Defence`s Feeds

Russia has completed the delivery of S-300 long-range air defence systems to Iran, the RIA Novosti news agency quoted Alexander Fomin, the head of Russia's Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation, as saying on 13 October. "All divisions have been supplied," Fomin said. Russian

Japan is to lease a plot of land alongside its existing military base in the east African country of Djibouti from 2017 to "enhance the operational security of our anti-piracy operations facility", a source in Japan's Ministry of Defense (MoD) told IHS Jane's on 14 October. The official

Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) has unveiled details of its bid for the British Army Challenger 2 main battle tank (MBT) Life Extension Programme (LEP). One of the key members of their Challenger 2 LEP team is Pearson Engineering, which now owns the former Vickers Defence Systems (subsequently BAE

Russian Helicopters' modernised Mi-28NM attack helicopter made its full maiden flight on 12 October in Tomilino near Moscow during a visit by deputy defence minister Yuri Borisov, the company announced. The Russian Helicopters holding (a subsidiary of Rostec) said the experience of designing the

Key Points Peru is awaiting the launch of its first new LPD later this year Following harbour and sea trials in 2017, it is planned that the ship will be ready for operations by early 2018 The Peruvian Navy (Marina de Guerra del Perú: MGP) is anticipating the launch of the first of two new

Key Points Poland has decided to buy S-70i Black Hawk helicopters from PZL-Mielec Only 20 will be ordered, leaving much of Poland's 70-strong helicopter requirement unfulfilled Poland still plans to buy 50-70 new multirole helicopters, Polish defence minister Antoni Macierewicz has stated,

Americas

• Pressure has continued from US lawmakers opposed to continued arms sales to Saudi Arabia. Rep. Ted Lieu of California urged the Pentagon to suspend cooperation with a Saudi-led coalition conducting airstrikes in Yemen, saying in a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry released on Wednesday that civilian casualties from the strikes “appear to be the result of war crimes.” A funeral struck by Saudi missiles last weekend killed 140 mourners and Lieu is requesting that US arms sales to Riyadh be suspended until a White House review is completed.

• The Peruvian Ministry of Defense has received a number of R-312AT helicopter radio systems from JSC Rosoboronexport, subsidiary of Russia’s Rostec State Corporation. Delivery of the systems comes as part of an offset deal in connection with 24 Mi-171Sh helicopters and is expected to save Lima over $12.5 million. Rosboronexport have also promised to allocate $1 million for the building of a helicopter training center for Peru if eight offset projects agreed to are implemented.

Middle East & North Africa

• In response to missile attacks on US and allied vessels off the coast of Yemen, the Pentagon has ordered the US Navy to launch missile attacks at targets operated by Houthi rebels. On October 13, the USS Nitze fired three BGM-109 Tomahawk cruise missiles at radar sites in Yemen which were believed to have been active during previous attacks and attempted attacks on vessels. A defense official said the radar sites were in remote areas where there was little risk of civilian casualties. The Houthis meanwhile, reiterated their denial that they were responsible for the attack on US warship the USS Mason.

Europe

• As a way of saying sorry for the ditched Caracel military helicopter deal, Poland is to offer France alternative investment projects, according to the Polish Prime Minister. The previous Polish administration had agreed to buy 50 Airbus utility helicopters in April 2015 for $3.5 billion as part of efforts to modernize their military forces at a time of tensions with neighbor Russia. Beata Szydlo told Polish media that the French foreign minister will be presented with “cooperation proposals, when it comes to investment of another type, or a purchase of other equipment” when they make a visit to Warsaw, which is planned for the near future.

• Proposals for new tanks and aircraft have been submitted by the Italian armed forces for parliamentary approval. On October 11, the defense commission of the lower house of the Italian parliament began debating plans by the Italian military to buy the Centauro II tank and an updated version of its A-129 Mangusta helicopter. While once nothing more than a rubber stamp for military acquisitions, the parliament’s defense commission was given greater influence over defense spending due to legislation passed in 2012. They have until November 8 to offer an opinion on the purchases.

Asia Pacific

• In order to curry favor with the Indian government, Saab will share their Advanced Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar with Gallium Nitride (GaN) technology with India they if they select the Gripen fighter. The list of sweeteners also includes the previous offer of co-developing India’s indigenously manufactured fighter aircraft Tejas MK1A by setting up a production line in India under the “Make in India” scheme. Company officials said that both the LCA and the Gripen are of similar class and also share the same General Electric engine citing commonality in maintenance and operation.

• Boeing has revealed some of the potential upgrades offered to Japan’s F-15Js. The company’s defense head in Japan announced that AESA radars, a new mission computer, a new electronic warfare suite, conformal fuel tanks, and additional missiles would all be included as part of any deal. A model on display at Boeing’s stand at this week’s Japan Aerospace show depicts an F-15 loaded with 16 Raytheon AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-air missiles: double the load now available.

• Kawasaki Heavy Industries are confident that they can poach customers away from Boeing’s P-8 Poseidon aircraft in favor of their own P-1. The company said that customers looking to move away from their older P-1 Orions see a number of advantages in the Japanese anti-submarine warfare plane over its American counterpart. One advantage touted over the P-8A is the P-1’s four turbofan engines, as a single engine failure will not result in the termination of the mission and allows the plane to operate at lower altitudes.

Today’s Video

USS Nitze Targeting Yemeni Radar Sites with Tomahawks:

The US Government is investing in foreign object debris (FOD) detection and clearing equipment for use in the US Navy and US Marines air stations.

BAE Systems Information and Electronic Systems Integration has secured a $618.34m-worth contract for full-rate production lots 5 to 7 Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System II rockets.

Singapore Technologies Marine (ST Marine) has launched the third Independence-class littoral mission vessel (LMV), Unity, for the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN).

German Heckler and Koch HK33 Assault Rifle

Francisco González Mené and Dušan Švarc, EDA's two recently appointed SME Senior Advisers, participated in their first Member States’ SME Point of Contacts (PoCs) meeting this Thursday 13 October at the Agency premises in Brussels.

The meeting was mainly devoted to taking stock of the implementation of the 2016 priorities of the EDA SME Action Plan and the results of the EDA exploratory study on SMEs. Participants also discussed the progress report on the implementation of the ‘Guidelines for facilitating SME’s access to the defence market’ and EDA future work to support SMEs accessing COSME opportunities.

Both advisors expressed satisfaction about the outcome of their first SME PoCs meeting. "I was impressed by the hands on approach taken by EDA to provide concrete and practical support to defence-related SMEs so that they can access EU funding", said Dušan Švarc. In his view, "the key for EDA's future work in this domain will be to simplify ways, means and procedures for SMEs to benefit from EU funding and other forms of support". Francisco González Mené said he appreciated the increasing role played by the EDA in supporting the development of defence-related SMEs.

It was agreed that at the next SME PoCs network meeting scheduled for spring 2017, the two EDA SME Advisors would share with the group first ideas on how to support defence-related SMEs even better in the future.

 

Exploring new ideas and initiatives in support of SME

The appointment of the two SME Senior Advisers was identified in the EDA SME Action Plan, approved by the March 2013 Steering Board, as one of many means to promote defence-related SMEs. Following a call for expression of interest and a selection process, Mr Francisco González Mené (Spanish) and Mr Dušan Švarc (Czech) were appointed in summer 2016.

Their main role is to provide strategic advice and support to the EDA top management on policies and actions regarding defence-related SMEs/clusters and to identify new potential ideas and concrete initiatives in support of the defence-related SMEs. Their mandate also included the assessment of ongoing EDA initiatives.

 

More information:

• CV of Mr Francisco González Mené
• CV of Mr Dušan Švarc
• EDA launches COSME platform for dual-use & defence SMEs
• 3 out of 3: another EDA supported dual-use R&T project is awarded ESIF funding
• Access to EU funding (EDA project page)
• First meeting with EDA SME Senior Advisers
• EDA and Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) cooperation yields first concrete results

Using evidence from Afrobarometer surveys, the authors analyze public perceptions of security in Nigeria and Kenya and the implications this has on countering violent extremism. They focus on issues of public trust in security forces, corruption and the success and failure of security-led approaches vs development-oriented approaches to violence and violent extremism.   Introduction Over

will take place on Wednesday 9 November, 9:00-12:30 and 15:00-18:30, and Thursday 10 November, 9:00-12:30 in Brussels.

Organisations or interest groups who wish to apply foraccess to the European Parliament will find the relevant information below.

Further information
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Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Length of video : 131'
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Disclaimer : The interpretation of debates serves to facilitate communication and does not constitute an authentic record of proceedings. Only the original speech or the revised written translation is authentic.
Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Length of video : 93'
You may manually download this video in WMV (861Mb) format

Disclaimer : The interpretation of debates serves to facilitate communication and does not constitute an authentic record of proceedings. Only the original speech or the revised written translation is authentic.
Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Americas

• The chief of the Republic of Korea Air Force is to visit the US next month to help promote the T-50A bid by Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) and Lockheed Martin. Gen. Jeong Kyeong-doo is scheduled to meet his US counterparts during the trip. Washington is expected to begin its selection process for 350 advanced jet trainers next year which could reach $20 billion in value.

• USS Nimitz became the fifth nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to have a hard-kill anti-torpedo defense system installed on board. Designed to destroy an incoming torpedo by collision, the Surface Ship Torpedo Defense (SSTD) System consists of the Torpedo Warning System, an automated control station and a Countermeasure Anti-Torpedo (CAT). The system was developed by Pennsylvania State University’s Applied Research Lab.

• POSCO Daewoo of South Korea has been contracted to provide a landing platform dock and multirole corvette vessels to the Brazilian Navy in a deal worth $1 billion. The firm will also modernize the Arsenal de Marinha do Rio de Janeiro shipyard and the ships will be constructed in partnership with domestic shipyards. In order to hunt deals in the region, POSCO Daewoo has operated offices out of the city of Sao Paulo since 1980.

Middle East & North Africa

• The Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen has claimed to have shot down a Houthi rebel ballistic missile headed toward Khamees Mushait city in the kingdom’s southwest on Tuesday night. After destroying the missile, Saudi forces attacked the missile’s launch site. It’s believed that that target of the strike was Saudi Arabia’s King Faisal Military Camp located about 40 km (25 miles) north of the Yemeni border.

• Germany’s cabinet has approved the deployment of additional troops to Turkey to help operate NATO surveillance aircraft. The Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft will be used for reconnaissance in support of air strikes against IS targets. Berlin already has 500 personnel fighting IS with six Tornado surveillance aircraft and a refueling plane located at Turkey’s Incirlik air base.

• Turkish and Russian rapprochement continues with Ankara re-inviting a previously disqualified Russian bidder to its first long-range air and anti-missile defense system acquisition. China Precision Manufacturing Import-Export Corp (CPMIEC) had been originally tapped to provide their air defense architecture in a deal worth $3.44 billion before being ditching by Turkey following pressure from NATO allies. Since then, an indigenous effort has commenced to develop a system alongside parallel talks with US and European bidders.

Europe

• Twelve additional F-35A fighters have been requested by the Norwegian government. The proposal, if approved, would raise the total number of authorized F-35A purchases to 40 aircraft allowing Norway to participate in a proposed “block buy” for the F-35’s US and international partners. Unlike a multi-year procurement, a block buy does not lock the US or international partners into firm orders, but it gives Lockheed’s supply chain a long-term view of likely demand.

Asia Pacific

• Australian Armidale-class patrol boats are to receive mid-life upgrades from firm Austal Australia. This month will see the commencement of work on the hull remediation, corrective maintenance and configuration changes of up to seven vessels at Austal’s shipyard in Henderson, Western Australia. Austal is currently providing in-service support to the Australian Border Force’s fleet of eight company-built Cape-class patrol boats and has been contracted to provide in-service support for 19 Pacific Patrol Boat Replacement vessels, which enter service from late next year.

Today’s Video

North Korea’s Latest Missile Launch:

American MH-6 Little Bird Light Utility Helicopter

Keeping watch
(click to view full)

Australia’s long coast is also its border, and they’ve taken an innovative approach to the problem. Unlike, say, the US Coast Guard, Australia has semi-privatized the coastal patrol function, placing contractors under the Customs service. Once intruders are detected, these contractors can then call on pre-arranged support from civil authorities and/or the Royal Australian Navy and Air Force. Contracted services of this nature are becoming more common around the world, but Australia was really breaking new ground when they began Coastwatch on such a large scale in 1995.

Coastwatch was re-competed, and in 2006, Cobham’s subsidiary Surveillance Australia Pty Ltd retained the contract through the A$ 1+ billion next phase, called Project Sentinel. The new contract under Australia’s CMS04 (Civil Maritime Surveillance 04) program has expanded the fleet and addressed some concerns, but there are still areas where Australia lags a bit behind the leading edge. Even so, Coastwatch remain a touchstone program for countries considering a similar path.

Australia’s Coastwatch RAAF AP-3C Orion
(click to view full)

Australia has a 38,000 km coastline and an Exclusive Economic Zone of 16 million square kilometres, and faces an increasing level of incursions. Illegal fishing and asylum-seekers who set themselves adrift to take advantage of Australia’s refugee laws (if they survive). As it became clear that its northern approaches held other resources beyond fish, the area’s sovereignty and safety acquired a high priority.

By 2005, the Coastwatch division of the Australian Customs Service contracted for the use of 15 fixed-wing aircraft and 2 helicopters from civil providers, and set annual availability quotas from Customs and Navy patrol vessels (about 1,800 hours) and RAAF AP-3C Orions (about 250 hours) under Operation Cranberry.

Except for contracted AP-3C availabilities from the RAAF, aerial surveillance is carried out by civilian operators. Indeed, the program is the world’s largest aerial civil maritime surveillance operation. It involves 170 personnel, flying 20,000 hours per year from 4 four permanent bases (Broome, Darwin, Horn Island and Cairns) around Australia’s northern coast. As of 2006, the Surveillance Australia fixed-wing aircraft roster included:

• 5 Dash-8 Q200 MPA aircraft fitted with Immarsat communications, SeaVue surveillance radar, infra-red sensors and daylight TV camera for long-range offshore surveillance.

• 3 Cessna Reims F406 turboprop aircraft fitted with surveillance radar and night vision systems for inshore surveillance.

• 6 Pilatus Britten-Norman BN2B Islander aircraft, fitted for the Visual Surveillance role.

• 1 Shrike AC500 Aero Commander, fitted for the Visual Surveillance Role.

As noted above, these contracted assets work hand-in-hand with civil and military authorities to thwart drug runners, people smugglers and illegal fishing. While the surveillance is carried out under the auspices of Customs, several agencies rely on the intelligence gathered, including the Australian Federal Police, Quarantine and Inspection Service, Defence, Foreign Affairs and Trade and Fisheries.

The New Fleet Coastwatch Q200
(click to view full)

Under the new 2006 Project Sentinel contract, Cobham companies will provide, operate and maintain an updated fleet of Dash-8 aircraft through to the year 2021, starting in January 2008. The new service based on Bombardier Dash-8 aircraft will double the fleet to provide all-weather, day and night electronic surveillance of Australia’s maritime Exclusive Economic Zone.

The new fleet will change to 10 Dash 8 planes: 6 Q200 aircraft, plus 4 longer-range and larger Q300 aircraft. During the modification program, the Q300s were equipped with additional fuel tanks in the fuselage, providing an additional 4,000 lbs. of fuel capacity in addition to their standard long-range tanks. The Project Sentinel Dash 8 MSAs are equipped with the latest versions of Raytheon’s SeaVue radar, L-3 Wescam’s MX-15 EO system and a new SIM system based on Galileo Avionica’s “ATOS.” SIM will automatically capture and integrate surveillance information from these surveillance aircraft, and transmit in near real time between other aircraft and the National Surveillance Centre.

The Islanders and Aero Commanders were slated for retirement per CMS04’s “all electronic surveillance” guidelines, and the Cessnas may have been retired as well.

Project Sentinel will also operate some helicopters, in order to patrol key areas. Australia’s Customs and Border Patrol has contracted at least 1 Bell 412EP, 1 Eurocopter AS350B3, and 1 Eurocopter EC145 for these roles.

Improving the Fleet Mariner UAV Trial
(click to view full)

Australia’s border patrol authorities have been stretched by a flood of illegal fishing vessels, particularly from Indonesia. The influx has led to calls for the establishment of a state-based Coastguard in Western Australia. Meanwhile, more than 8,000 boats have been detected, resulting in at least 200 arrests. Fisheries officers have also expressed concern that the sophisticated radars used by Coastwatch aircraft and patrol vessels have difficulty picking up the small wooden boats used by Indonesian fishermen.

In order to keep Coastwatch capabilities up to date, the successful bidder will be required to improve detection capabilities over the life of the contract. Contenders had also been asked by Justice Minister Chris Ellison to use new technologies such as UAVs, advances in satellite imagery and new-generation radar to improve the reliability and range of Australia’s civil maritime border protection effort.

In 2006, Australia’s Ministry of Defence trialed pilotless spy planes to patrol vital North West Shelf oil and gas reserves off Western Australia. The General Atomics MQ-9 Mariner UAV was used, given the high-altitude, jet powered RQ-4B Global Hawk’s high cost and high demand. As a bonus, the Mariner uses the same SeaVue radar as Australia’s Dash 8s, which allows for good comparisons.

Australia is still debating its maritime UAV needs, and withdrew from the US Navy’s MQ-4C BAMS program in 2009. The withdrawal removes a potential shared asset, which could have helped supplement Coastwatch just as the manned AP-3C fleet does today. Meanwhile, in the trial’s aftermath there has been no movement on contracted UAV services like Mariner, or even Boeing’s smaller ScanEagle, to improve Coastwatch.

Contracts & Key Events 2007 – 2016

AS350 B3
(click to view full)

October 13/16: Australian Armidale-class patrol boats are to receive mid-life upgrades from firm Austal Australia. This month will see the commencement of work on the hull remediation, corrective maintenance and configuration changes of up to seven vessels at Austal’s shipyard in Henderson, Western Australia. Austal is currently providing in-service support to the Australian Border Force’s fleet of eight company-built Cape-class patrol boats and has been contracted to provide in-service support for 19 Pacific Patrol Boat Replacement vessels, which enter service from late next year.

Oct 29/12: Extension. Cobham has reached a GBP 105 million/ A$ 163 million agreement with the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service, to extend their existing Sentinel aerial maritime surveillance contract by 2 years. This extension secures the contract until the end of 2021. Cobham plc [PDF].

Oct 1/10: SATCOM certified. Cobham SATCOM announces that their SB800 SwiftBroadband (SBB) System has been certified on CoastWatch’s Bombardier Dash-8 aircraft. With the SB800, Immarsat’s satellite network can be used to transfer the aircraft’s video and other sensor data to a land base for fast analysis.

The SB800 system works with the Immarsat constellation, and consists of an HGA-7001 antenna, SDU-7320 dual-channel satellite data unit, DAU-7060 Diplexer/Low noise amplifier and HPA-7450 High power amplifier. Cobham touts it as the most compact dual channel, class 6 SBB system available on the market. Cobham plc [PDF]

July 3/07: Helicopters. A new Australian Helicopters Pty Ltd Eurocopter AS350B3 Ecureuil arrives, and will replace a Bell Longranger IV in the Torres Strait per the Aug 29/05 contract.

Australian Helicopters Pty Ltd has been operating the Coastwatch helicopter surveillance and response service in the Torres Strait since 1995. They’ll operate the AS350 alongside a Bell 412 twin-engine helicopter, which has been upgraded with new surveillance and communications equipment to provide enhanced capabilities. Australia CBP.

Feb 1/07: SIMS, Helicopters. Australia’s CBP welcomes the first upgraded Dash 8 202 aircraft into service under the Sentinel program, complete with improved surveillance technology.

They also announce that Italy’s Galileo Avionica has won the opportunity to supply the new Surveillance Information Management System for the Dash 8s. SIM will automatically capture and integrate surveillance information from surveillance aircraft, and transmit in near real time between other aircraft and the National Surveillance Centre. The first aircraft will be fitted in October 2008, and the rest will be upgraded over time.

Finally, a new Rapid Response Helicopter service will be based in Gove which brings a new capability to detect and respond to landings or abandoned vessels, and combat illegal foreign fishing in Australia’s north and offshore regions. Helicopters (Australia) will operate a new EC145 twin-engine helicopter from April 2008, but provide a BK-117-B2 helicopter as an interim solution from May 2007 – April 2008. Australia CBP.

SIM & Helicopter contracts

2004 – 2006

MQ-9 trials
(click to view full)

May-September 2006: MQ-9 UAV. Australia’s government announces a September 2006 trial across Australia’s North West Shelf region, using a General Atomics MQ-9 Mariner Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) and an Armidale Class patrol boat. Australian DoD release | Spacewar | DSTO mini-site.

May 2006: Australia’s 2006-07 budget proposal includes a number of measures to improve the protection of Australia’s northern borders, including an additional A$ 20.2 million to enable Customs to increase maritime surveillance flights over Australia’s northern approaches by 2,200 hours, and another A$ 338.9 million spread over numerous government agencies to combat illegal foreign fishing. See “Australia to Beef Up Northern Border Protection“.

March 6/06: Q300 order. Bombardier announces a $53 million order for 3 Dash 8 Q300 aircraft, from National Air Support of Adelaide, Australia.

In addition to the 3 new Q300 aircraft acquired from Bombardier, NAS will also purchase and convert 2 Dash 8s (1 Q200 and 1 Q300) from the existing fleet of sister company National Jet Systems. All 5 aircraft will then be delivered to Field Aviation Co. at Pearson International Airport in Toronto, Canada for conversion to maritime patrol.

Dash-8 Q300 MPA Interior
(click to view full)

March 3/06: Contract. Cobham plc signs the CoastWatch contract with the government of Australia. It’s a 12-year, A$ 1 billion deal.

To fulfill the CMS04 contract’s new requirement for “all electronic surveillance” from January 2008, Cobham notes that the fleet will be augmented to 10 Bombardier Dash-8 Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA): 5 upgraded Q200s, and 5 new Q300s, which are larger and offer longer range. Over time, the fleet will migrate toward this single fixed-wing type as other planes are retired. Each Dash-8 aircraft will be capable of searching an area of more than 110,000 km2 per flight, and the planes will operate from existing bases in Broome, Darwin, Horn Island and Cairns. Cobham plc.

Project Sentinel

Dec 7/05: Preferred bidder. Cobham is named as the Preferred Bidder for the 12-year, A$ 1bn Australian Coastwatch contract, beating Raytheon Australia. This isn’t a contract yet, but it means that negotiations with Cobham will be exclusive. Cobham plc | The Australian.

Aug 29/05: Helicopters. Australian Customs extends their relationship with Australian Helicopters Pty Ltd (AHPL), to provide another 12 years of helicopter surveillance and response service in the Torres Strait region. The new agreement is worth more than A$ 100 million over 12 years, and is also referred to as the Service B portion of the Civil Maritime Surveillance (CMS04) contract.

AHPL has been operating the Coastwatch helicopter surveillance and response service in the Torres Strait since 1995, with the current contract due to expire in June 2007. The new contract would begin in July 2007, and includes 1 new helicopter to replace the Bell Longranger IV in current service. Australian CBP.

CMS04 for helicopters

July 29/04: Extension. Cobham plc and the Australian government announce that the Coastwatch Civil Maritime Aerial Surveillance Contract held by their subsidiary, Surveillance Australia, will be extended to June 30/07 in an A$ 125 million deal. Surveillance Australia will re-compete the program beyond 2007.

CoastWatch has been operating since 1995, and Surveillance Australia’s fleet includes 5 Bombardier Dash 8 Q200 long range surveillance aircraft, 3 Cessna Reims F406 medium range surveillance aircraft, 6 twin-engine Britten-Norman Islanders, and 1 twin-engine Shrike aircraft. Cobham plc.

Additional Readings and Sources Coastwatch Australia

• Australian Customs Service – Coastwatch, An Overview (via Wayback Machine)

• CASR; Excerpts from a Canadian Senate Committee on National Security and Defence report – The Hon. Colin Kenny, Chair (July 2004) – Maritime Security: Lessons Learned from Other Middle-Power’s Approaches to Guarding the Coasts – Australia

• Australian Ministerial Paper, The Hon Peter Reith MP, Minister for Defence (October 2001) – Coastal Surveillance and Protection: a “US-Style” Coast Guard or the Australian Coastwatch?

Coastwatch Platforms

• Bombardier – Maritime Patrol and Search and Rescue

• Field Aviation – Case Study: Australia’s Coastwatch

• Cobham subsidiary Surveillance Australia. CoastWatch falls under the Special Mission category.

• Raytheon – SeaVue Overland and Maritime Surveillance Radar. It also operates on the MQ-9 Mariner used by US Customs and Border Patrol.

• SELEX Galileo – SIM Australia [PDF]

• L-3 WESCAM – The MX-15i. Surveillance turret.

• DID (Nov 18/05) – Australian Agreement re: A$ 1B+ AP-3C Orion Support & Upgrade Program. The RAAF’s AP-3Cs will support Coastwatch, as noted above.

• DID – P-8 Poseidon MMA: Long-Range Maritime Patrol, and More. Australia will buy this 737-derived MPA. Once it arrives, it will support Coastwatch, just as the AP-3Cs do.

• DID – Kicking it Up a Notch: Poseidon’s Unmanned MQ-4C BAMS Companion. Australia left the program in 2009, but could choose to buy this Global Hawk derivative later.

Additional Readings and Sources: Related

• CASR (July 2002) – Australia’s ‘Coastwatch’ – What Can Canada Learn?

• CASR – A Modest Proposal – SAR Aircraft: Rethinking Search and Rescue

• Australia Defence (Jan 10/08) – Aerosonde prepares for Coastwatch opportunities. UAV trial in the Torres Strait.

• DID (Dec 2/05) – Global Hawk UAV Prepares for Maritime Role

• Military.com – BORDERLINE: Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for Homeland Security. Includes Britain’s Watchkeeper & the USA’s Mariner.

Austal has been selected to conduct remediation works on the Royal Australian Navy’s (RAN) Armidale-class patrol boat fleet.