Page 47 - Australian Defence Magazine November 2022

NOVEMBER 2022 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
SPACE 47
“The payload we’re offering is a next-generation payload that comes from the commercial world. It’s an innovative payload array with hundreds and hundreds of beams,” Burr said. “Traditional SATCOM might have eight beams that point down and cover a large area. We have hundreds of tight beams that can be focused on small areas. So from a resilience perspective, it’s a lot harder to jam because the area covered is so precise. It means an opponent would have to be very close to your location in order to jam communications.”
Boeing believes that the offer’s alignment with the US government is another significant advantage, as it would allow the Australian government to gain access to a number of protected SATCOM programs under development in the US, including WGS-11, which Boeing says can perform at twice the operational capability of predecessor satellites. This would also provide schedule assurance and low technical risk for Australia given the complex design work has already been completed in the US.
“In not procuring an orphan system, Australia would be getting the advantage of American investment in modern technology,” Burr said. “It gives the government more bang for its buck.”
The difference between the existing WGS capability and the new capability is that Australia will now be responsible for flying its own satellites – a significant investment in personnel and skills training.
“ADM UNDERSTANDS DEFENCE HAS NOT SPECIFIED AN EXACT ‘NEED-BY’ DATE FOR JP 9102”
According to Burr, the requirements of the US program closely match Australia’s requirements for JP9102, meaning Boeing is able to leverage the experience gained in the US as part of its offer. In addition, Boeing is the ADF’s incumbent narrowband UHF provider through its payload on the Intelsat IS-22 satellite and can lean on the experience its team gained on Project Currawong, the ADF’s battlefield telecommunications network delivered under Land 2072 Phase 2B.
For JP9102 Boeing is offering two wideband satellites and two narrowband satellites to the Commonwealth, delivered through an investment of over $1 billion in Australian industry capability across the space, control, ground and sustainment segments of the program. Each satellite contains a payload array that can provide extremely precise coverage to end-users.
“We’ve done this before, back when Optus was launching Boeing satellites,” Burr said. “We trained the Optus workforce, who now fly their own satellites out of Belrose. We also working with Saber Astronautics on in-flight operations.”
LOCKHEED MARTIN AUSTRALIA
LMA draws on experience gained through providing four out of five satellite communications systems for the US Space Force, including the Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS), a network of six geostationary satellites providing missile warning capabilities.
“We have really tailored our solution, leveraging the heritage of those components,” David Ball, Regional Director for Lockheed Martin Australia (LMA) Space, said. “The satellite bus itself is flying today in a variety of roles and we’re putting together the payload elements we’ve provided for the US and other governments into a solution we believe will meet the Australian requirements.”
ADM understands Defence has not specified an exact ‘need-by’ date for JP 9102, instead leaving it to the five tenderers to provide their best offers whilst remaining cognisant that existing capabilities, especially the Optus C-1 satellite, are coming to the end of their lives. LMA would not be specific on dates, but said it had examined
ABOVE LEFT: Boeing Defence Australia is offering two wideband satellites and two narrowband satellites to the Commonwealth for JP9102