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Australian Defence Force’s AIR6500 Moves Forward, Lockheed Martin Australia Selected as Strategic Partner

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The Australian Department of Defence announced that it has selected American defence giant Lockheed Martin as the strategic partner to steward AIR6500 Phase 1 (AIR6500-1).

AIR6500-1 will provide the Australian Defence Force (ADF) with a Joint Air Battle Management System (JABMS) that will form the ground-breaking architecture at the core of the ADF’s future Integrated Air and Missile Defence (IAMD) capability. This first-of-its-kind system will provide greater situational awareness and defence against increasingly advanced air and missile threats, as well as give the ADF increased levels of interoperability with the United States and allied partners, the company said Aug 28.

“We are honoured to be selected as the trusted strategic partner to lead and deliver this important sovereign capability, in partnership with Australian industry, to the Australian Defence Force,” said Stephanie C. Hill, executive vice president, Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems.

“Australia’s AIR6500-1 programme is truly transformational. It will set the blueprint for future military Joint All-Domain Operations across the globe.” She added, “This critical capability will allow the ADF to leverage information from across all domains at greater speeds, with better accuracy and at a greater scale than it is capable of today.”

Since 2015, Lockheed Martin Australia has been highly dedicated to supporting ADF’s vision to transform into a fully integrated and IAMD capable force through AIR6500-1, the statement said.

“Lockheed Martin is deeply committed to being the ADF’s trusted, long-term sovereign partner for AIR6500-1. To deliver on this key strategic national endeavour, we are leveraging our vast experience delivering battle-proven Integrated Air and Missile Defence systems and harnessing the full might of Australian industry to build a sovereign 21st Century Security capability trusted to defend Australia and its national interests now and in the future,” said Warren McDonald, chief executive, Lockheed Martin Australia and New Zealand.

“This approach will ensure Australian small to medium enterprises have ‘box seats’ in the global supply chain. The Integrated Air and Missile Defence sovereign technologies being created in Australia today will be exported to the world in the future – unlocking a $83B export market for Australia’s defence industry.”

Lockheed Martin Australia has advanced a sovereign AIR6500-1 system solution that has been built from the ground up in Australia by Australians to safeguard Australia’s national security. To-date, Lockheed Martin Australia has:

  • Validated more than 130 Australian small to medium enterprises as potential partners,
  • Awarded contracts to more than 10 leading-edge companies such as Leidos Australia, Consunet, Consilium, C4I, Silentium, Penten, Lucid Consulting Engineering, and engaged with prime contractors, Raytheon and Boeing, during the risk reduction phase to develop an agile, integrated AIR6500 solution,
  • Committed AUD$74M to establish the nation’s future IAMD ecosystem to accelerate collaboration between academia, industry, Defence, and allied partners on IAMD capabilities. The IAMD ecosystem is expected to create more than 400 direct and 1,000 indirect local jobs,
  • Invested over AUD$100M into AIR6500,
  • Grown its sovereign workforce to over 200 Australian staff now dedicated to AIR6500, and
  • Invested over AUD$10M to upgrade its Endeavour Centre to engage, explore, test, design and problem solve together with the ADF and industry through innovation, war gaming, exercises and more.

McDonald added, “We recognise a team approach is vital to the success of AIR6500-1 in building a sovereign Australian IAMD capability, therefore moving forward on programme execution the majority of the programme workshare will be allocated across Australian industry.” –lm/adj/mhi (Pix: Lockheed Martin)