Adelaide, Australia, 7 April 2022, leading Australian Defence tech company, Consunet Pty Ltd (Consunet) is developing a range of advanced spectrum management technologies that can be integrated into Lockheed Martin Australia’s future Joint Air Battle Management solution for the Royal Australian Air Force’s AIR6500 Phase 1 Project (AIR6500-1).

Since 2018, Consunet’s collaboration on AIR6500-1 has resulted in the creation of five new engineering and scientist roles to establish a team of seven scientist, engineers and software developers contributing to the AIR6500-1 engagement.

The next-gen software applications Consunet is designing today for AIR6500-1 will be exportable for markets such as the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.

Advanced technologies being developed by Consunet for Lockheed Martin Australia’s AIR6500-1 programme build upon years of spectrum management R&D capability developed by Consunet engineers and scientists.  In 2021, the Consunet team showcased the art of the possible for spectrum security technologies to the RAAF in support of AIR6500-1 at Lockheed Martin’s Endeavour Centre.

Over the last 12 months, Consunet’s next-generation spectrum management concepts and technologies for AIR6500-1 including spectrum awareness tools, electromagnetic spectrum modelling and projections, simulation, and high-end software ‘plug-ins’ have supported quick integration into Lockheed Martin Australia’s open architecture framework.

Consunet’s Chief Scientist, Dr Don Gossink, said “Consunet is excited to be investigating critical spectrum management and manoeuvre technologies that will increase the RAAF’s situational awareness on the battlefield as part of their AIR6500 endeavour.”

“Proudly, our AI work on AIR6500-1 has supported Consunet’s growth in people, capability, experience and cyber security solutions for Australia. We look forward to maturing opportunities abroad and exporting our technologies to allied countries.”

Significant milestones have already been achieved as part of the AIR6500-1 risk reduction strategy, with Consunet’s spectrum awareness technology integrating live streaming of data into Lockheed Martin’s open system architecture, and the completion of a major geolocation capability that autonomously localises unknown electromagnetic emitters to advance the RAAF’s joint all-domain operations, ensuring they remain ahead of information-based threats.

This body of work will be augmented by Consunet’s R&D of spectrum awareness, forecasting, and agile electromagnetic spectrum plans using cutting edge machine learning and artificial intelligence techniques to harness superiority within the electromagnetic spectrum.

“Lockheed Martin Australia’s AIR6500-1 architecture has evolved over the last 12 months. Key to that maturation has been the productive two-way communication between Consunet and Lockheed Martin Australia. Our engineers have a sound understanding of the architecture and the integration of technologies is happening seamlessly,” Dr Gossink said.

“I’m pleased with how our teams have united. Over the course of the project, the interaction has gone from strength to strength, the approach feels like a collaboration and more than a contractual arrangement.”

“Collaborating on AIR6500-1 with Lockheed Martin Australia has been a rewarding experience and gives us the opportunity to demonstrate and evolve our processes, grow our business, and demonstrate the depth and breadth of Australian industry capability on a major Defence program,” Dr Gossink said.

Lockheed Martin Australia’s AIR6500-1 Engineer Technical Lead, Mark Elbrow said, “Consunet have been working with Lockheed Martin Australia for over three years and bring a wealth of Australian developed AI and cyber security spectrum management expertise to the AIR6500-1 program. We greatly value their ongoing partnership, the robust discussions, analysis and problem solving which supports maturing the AIR6500-1 solution for the RAAF.”

About Consunet:

Consunet is 100% Australian-owned and operated, with 20 years of market participation resulting in capability and capacity to lead major projects as a trusted industry partner to the Australian Defence and cyber security communities. Our people create world-leading trusted cyber and spectrum security technology solutions that safeguard our customers’ interests. Consunet’s engineering capability uses international standards, Agile methodology best practice, and industry leading tools, with a proven in-service operational capability delivery and sustainment track record. Our doctoral-level research team specialises in applying Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning solutions to emerging electromagnetic spectrum challenges.

Media contact: contact@consunet.com.au, Ph: +61 08 8234 8819