Babcock International Group PLC (“Babcock” or the “Group”) is pleased to announce that Babcock Australia has been awarded a major multi-year programme to upgrade the Australian Defence Force’s defence high frequency (HF) communications system.
The contract comes after Babcock announced in July 2022 that it had been selected as a preferred partner and is worth AU$877 million (£492 million) over a 10-year period. It will see Babcock lead the operations and support of the customer’s existing HF capabilities, while delivering a comprehensive technology upgrade program.
From October 2023, under the JP9101 – Enhanced Defence High-Frequency Communications System programme, the new system will provide Australian and allied armed forces with the ability to communicate securely using voice and other data from virtually any location around the world.
Through this agreement, Australia will join New Zealand and the UK in selecting Babcock as its partner in engineering, operations and support for long-range, resilient strategic HF communications. Babcock is now the world’s largest provider of strategic HF communications, built on a scalable and interoperable common mission system architecture.
Lockheed Martin Australia, the lead partner on the Babcock project, will support the delivery of mission system elements that will develop a sovereign industrial capability solution to provide lifetime support during the project and beyond.
Australian industry will play an important role in the implementation of the scheme, with most of the work being done in Australia.
Babcock CEO David Lockwood said:
- “Our selection demonstrates our ability to integrate complex and critical digital defense capabilities in areas of increasing importance to our global customers.
- “In a modern threat environment, there is no guaranteed access to local communications infrastructure or satellite communications. Having a communications capability that can work seamlessly with the Australian Defence Force and its allies is critical.”
At the heart of the solution is Babcock’s Intelligent Network and Serial Protocol Interface for Radio Equipment (INSPIRE), which provides a step-change in upgrades and reconfigurations.
