Australia’s Minister for Defence Personnel, Materiel and Science, recently announced that a US$320 million contract has been signed with Elbit Systems Limited to provide the next generation of command, control and communications capability to elements of the Army, Special Operations Command and the Air Force’s Combat Support Group.
“The introduction of this new capability which will increase the ADF’s battle space awareness, automate combat messaging and assist in the successful conduct of operations,” Combet said.
“Importantly, this capability will significantly reduce the possible risk of casualties resulting from friendly fire.
“The contract will also provide electronic battle management technology to over 1500 soldiers.
“The Battle Group And Below Command, Control And Communications System (BGC3) will assist Army in achieving the Defence network centric warfare milestone of a networked brigade in 2012, with state-of-the-art battle management and terrestrial communications systems,” Combet said.”It will also support the Royal Australian Air Force to reach longer-term milestones of a networked combat support force by 2016.
The acquisitions assure improved protection and coordination for Australian Defence Force personnel, he said.
Elbit is a leading supplier of tactical Battle Management Systems and was selected by the Defence Materiel Organisation (DMO) as the result of a world-wide open tender.