Lockheed Martin Australia has teamed with NSW-based Varley Group and two other regionally-based industry partners to develop new deployable cabins.
Based on the design of the classified transportable facilities developed to support the RAAF’s F-35 fleet, LMA and Varley have partnered again to deliver new Tactical Air Defence Radar Systems (TADRS 2.0) portable processing cabins and a Next Generation Deployable Facility (NGDF) portable cabin concept demonstrator.
Lockheed Martin Australia Chief Executive, Joe North, said the industry base emerging around deployable cabins represented the very best of Australian industry ingenuity and collaboration.
“The deployable cabins we are producing with Varley Group and our other Australian industry partners are the result of work by hi-tech skilled Australians and represent a world-class capability,” North said. “As part of LMA’s commitment to continuously grow more high-skill jobs in Australia we are exploring opportunities to further develop and export this capability.”
The NGDF cabin fabrication was led by Varley Group, while the technology fit-out was performed by LMA staff in Adelaide and in Newcastle supported by R&R Murphy and local firm ISG Sheetmetal and Laser.
Speaking at the unveiling of the NGDF concept demonstrator at the Hunter Defence Conference 2021, Lockheed Martin Australia Rotary Mission Systems Business Development Director Neale Prescott explained the NGDF showcased a sample of capabilities developed by several Australian SMEs integrated into a sovereign open systems architecture.
“The NGDF has been designed to demonstrate new technology and innovation from Australian industry and academia, exploiting the flexibility and power of contemporary software tools and techniques in a deployable, secure form factor that provides a tangible example of LMA’s commitment to advancing Australian sovereign defence capability,” Prescott said.
“Akin to a smartphone with any imaginable combination of applications, the NGDF’s open architecture allows for rapid capability insertion and experimentation with innovative Australian technologies and capabilities that will be utilised alongside the ADF and Coalition partners during major exercises such as Talisman Sabre 21 in July 2021.”
ADM Comment: The program that dare not speak its name (Air 6500) was in the air at the Hunternet event where the cabin was on show.