Defence has signed a $37.5 million contract with Lockheed Martin Australia to provide portable facilities to house support systems including the F-35 Autonomic Logistic Information System (ALIS) for Air Force operations deployed overseas.
Lockheed Martin Australia is working with Hunter-based defence industry company, the Varley Group to deliver these facilities, which are primarily designed to support the F-35 Joint strike Fighter.
“Varley is already a key contributor in the production supply chain for the global F-35 Program by supplying F-35 aircraft maintenance slings,” Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne said.
The deployable ICT facility will support F-35 missions by housing a portable ALIS or enabling connection to ALIS elsewhere in the world.
ALIS provides the off-board information system hardware, software and data that performs, maintenance management, fault diagnostic; supply support; mission planning; and training management across the F-35 weapons system.
The portable cabins will also hold the off-board mission planning system that would be used across the F-35A, F/A-18F Super Hornet, E/A-18 Growler and P-8 Poseidon.
Minister Pyne said that distinct from Australia’s global F-35 contract value of work, this Defence contract is direct with an Australian company that provides a sovereign requirement for ADF specific requirements.
Lockheed Martin recently published a video detailing the workings of ALIS.