Defence delays part of large maritime comms upgrade

Two key elements of the Department of Defence’s mammoth maritime communications upgrade project have been delayed.

Project SEA1442 Phase 5 has two “scope elements”: enhancements to satellite communications; and aggregation and encryption, and modern maritime communications.

A contract notice published last week notified the market of a delay to the aggregation and encryption portion. The approach to market will re-open during Q1 2023, Defence said.

The expanded satellite communications project continues, with tenders currently under evaluation, a Defence spokesperson told iTnews.

Meanwhile, prime contractor Boeing Defence Australia and maritime design house BMT announced a partnership to deliver the “modern maritime communications system” portion.

They say the Royal Australian Navy requires an “integrated, interoperable and resilient system” to enhance its wireless information exchange capability.

“Boeing Defence Australia’s design and network expertise is operationally-proven across networked operations in denied, degraded, intermittent and limited bandwidth environments in multiple domains,” Boeing said.