Thales Australia awarded contract extension to keep Australian Navy connected.

Thales Australia has been awarded a contract extension by the Australian Department of Defence for the SEA 1442 Phase 3 program, an Internet Protocol (IP) based Maritime Tactical Wide Area Network (MTWAN) supporting the Royal Australian Navy’s Maritime Communications Modernisation and network-centric warfare priorities.
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Thales has developed and deployed several major baseline upgrades of MTWAN to support the growing demands of increased bandwidth for deployed forces, diversity of communication bearers and enhanced cyber security of tactical networks at sea.  (Picture source: Australian MoD)

Thales’s MTWAN operates at the critical core of the RAN’s maritime communication systems integration and implementation. The innovative solution involves an integrated IP-based digital environment, interfacing with a range of existing RAN systems. This low-risk approach provides future-proofing through the use of Commercial Off-The-Shelf components and reduces life support costs.

Over the duration of the SEA 1442 Phase 3 program, Thales’s continuous improvement policy and global access to cutting-edge technologies have enabled the adoption and implementation of next-generation improvements to the system, ensuring the system is future-proof, capable of supporting current and future information exchange demands, whilst also ensuring interoperability with joint, coalition and allied systems.

Thales has developed and deployed several major baseline upgrades of MTWAN to support the growing demands of increased bandwidth for deployed forces, diversity of communication bearers and enhanced cyber security of tactical networks at sea. This work has included the integration of additional commercial and military SATCOM systems, Joint Domain networks, and improved bandwidth utilisation tools.

The contract extension is a testament to the Thales Australia team’s deep technical know-how delivered by experienced and highly capable Australian-based engineers located at Thales’s Secure Communications Centre of Excellence at Rydalmere in Western Sydney.

Vice President for Digital Systems at Thales Australia & New Zealand, Peter Bull, said: “We’ve actively supported the RAN for the last 12 years with the MTWAN system, ensuring this critical capability delivers the security and reliability the RAN requires on operation. We’re proud the Commonwealth has shown confidence in its partnership with Thales Australia by extending this MTWAN support contract even further.”