Kongsberg Defence Australia has conducted a live demonstration of its Remote Towers solution to the ADF and other agencies.

Currently deployed to RAAF Amberley, the Remote Towers solution was controlled from a Remote Tower Module (RTM) located approximately 1,200 kilometres away at Kongsberg Defence Australia’s Canberra office in front of representatives from the ADF, Airservices Australia, and CASA. The demonstration was sponsored through the RAAF Air Warfare Centre Innovation Hub. 

As demonstrated at RAAF Amberley earlier this year, the RTM demonstrates high-resolution real-time live panoramic streaming of imagery across an ordinary commercial point-to-point connection, providing the same view quality as sitting in a tower at the airfield.

The remote control of the pan-tilt-zoom camera and other system operations was available through commercial network connections, enabling remote tower operations. Live infrared image streaming is also proving to be an effective situational awareness asset at night, particularly in monitoring movements of wildlife.

General Manager of Kongsberg Defence Australia John Fry said the new technology will advance Australia’s capacity to provide air traffic services in remote locations across the country.

“With military operations that include remote air bases, orphan airfields, firing ranges, and local civilian airports, the ability to implement stable real-time remote operations across a low bandwidth connection provides significant opportunities for a country like Australia,” he said. “The implementation of this technology will reduce operating and infrastructure costs, and will open up opportunities for remote locations and communities all over the country.

“Kongsberg Defence Australia would like to acknowledge the great team effort we have had together with the RAAF Air Warfare Centre, 44 Wing, and Indra Australia that has made this successful demonstration possible. We are now excited to explore new opportunities to field this technology in Australia and the region”.

The KONGSBERG Remote Towers solution was recently commissioned in Norway for Avinor Air Navigation Services. The Australian demonstration is the first installation of the system in a remote configuration outside of Norway.