Thales Australia has signed a contract with Raytheon Australia on behalf of the Air Warfare Destroyer Alliance to supply a satellite communications system for the new ships.
The value of the contract was not disclosed.
The company will build on its extensive experience in naval communications and the delivery of SEA 1442 Phase 3 to provide a SATCOM solution that will meet the current and future needs of the AWDs.
“The AWDs will be at the core of Australia’s upgraded naval capability, and we will use our systems integration expertise to deliver a solution that makes cost-effective use of proven COTS and MOTS components,” Chris Jenkins, Thales Australia’s CEO, said.
Under the contract, Thales will provide a global data transfer capability based on traditional dedicated US military satellites, as well as commercial maritime satellites providing Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN) access.
The SATCOM solution will also provide access to the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS) and other low data rate civilian maritime functions such as telex, remote monitoring, tracking/position reporting, and chart and weather updates.
Thales will work with Australian SMEs wherever possible to supply and support the equipment, with UHF SATCOM transceivers and modems sourced through Spirit River from Western Australia, an antenna system from SITEP, and INMARSAT Fleet Broadband and INMARSAT C equipment sourced through Electrotech.
All design and integration work will be performed in Australia at Garden Island, Sydney.