Currawong Battlespace Communications System delivered by Boeing Defence Australia to the Australian Army under the Department of Defence's Project Land 2072 Phase 2B has achieved full operational capability. (Boeing)
Boeing Defence Australia's (BDA's) Currawong Battlespace Communications System (BCS) delivered to the Australian Army has achieved full operational capability (FOC).
Lieutenant General Simon Stuart, chief of the Australian Army, has affirmed that the Currawong BCS has achieved FOC to provide an integrated battlefield telecommunications network system to the service, BDA announced on 9 September.
BDA delivered this capability to the Australian Army under a contract worth more than AUD700 million (USD467 million) as part of the Department of Defence's (DoD's) Project Land 2072 Phase 2B.
“[Currawong BCS] gives deployed forces access to more voice, data, and video services than ever before on the battlefield,” said Tom Minge, BDA's Currawong programme manager.
“The project's ongoing Capability Enhancement Strategy also supports resilience against emerging threats by continuously adopting new and emerging technologies to meet the changing operational needs of the warfighter,” he added.
Currawong BCS has been delivered to the Australian Army in three releases. Release 1, delivered in 2019, comprised the modular core black data network within manportable units and a rugged hardware case called Network Access Module (NAM), which provides the power and services needed to enable secure communications.
According to BDA, NAM is currently being scaled up under the Capability Enhancement Strategy. BDA said under the initial project contract, NAM provided for up to “six capability ‘bricks' to be plugged into the case” depending on the mission's need. Additional bricks are now being developed to expand NAM's capability.
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