Galileo Avionica wins $26 milliion Aussie Coastwatch contract

Australia’s Coastwatch service may not field the strength of the U.S. Coast Guard, but among its unique suite of duties is the protection of the island continent’s 37,000 miles of ecological shorelines — in particular the Great Barrier Reef (a frustrating assignment we would think, considering that global warming is sure to destroy it in the end anyways). As one would expect, this division of the Australian Customs Service is interested in sensor technology, and as Italy-based Galileo Avionica (a unit of Finmeccanica) realized long before we did, a lot of money can be made in the Australian sector. The company last week announced it had won a $26 million contract to provide Coastwatch with airborne sensors and ground stations for Australia’s Coastwatch maritime surveillance program.

According to Global Defence Review, the twelve year contract is composed of two asset segments: the SIM-A (Air) and SIM G (Ground). “SIM-A integrates and handles the information coming from different airborne sensors such as Surveillance Radar, EO including day & night sensors, communication and data link and is responsible for the Correlation, Management, and Capture of the Surveillance Information,’” the journal reported. “SIM-G is responsible for planning, monitoring and evaluation of Surveillance tasks.” When all is said and done, the systems will be installed in ten Dash-8 (Olivia?) de Havilland aircraft and two helicopters.

-read more in this Global Defence Review report