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Lockheed Martin Australia wins Aegis sustainment contract extension
Canberra-based Lockheed Martin Australia has been awarded a contract extension until the end of 2025 to continue sustaining the Aegis Combat System in the Royal Australian Navy’s Hobart-class guided missile destroyers. Although Defence and the company haven’t disclosed a figure, the value of contract extension is understood to be close to $10 million.
The Aegis system on the RAN’s three Hobart-class destroyers is being upgraded to Baseline 9 and this is the version which will equip the RAN’s six Hunter-class frigates when they are built. The evaluation of the first Hobart-class ship with Baseline 9, which enables Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD), will take place in the second half of 2025.
The upgraded Hobart-class destroyers along with the Hunter-class frigates will be equipped with the Adelaide-based Saab Australia 9LV combat system as an Australian Interface. This will replace the existing Australian Tactical Interface, developed by Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace under a subcontract from Raytheon Australia which was the original Australian Air Warfare Destroyer Combat Systems Engineer.
The Hunter-class will also be equipped with Canberra-based CEA Technologies’ L-Band CEAFAR2 radar rather than the Lockheed Martin S-band SPY-1D(V) radar fitted to the Hobart-class ships.
This contract extension ensures the ongoing development and delivery of the Aegis Sustainment Program, the company says. Under this extension, Lockheed Martin Australia’s Aegis team, based in Sydney, will continue to provide advanced naval combat systems engineering services, such as system updates, alignments, material condition assessments and more.
Sustainment support services include development and coordination of some aspects of the detailed design of the combat system and related artefacts, ensuring a coherent engineering baseline is maintained across the destroyers, says Lockheed Martin Australia.
Acquired by the Commonwealth under a US Foreign Military Sales arrangement, the Aegis Combat System benefits from continuous reach-back support to the US for in-service sustainment and capability development, says Lockheed Martin Australia.
“With our ability to leverage technical reach back to Lockheed Martin in the US, Lockheed Martin Australia is uniquely placed to deliver a comprehensive Aegis Sustainment Program specifically tailored to the Royal Australian Navy’s needs,” said Gavin Douglas, Lockheed Martin Australia’s Integrated Warfare Systems and Sensors Line of Business Lead. “This not only provides a cost benefit to the Commonwealth it increases national self-reliance and improves availability of naval assets.”
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