December 7, 2018 | International, Naval
The Australian Defence Force (ADF) has awarded Naval Ship Management (NSM) Australia, a 50/50 joint venture between engineering group UGL and Babcock, an AUD1.5 billion (USD1.1 billion) contract to support and sustain the Royal Australian Navy's (RAN's) two 26,800-tonne Canberra-class landing helicopter dock ships (LHDs) and their 12 associated amphibious landing craft for up to 15 years.
The contract is for an initial five years, with the expectation of two further five-year extensions, Babcock announced in a 3 December statement, adding that its share for the first five years amounts to AUD250 million.
The joint venture, which won the partnering agreement with the ADF in a competitive process, will begin to sustain and support these vessels in July 2019.
Full article: https://www.janes.com/article/84973/naval-ship-management-awarded-contract-to-sustain-australian-lhds
July 10, 2023 | International, C4ISR
Through the Hybrid Space Architecture, DIU and its partners want to create a diverse network of commercial and government satellites and ground systems.
October 4, 2019 | International, Aerospace
TREVOR WILHELM It's a bird. It's a plane. It's the Windsor Police Service. Windsor police officially launched their new drone program Wednesday with a show-and-tell at their Sandwich Street training facility. Before sending one into the sky outside the Major F.A. Tilston Armoury and Police Training Centre, officers stressed they will not be using drones to randomly watch people. “We will not be going out there to do traffic stops,” said Staff Sgt. Sue Garrett, who runs the operational support unit. “We will not be putting it out there for routine policing on a daily routine. It will always have the proper judicial authority in order to use that. We will not be doing random surveillance or anything like that.” Citing operational reasons, police would not reveal how many drones they have. Without giving a reason, they also refused to reveal how much the program costs. They bought the equipment from Aeryon Labs, a company based in Waterloo that makes “unmanned aircraft systems” for military and police use. Six Windsor officers are trained to operate the drone. They will be pulled from their regular units to run it part time as needed. The drone — police call it a Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) — has a two-kilometre range and lasts 50 minutes on a single battery charge. It can fly in light rain and snow, sustained winds of 50 km/h, and wind gusts up to 90 km/h. The aircraft has an optical zoom camera and an infrared night vision camera that pick up movement police can't see on the screen. It is also loaded with software that can reconstruct a crash scene with photos and measurements in 15 to 20 minutes. Other potential uses include search and rescue, taking aerial photos of crime scenes, and helping with marine emergencies. It will also be the eyes for police in dangerous situations such as bomb calls, hostage situations, and hazardous material spills. “The RPAS will assist multiple units within the Windsor Police Service, and it will increase the quality of our investigations as well as help to ensure the safety of our community,” said acting Chief Pam Mizuno. “The RPAS will enhance the Windsor Police Service's response to emergencies and it's going to provide our officers with the ability to lawfully gather intelligence prior to developing safe action plans.” https://windsorstar.com/news/local-news/windsor-police-unveil-new-crime-fighting-drone
July 4, 2024 | International, Land
National Defence reviewing situation where retired generals works for lobbying firm while advising DND