The ADF has accepted into service the trailer-mounted Medium SATCOM Terminal (MST) made by Boeing Defence Australia as part of its Project LAND 2072 Phase 2B Currawong requirement.
The MST is a trailer-based earth terminal comprising a deployable 2.5 metre satellite dish which can be towed behind an Army Hawkei Protected Mobility Vehicle (PMV). It is the only secure SATCOM system of its size with dual band certification for the military’s Wideband Global SATCOM (WGS) X and Ka Bands, and civilian Ku Band.
“The MST is versatile, flexible and robust and takes communications in the field to the next level,” Boeing Defence Australia’s Project Currawong director, Ian Vett in a May 18 release. “Its ability to go anywhere a Hawkei vehicle can go and seamlessly connect to both military and civilian satellites far exceeds any SATCOM capability currently available to the warfighter.
“When combined with the other components of the Currawong battlespace communications system, our deployed troops are better equipped than ever to securely exchange voice, data and video communications with each other and back to headquarters regardless of their location and environmental conditions,” he added.
“The end product needed to be able to be towed by the light-weight Hawkei Protected Mobility Vehicle while incorporating all the functionality and ruggedised durability needed to operate in even the harshest of off-road environments.
“Existing off-the-shelf equipment was not certified to the operational standards required for modern military missions, so the five-year development and production program for MST has required complex engineering design and integration works, extensive production and testing.
“This involved upwards of 100 modifications to the original design and the inclusion of 198 subsystems and modules to the MST; by comparison the high capability line-of-sight radio developed for Project Currawong has around 44,” Vett said.
The ADF has ordered 24 MST units which will be deployed to Army Combat Signal Regiments, the Defence Force School of Signals, and the Royal Australian Air Force.