Thales Australia and DSTO are refining the fibre laser sensor technology behind fibre optic sonar. This technical leap is expected to make towed sonar arrays lighter and slimmer and much more versatile, with significantly wider applications.

David Allott has been appointed managing director of BAE Systems Australia, succeeding Jim McDowell who has been appointed MD and CEO of BAE Systems in Saudi Arabia.

Insitu Inc’s ScanEagle unmanned aircraft system (UAS) has surpassed 500,000 combat flight hours and more than 56,000 combat sorties, with 99 percent mission readiness.

Australian soldiers deploying to Afghanistan in May 2011 as part of Mentoring Task Force 3 were equipped with the latest generation of Soldier Combat Ensemble (SCE) – a suite of body armour that is integrated with load carriage components, developed by Defence’s new ‘Diggerworks’.

Saab Systems in Adelaide has recently completed a Concept Technology Demonstrator (CTD), successfully integrating a number of ADF and coalition command and control systems.

Round 15 of Defence’s Capability & Technology Demonstrator (CTD) program includes two projects directed very specifically towards the under water threat

Minister for Defence Stephen Smith and Minister for Defence Materiel Jason Clare were present to see the 800th Bushmaster protected mobility vehicle roll off Thales Australia’s production line at Bendigo.

The complexity of modern defence projects has defied traditional approaches to capability development and acquisition. Defence, the DMO and the defence industry are refining a new approach to the management of complex projects.

Lockheed Martin has been awarded a US$758 million US Navy contract to provide submarine combat and sonar systems designed around commercially available hardware and software.

Defence has recently completed a round of industry briefings on the draft US-Australia Defence Trade Control Bill 2011. However, it’s not clear the bill works exclusively to Australian industry’s advantage.

Despite the heading, there is no suggestion that Project Djimindi – the alliance between Defence, Thales Australia and EuroTorp – is dead and buried. Far from it – we believe the project will soon emerge from its projects of concern listing, though somewhat bruised and with its prospects reduced.

Canberra-based Electro Optic Systems Holdings Limited (EOS) has won an order for up to 400 Remote Weapon Stations (RWS) from an undisclosed customer, and subject to the customer’s annual budget appropriations.

Sydney-based SME Cirrus Real Time Processing Systems has been contracted by the DMO Training Aircraft Systems Program Office (TASPO) to supply and support its Air Combat Officer Training System (ACO-TS) to the RAAF School of Air Warfare at East Sale.

The cyber threat to Australia is real, evolving and continuing to test our defences, said the Attorney-General, Mr Robert McClelland, in his keynote speech to the ADM Cyber Security Summit.

The first Lockheed Martin production model F-35 Lightning II assigned to the US Air Force’s 33rd Fighter Wing has been delivered to Eglin AFB.

Defence has launched a New Air Combat Capability Industry Support Program providing $8.2 million to support Australian industry and research organisations involved in the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) Program.