The Government of Australia has agreed to provide additional support for the final phase of a programme that involves delivering military communications prototype systems.
Currently, a total of 18 local businesses are developing communication solutions for the Australian Army, under the Command, Control, Communications and Computing Evolutionary Digital Ground Environment (C4 EDGE) programme.
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The remaining phase of the programme will receive a total of A$35m ($26.3m) in federal support.
The communication prototypes are expected to be delivered by the end of next year.
Australian Minister for Defence Industry Melissa Price said: “Up to 53 jobs are expected to be generated across the project’s entire 18-month lifespan, which will include local design and manufacturing of critical defence capabilities, such as mobile tactical communications systems.
“The remaining phase of the project includes the development of the tactical communications prototype, which includes waveform, cryptography, satellite-enabled friendly-force tracking, radio and hardware manufacture.
“This project delivers on the Morrison Government’s vision to maximise Australia’s defence industry involvement in the acquisition, operation and sustainment of defence capability over the next decade.”
The federal government invested a total of A$3.85m ($2.89m) in the first phase of the C4 EDGE project, which concluded in October.
The addition of C4 EDGE capability is expected to help the Australian Army meet future requirements for sovereign communications systems.
Recently, Missions Systems Australia secured a contract to deliver helmet-mounted fused night vision systems to the Australian Defence Force (ADF).
The night vision systems will improve visibility and target detection capabilities in low-light conditions.
