AUSTRALIA’S OVER THE HORIZON RADAR TO BE ENHANCED

defence.gov.au ^ | 24 Feb 2004

[Dundee]

AUSTRALIA’S OVER THE HORIZON RADAR TO BE ENHANCED

Australia’s border protection agencies will be equipped with an enhanced ability to detect the illegal movement of people and goods with an upgrade of the Jindalee Operational Radar Network (JORN), Defence Minister Robert Hill announced today.

Senator Hill said the $62 million upgrade would improve the sensitivity of the operational radars and significantly improve their ability to conduct national surveillance of the northern and western approaches to Australia. It will also ensure that Australia remains a world leader in over-the-horizon radar technology.

"After the enhancement program, the radars will have a greater range and will be able to detect even smaller aircraft and ships," Senator Hill said.

"The enhancement program will also support research and development designed to meet emerging national security requirements – making the project potentially a key component of Australia’s contribution to the United States missile defence program."

The JORN was activated in May last year, providing wide-area surveillance of air and sea approaches up to 2000km away from Australia’s coastline. Since then the network has detected and tracked hundreds of surface vessels and aircraft beyond the horizon along a 15 million square kilometre stretch from Geraldton in Western Australia to Cairns in Queensland. The information provided has been used by other national agencies such as Coastwatch, Customs and Immigration to assist them in the detection and prevention of illegal entry, smuggling and unlicensed fishing.

JORN consists of two radars located in Laverton, WA, and Longreach in Queensland. The radars are controlled from the JORN coordination centre in Salisbury in South Australia. They are operational versions of the Australian-designed Jindalee research and development radar located near Alice Springs in the Northern Territory. The enhancement program will also improve the integration of all three radars to allow a more complete coverage of the surveillance area.

"Australia is the world leader in high-frequency, skywave over-the-horizon radar technology," Senator Hill said.

"This project will not only significantly improve our capabilities but also ensure our radar specialists can continue to make advances in this technology."

[risk]

Aerospace defense ping.

[risk]

oh right, a ping for you too

[archy]

oh right, a ping for you too

'preciate it!

JORN consists of two radars located in Laverton, WA, and Longreach in Queensland. The radars are controlled from the JORN coordination centre in Salisbury in South Australia. They are operational versions of the Australian-designed Jindalee research and development radar located near Alice Springs in the Northern Territory. The enhancement program will also improve the integration of all three radars to allow a more complete coverage of the surveillance area.

[cynicom]

NORTH!!!!! Let me see now, just who is going to invade or bomb from the north...

ah ha..Nasty New Guineanians, I did'nt know they had missiles or bombers. Why leave the south open to invasion, unnoticed, by the Penguins?

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

Sounds like ROTHR:

http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/usa/airdef/an-tps-71.htm

[blackie]

Radar ~ Bump!

[FairOpinion]

Thanks for the ping.

[FairOpinion]

The terrorist threat via ships is not insignificant. It's a good idea to be able to see them 2000 miles away, rather wait, until they are close and detonate a nuke near you.

And as the article said, it's useful to detect suspicious ships in general. You want to check them out before they get anywhere near.

[lainie]

I was just reading this thread wondering whatever became of ROTHR.

[shaggy eel]

,,, thanx for the ping!

[shaggy eel]

FYI

[Piefloater]

Thanks for the ping, appreciate it.

[Brian Allen]

A lookin'-over-the-horizon Aussies bump.

These days you've gotta get up early in the morning, Mr Riady-Jiang, to catch an Aussie off his toes.

[Does this also mean that Telsta can breath a little easier?]

[Brian Allen]

A lookin'-over-the-horizon Aussies bump.

These days you've gotta get up early in the morning, Mr Riady-Jiang, to catch an Aussie off his toes.

[Does this also mean that Telstra can breath a little easier?]