Lockheed Martin secures $950M Australian air battle management contract

SINGAPORE — Lockheed Martin Australia has been awarded a contract to sustain and expand Australia’s joint air battle management system as part of a broader Australian effort to improve its air and missile defense capabilities, the company announced today.

The 1.32 billion AUD ($950 million USD) contract will enhance the AIR6500’s core architecture with “advanced C2 aids, expanded comms, and cyber‑security to maintain resilient, networked sensor and C2 capabilities that can sense and track incoming threats and integrate with the Australian Defence Force’s targeting enterprise, allies and partners,” according to a Lockheed Martin news release.

Lockheed Martin says the enhancements under Australia’s Project AIR6500 Tranche 2B will establish a “scalable path” for future improvements and integration of future technological advances.

The joint air battle management system “integrates Australia’s air and missile defence capabilities across all-domains into a single, unified view of the battlespace to detect and counter threats at various ranges,” today’s release says.

Lockheed Martin Australia and New Zealand chief executive Jeremy King said in the press release that this next phase of Project AIR 6500 “fortifies the core” of Australia’s integrated air and missile defense system.

“AIR6500 enhances the joint force by bringing all ADF defence assets together on a scalable, resilient, and collaborative platform. It gives us clearer cross‑domain awareness and a more effective way to respond to air and missile threats.”

Defense Minister Richard Marles said in the press release that Project AIR6500 was a landmark investment in Australia’s air defense capability.

The AIR6500 “will help ensure the Australian Defence Force can respond effectively to future threats and deliver on the priorities of both the National Defence Strategy and the Defence Industry Development Strategy,” he added.

The contract award to Lockheed Martin is part of a $2.4 billion AUD investment over six years by Australia, announced today by the Australian Department of Defence, to “modernise air surveillance, and aircraft control functions while supporting the coordination of Defence operations in Australia and overseas.”

“The capability will connect current and future Defence platforms, including Hobart-class destroyers, the F-35A Lightning II aircraft and the accelerated Medium-Range Ground-Based Air Defence system,” according to a departmental release.

Australia’s defense department also separately announced today that the Australian Army’s National Advanced Surface to Air Missile System (NASAMS) capability has attained Final Operational Capability. Australia acquired in 2017 two batteries of three NASAMS launchers each for its short range ground-based air defense requirement under a contract with Raytheon Australia.

“This milestone confirms the NASAMS has met all requirements for operational service and is ready to support Australian Defence Force (ADF) operations,” said today’s announcement.