Boeing Defence Australia announced on 9 September, just two days before Land Forces 2024 opened its doors, that the Project Currawong integrated battlefield telecommunications network (I-BTN) had achieved final operational capability.
The Chief of Army made this FOC declaration regarding the Project Currawong battlespace communications system, which falls under the label of Project Land 2072 Phase 2B.
Boeing Defence Australia (BDA) designed, built and delivered Project Currawong, which the company claims has “modernised and revolutionised” Australian Army telecommunications.
Tom Minge, BDA’s battlespace communications system program manager, noted, “This capability gives deployed forces access to more voice, data and video services than ever before on the battlefield.”
He added, “The project’s ongoing capability enhancement strategy also supports resilience against emerging threats by continuously adopting new and emerging technologies to meet the changing operational needs of the warfighter.” He said it was important not to let the capability atrophy, so BDA is investing in technology refreshes and adding extra features to its equipment.
Indeed, even if Land 2072-2B has reached its final milestone, such new Currawong capabilities and applications are being accelerated through BDA’s Battlespace Communications System Enterprise. The latter is a government contract to continue innovating communications technology to meet emerging needs.
One example of this approach is a new, lightweight portable router that weighs just 7.3 pounds (3.3 kilograms). Announced by the company on 12 September, the Rapid Tactical Router (RAPTR) weighs just an eighth of current I-BTN equipment.
Fitting inside a backpack-sized transit case, an operator can deploy the RAPTR in less than ten minutes. An example of the small router was exhibited at Land Forces 2024.
Murray Brabrook, Boeing Defence Australia director of Joint Systems, commented: “The RAPTR enables the Australian Defence Force to use the I-BTN in more ways than we initially envisaged.”
The company began conceptualising the RAPTR in the early days of Project Currawong, after receiving feedback from users for a lighter product. The RAPTR rapidly establishes connections via SATCOM, radio, VOIP phones and public internet, but it also features commercial interfaces such as USB, ethernet and 4G dongles.
The RAPTR is the first piece of equipment developed under the capability enhancement strategy contract, and Boeing said “significant numbers are on order by the Australian Army and Royal Australian Air Force”.
by Gordon Arthur, Melbourne
