The Government has added a new project to the list of defence Projects of Concern, the multi-million dollar plan to stand up satellite ground stations at Kapooka, NSW, and to develop the new Wideband SATCOM Network Management System.
Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy said infrastructure for the project had been delivered, including three large ground antennae, but it was facing ongoing schedule delays because of other technical challenges.
The Minister said this was designed to transform and improve new and existing Defence wideband ground stations and deployed systems across Australia to meet the increasing need for greater satellite communications capacity.
“This listing will increase the momentum between Defence and Northrop Grumman Australia to remediate the Wideband SATCOM Network Management system component of the project,” he said.
Northrop Grumman Australia said they had been working closely with the Commonwealth and CASG and a robust remediation plan based on our existing project execution strategy had been agreed.
“We welcome this move, which better enables us to effectively elevate and resolve issues, and we continue to build on the highly collaborative relationship we have established with our stakeholders,” the company said.
“JP2008 will significantly improve the way the Commonwealth plan, manage, and control satellite operations for the entire ADF wideband SATCOM enterprise. We are confident that we have a solid direction and great team in place to deliver the capability Defence needs.”
This project was launched in September 2018 when then Defence Minister Christopher Pyne performed the official sod-turning ceremony at the Kapooka site.
With him were representatives of contractors, Northrop Grumman Australia and Viasat.
Pyne said the ceremony represented the start of construction work critical to the broader $220 million program to significantly enhance ADF communications capabilities.
“Once completed in 2021 the ground station will provide the satellite communications gateway on the east coast of Australia, and in conjunction with the Wideband SATCOM NMS (network management system) will deliver a holistic satellite communications network management and situational awareness capability to the ADF,” Pyne said at the time.
With the hardware in place, the problem is with the NMS, a complex system integration task.
Minister Conroy said this new listing demonstrated the Government’s commitment to remediating underperforming projects in order to deliver the capabilities urgently needed by the Australian Defence Force.
“The Government is strengthening and revitalising Defence’s Projects of Concern process, bringing senior stakeholders from government and industry together on a regular basis to remediate listed projects,” he said.
The Projects of Concern list was founded in 2008 by the former Labor government of Kevin Rudd which inherited a series of troubled defence acquisition projects, along with a public perception that defence acquisition routinely ran late and over budget.
The idea was for listed projects to undergo intense remediation to get them back on track.
The ultimate sanction is project cancellation which has befallen just two projects, most notably Seasprite helicopter, just two months on the list before the plug was pulled.
SATCOM NMS joins two other Projects of Concern, Civil Military Air Traffic Management System – AIR 5431 Phase 3 (twice on the list) and MRH-90 Multi-role helicopters, the record holder, as it was placed on the list in 2011. MRH-90 is set to be replaced by US Blackhawk helicopters.