide in November and for the first time Boeing was mentioned among the contending teams.
By March 1997 the teams dwindled under seemingly onerous terms and conditions leaving four firm bidders.
One team in the early stages of formation ATL (Tadiran), Boeing Australia, DEC and Adacel fell apart when Boeing (US) decided to team with its Australian subsidiary.