Lockheed Martin Australia has announced it has teamed Varley Group and other industry partners to develop new deployable cabins for the ADF.

Based on the design of the classified transportable facilities developed to support the RAAF’s F-35 capability, Lockheed Martin Australia and Varley have partnered again to deliver new Tactical Air Defence Radar Systems (TADRS 2.0) portable processing cabins, and a Next Generation Deployable Facility (NGDF) portable cabin concept demonstrator.

“The deployable cabins we are producing with Varley Group and our other Australian industry partners are the result of work by hi-tech skilled Australians and represent a world-class capability,” Lockheed Martin Australia Chief Executive, Joe North, said in a release. “As part of LMA’s commitment to continuously grow more high-skill jobs in Australia we are exploring opportunities to further develop and export this capability.”

The NGDF cabin fabrication was led by Varley Group, while the technology fit-out was performed by Lockheed Martin Australia staff in Adelaide and in Newcastle with support from R&R Murphy and ISG Sheetmetal and Laser.

“The NGDF has been designed to demonstrate new technology and innovation from Australian industry and academia, exploiting the flexibility and power of contemporary software tools and techniques in a deployable, secure form factor that provides a tangible example of LMA’s commitment to advancing Australian sovereign defence capability,” Lockheed Martin Australia Rotary Mission Systems Business Development Director Neale Prescott added.

Varley has also completed fabrication for the first of four new TADRS 2.0 portable processing cabins, with fit out now underway before delivery to the ADF in September. The TADRS 2.0 comprises a reconfiguration of the ADF’s TADRS system, reducing its mass by about 50 per cent, and to evolve the system to a modular surveillance radar and communications platform capable of rapid deployment and extraction.

“The newly developed TADRS 2.0 processing cabin is a result of a long-standing partnership between LMA and Varley established through the 15 years of sustainment support provided by LMA to the ADF on the TADRS,” said Prescott.

“LMA and its partnership with the ADF have transitioned of the original Lockheed Martin (US) prime contract to a complete sovereign capability, providing all engineering and logistics support services required by 41 Wing to maintain its operation commitments.”