Page 117 - Australian Defence Magazine Dec21-Jan22

DECEMBER 2021-JANUARY 2022 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
MAJOR PROJECTS REVIEW 117
RIGHT: An RAAF F-35A Lightning II fully loaded with inert GBU-12 laser guided bombs enroute to the Delamere Air Weapons Range during Exercise Arnhem Thunder 21
JP9360 was launched in July 2020 and the programmat- ic approach aims to deliver a distributed, multi-technology and multi-layered approach to SDA, including threat warn- ing and attribution; detecting, tracking and characterisa- tion of man-made and natural objects in space. The first tranche will include delivery of the Space Surveillance Telescope (SST) at Exmouth and its “First Light” mile- stone was achieved in March 2020. RAAF air surveillance operator training beginning in April 2021 and the first demonstration of integration of the SST in the new facility followed in July. Construction of a Mirror Recoating Facil- ity (MRF) designed, built and maintained by Australian industry will commence in early 2022.
Tranche 2 of capability will focus on ground-based opti- cal sensors, as these have been assessed as being at higher levels of technical maturity than other sensors, such as passive radar systems. The program will seek a range of complementary optical sensors, of different types and located in locations across the country. Government ap- proval is expected towards the end of 2022 and will be
followed by further tranches of different sensor types at two-year intervals.
Looking to the future, release of an RFT for the $3-5 billion JP9102 (Australian Defence Satellite Communica- tions System) in April has resulted in a flurry of teaming announcements throughout the year. While space precludes a definitive listing, major defence companies are under- stood to include Airbus, Boeing, Leidos, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Optus, Raytheon and Thales. The suc- cessful bidder is expected to be announced in early 2023. ■
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