Latest Defence and Industry News
B-21 bomber could be Australia’s best long-range strike option
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- Written by Marcus Hellyer
- Category: RAAF
The government’s 2020 defence strategic update provided refreshing clarity about Australia’s deteriorating strategic environment and the need for new military capabilities to address it. These include long-range strike capabilities to impose greater cost on potential great-power adversaries at greater range from Australia. The government also included a shopping list of those capabilities giving a broad outline of schedule and the scale of investment.
Defence drops $7M on Dell Navy IT hardware refresh
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- Written by Sasha Karen, ARN
- Category: Navy
Dell has scored a $7.1 million contract with the Department of Defence for a hardware refresh for the Royal Australian Navy. The contract, which lasted from 15 April to 14 May, saw Defence purchase hardware from the vendor to the tune of $7,109,125.10 to replace old technologies with unidentified devices. The purchase comes as part of the Fleet Information Environment (FIE) modernisation project, a major overhaul of the IT equipment on the Navy’s ships worth $600 million, which was announced in April 2019.
Sydney Nano delivers high-speed smart sensing for Australian Defence
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- Written by administrator
- Category: RAAF
The Jericho Smart Sensing Lab at the University of Sydney Nano Institute has developed a prototype sensor system for the Royal Australian Air Force that mimics the brain’s neural architecture to deliver high-tech sensing technology for the Australian Defence Force. Dubbed MANTIS, the system under development integrates a traditional camera with a visual system inspired by neurobiological architectures.
HENSOLDT restores HMAS Canberra’s IFF system to full capability
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- Written by Naval Technology
- Category: Navy
HENSOLDT Australia has overhauled the first of the Royal Australian Navy’s (RAN) Canberra Class vessels’ identification Friend or Foe (IFF) system antenna and pedestals. The company is under contract to repair and perform deep level maintenance of four antennas and pedestals. The HENSOLDT facility already supports the IFF interrogator for the RAN and Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF).
Romania to field newest version of US Patriot air defense missile system
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- Written by Army Recognition
- Category: Ratheon
According to information published on May 21, 2021, Romania is poised to become the first country to field the newest version of the U.S. Patriot air and missile defense system, made by Raytheon Missiles & Defense, a business of Raytheon Technologies. In May 2018, U.S. Army has awarded a $395.8 million contract to American company Raytheon Company for the production of Romania's Patriot Air and Missile Defense System.
Pentagon awards M-Code GPS deal to BAE Systems
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- Written by Carlo Munoz
- Category: BAE Systems
The Pentagon’s Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) has awarded BAE Systems a USD325 million deal to provide the US armed forces with Military Code (M-Code)-enabled GPS modules, according to a company statement. Under the terms of the deal, company officials will provide M-Code-compatible Military GPS User Equipment (MGUE) Increment 1 Common GPS Modules to US and allied combat platforms over the next 10 years, the statement said.
Poland to become first NATO country to buy Turkish drones
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- Written by Middle East Monitor
- Category: Europe
Poland will buy 24 armed drones from Turkey, the Polish defence minister said on Saturday, becoming the first NATO member to buy Turkish-made unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), reports Reuters. The Bayraktar TB2 drones, the first of which are due to be delivered next year, will be armed with anti-tank projectiles. Poland will also buy a logistics and training package, said Defence Minister Mariusz Blaszczak.
Australia names first space commander
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- Written by administrator
- Category: RAAF
After a near 40-year career in the Royal Australian Air Force that has taken her to great heights, Canberra-based Air Vice-Marshal Cath Roberts is now focused even higher as the incoming head of Defence’s Space Division. Air Vice-Marshal Roberts will be the first person to lead the Space Division, which has been established to reflect the Defence’s mission to operate in all areas.
BAE Systems Australia to build joint strike missile components
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- Written by Ed Adamczyk
- Category: BAE Systems
BAE Systems Australia said on Friday it will build additional electronic controls for Joint Strike Missiles made by Norway's Kongsberg Defense & Aerospace. The contract for 180 Passive Radio Frequency Sensors, or PRS, completes the first full rate of production order for elements of the fifth-generation, long-range, precision-guided stand-off missile system used by ships, where it is known as the Naval Strike Missile, and carried by F-35 fighter planes.
China could have ordered Huawei to shut down Australia’s 5G
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- Written by Peter Hartcher
- Category: Australian Signals Directorate
The federal government’s cyber spies advised Australia would have had to put 300 separate security measures on Huawei’s equipment to make it safe for the nation’s 5G system but the network could still have been shut down on Beijing’s orders. The Australian Signals Directorate spent more than eight months trying to find a way to make the Chinese company’s telecommunications equipment acceptably safe but ultimately told the Turnbull government the risk could not be contained satisfactorily.
Morrison Government delivers for Australian businesses in Hunter Frigate project
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- Written by Mirage News
- Category: BAE Systems
The Morrison Government’s pledge to ensure the benefits of its investment in Defence capability flow to Aussie businesses is gaining momentum, with three local companies awarded contracts totalling more than $800,000 to support the Hunter class frigate program. BAE Systems Australia has brought forward prototyping contract agreements with South Australian-based companies Century Engineering and Novafast International, and Victorian firm Mackay Consolidated Industries.
Northrop Grumman Awarded US Air Force Contract for Global Hawk RQ-4 Unmanned Aerial Vehicle
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- Written by MilitaryLeak
- Category: Northrop Grumman
Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Sierra Vista, Arizona, has been awarded a $75,500,000 contract for the Global Hawk RQ-4 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). Foreign Military Sales (FMS) funds will be obligated at the time of task order award. The Air Force Installation Contracting Center, Joint Base San Antonio‐Randolph, Texas, is the contracting activity.
UK MOD contracts Rolls-Royce for MT30 and WR-21 engines support
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- Written by Naval Technology
- Category: UK
Rolls-Royce has won a contract from the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) to provide support MT30 and R-21 marine engines that power two major Royal Navy programmes. This contract will enable the company to deliver ‘on-going support’ for MT30 engines installed on Queen Elizabeth Class (QEC) Aircraft Carriers and WR-21 marine engines on Type 45 destroyers. The latest contract will run through 2026.
US Navy has commissioned future USS Mobile LCS 26 Independence-variant littoral combat ship
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- Written by Navy Recognition
- Category: USA
The USS Mobile (LCS 26) is an Independence-variant Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) built by the Austal USA. She was christened on December 7, 2019, and delivered to the U.S. Navy on December 9, 2020. In October 2020, the future USS Mobile has successfully concluded its acceptance trial in the Gulf of Mexico on September 25 after a series of in-port and underway demonstrations.
Australian Defence Force unveils new maritime science research vessel
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- Written by Naval Technology
- Category: Minister
The Australian Department of Defence (DoD) has launched a new defence maritime science research vessel built by New South Wales (NSW)-based company Steber International. Known as ‘R/V Ginan’, the vessel is 12m long and is part of a $1.39m (A$1.8m) project to support defence maritime research. The DoD’s Science and Technology Group (DSTG) conducts research in multiple areas, as well as supports the Royal Australian Navy’s mine countermeasures programmes.
RAAF's new F-35 fighter soars over Top End
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- Written by Aaron Bunch
- Category: JSF
The Australian Defence Force's new Joint Strike Fighter has taken to the skies above the Northern Territory for the first large-scale air combat training exercise since the COVID pandemic hit. About a dozen Royal Australian Air Force F-35A Lightning II fighters made the trek to the Top End, along with 40 other aircraft and over 500 Defence personnel, for the month-long exercise.
Is Leidos leveraging Australia as a staging point for APAC expansion?
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- Written by Leon Spencer (ARN)
- Category: LEIDOS
US-headquartered defence IT specialist Leidos could be leveraging the phenomenal growth it has seen in the Australian market as a springboard for an expansion across the broader Asia Pacific region. The multibillion-dollar merger between Leidos and Lockheed Martin’s government IT services business in 2016 saw Leidos Australia grow almost overnight from a 60-strong tech player to a firm with almost 800 people under its belt.
Nowra-based Sikorsky Australia gets $10m boost with Romeo helicopter contract extension
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- Written by South Coast Register
- Category: Navy
Sikorsky Australia, which has a base at the Albatross Aviation Technology Park, south west of Nowra has been awarded a $10 million contract by the United States Navy to provide additional support to the Royal Australian Navy's fleet of MH-60R Romeo multi-mission helicopters. The contract for the sustainment for Australia's fleet of 24 Romeo helicopters, based out of HMAS Albatross, is delivered locally in Australia through a Foreign Military Sales (FMS) agreement with the US Navy, providing opportunities for Australian defence industry.
BAE Systems to provide IFF transponders for avionics suites on military aircraft in $18.3 million deal
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- Written by Intelligent Aerospace
- Category: BAE Systems
U.S. Navy avionics experts are asking the BAE Systems Electronic Systems segment in Greenlawn, N.Y., to provide hundreds of identification-friend-or-foe (IFF) transponders for military aircraft under terms of an $18.3 million order announced earlier this month, John Keller reports for Military & Aerospace Electronics. Continue reading original article.
UAE awards local firm ADSB $950 mln naval patrol vessel contract
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- Written by Reuters
- Category: Middle East
The United Arab Emirates has signed a 3.5 billion dirham ($950 million) contract with Abu Dhabi Ship Building (ADSB) (ADSB.AD) to manufacture new patrol vessels for the Gulf Arab state's navy, ADSB said on Tuesday. The contract for Falaj 3-class Offshore Patrol Vessels was the largest ever order received by ADSB, it said in a statement.
Critical Infrastructure Uplift Program
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- Written by Mirage News
- Category: Australian Signals Directorate
The ACSC is calling for ACSC Partners to help pilot the Critical Infrastructure Uplift Program (CI-UP). CI-UP will help protect Australia’s essential services from cyber threats by raising the security levels of critical infrastructure organisations. CI-UP is part of the Australian Signals Directorate’s Cyber Enhanced Situational Awareness and Response (CESAR) package and compliments the Australian Government’s ongoing work to protect critical infrastructure security through proposed amendments to the Security of Critical Infrastructure Act 2018.