Australia awards satellite communications contract to BAE systems

Greg Combet, the Minister for Defence Personnel, Materiel and Science, today announced the awarding of a defence contract that will lead to improved global communications for our deployed forces. “The contract, awarded to BAE systems, is for the construction of three new Satellite Communications Earth Terminals at the Australian Defence Satellite and Communications Station near Geraldton in Western Australia,” said Mr Combet. “The contract also includes five years of support for the new terminals and an enhanced network management system to enable the terminals to be controlled remotely from HMAS HARMAN in Canberra. “The completion of the new capability in 2013 will significantly enhance the wideband strategic communications support available to Australian forces overseas. This includes those forces on distant deployments in the Middle East and also on operations closer to home in the Indian and Pacific Oceans,” Mr Combet said. “This facility will dramatically increase the amount of data that will be able to be provided over the Wideband Global Satellite (WGS) System that Australia accesses, through a partnership with the United States Department of Defence”. The value of the contract is A$94 million.