| |||||||
| Founded | 1994 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating bases | |||||||
| Fleet size | 10[1] | ||||||
| Parent company | Leidos Holdings Inc. | ||||||
| Headquarters | Adelaide Airport,South Australia | ||||||
| Website | Leidos Australia | ||||||
Surveillance Australia Pty Ltd (formerlyCobham Aviation Services Australia - Special Mission) is an Australian aviation company. It is primarily engaged in servicing theAustralian Border ForceCoastwatch contract, flying surveillance patrols within theAustralian Exclusive Economic Zone (AEEZ).
Surveillance Australia was established in 1994 byNational Jet Systems as a subsidiary to operate fixed-wing aerial surveillance aircraft and patrols on behalf of theAustralian Customs Service Coastwatch operations.[2]
In 1999, National Jet Systems and its subsidiaries including Surveillance Australia, were acquired byCobham plc for £24.5 million.[3]
In 2006, Surveillance Australia was awarded theA$1 billion Coastwatch contract that will see its aircraft operating through to 2020.[4] This contract saw operations be restricted to only 10 de Havilland Canada Dash 8 aircraft, retiring the previously mixed fleet including theReims F406 Caravan II. This contract was due to be succeeded by the 2018 announcement by the Australian Government for theFuture Maritime Surveillance Capability (FMSC), followed by an RFI release in October 2018.[5]
In 2009, Surveillance Australia was rebranded toCobham Aviation Services Australia - Special Mission to align its branding with the broader Cobham group.
At the end of 2021, with the existing contract close to expiring, the Department of Home Affairs approved a contract variation to extend it by 6 years to 31 December 2027.[6]
In October 2022, Surveillance Australia was acquired by the American government services contractorLeidos, and will be operated locally by Leidos Australia.[7]
Surveillance Australia aircraft conduct over 14,000 hours a year[8] of aerial surveillance in the AEEZ, searching forillegal fishing vessels, human traffickers, drug importation, immigration and quarantine breaches, and can assist in search and rescue operations.
Surveillance Australia has played major roles in several border protection operations, directly contributing to over 200 foreign fishing vessels being apprehended and destroyed for illegally fishing for shark fin, reef fish and dolphins in Australian waters each year.[9]
It also formerly supported operations of a single airborne laser depth sounder (LADS) aircraft for theRoyal Australian Navy, as a service via the aircraft owner,Fugro.
Headquartered inAdelaide, the company has three operational bases inCairns,Darwin andBroome.[10] It operates a fleet of sixDHC-8-202 and four largerDHC-8-315 'Dash 8s' modified formaritime patrol and surveillance. One further Dash 8 was formerly configured for theLADS contract. This aircraft was de-configured and stored atAdelaide Airport until its eventual sale to US-basedBerry Aviation in 2023.[11]
The surveillance aircraft are equipped withRaytheonSeaVue surface search radars with additionalInverse synthetic aperture radar (ISAR),Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) andMoving target indication (MTI) capability,[12] advanced electro-optical sensors and sophisticated communications suites.[9] They can operate day and night close to land belowlowest safe altitude. These aircraft can search an area of 110,000 km2 per flight.[13]
The Mission Management System (MMS) developed by Adelaide-based Acacia Systems[14] integrates various onboard surveillance systems and provides real time communications between aircrew andMaritime Border Command headquarters inCanberra. The same system is used onAMSA Search and Rescue aircraft,[15] which are also operated by Leidos Australia.
Surveillance Australia fleet currently operates 10 aircraft:
