CANBERRA, Australia, Wednesday, 8 July 2020 – Lockheed Martin Australia has been awarded a contract for the ongoing sustainment of the Tactical Air Defence Radar System (TADRS), continuing a long-standing Air Battlespace Management capability partnership between Lockheed Martin Australia and the Department of Defence.

Lockheed Martin Australia has provided TADRS sustainment support since the mobile radar first entered into service with the Royal Australian Air Force in 2004. The new support contract, announced by the Minister for Defence Industry, The Hon. Melissa Price MP, has an initial five-year duration and a total value of approximately $50 million.

The TADRS is a deployable tactical air defence radar based on the Lockheed Martin AN/TPS-77 Long Range Radar System that enables air surveillance, command and control functions in support of military and humanitarian missions. It can be deployed via air, land or sea and can operate either autonomously with minimal maintenance staff or with a complement of surveillance operators, dependent upon mission needs.

Commenting on the contract award, Joe North, Chief Executive, Lockheed Martin Australia and New Zealand, said Lockheed Martin Australia was proud to continue partnering with the Department of Defence in sustaining a crucial part of Australia’s Air Battlespace Management capability.

“The TADRS is absolutely vital to Australia’s ability to rapidly deploy air surveillance as well as command and control functions wherever the mission requires,” he said. “We are proud to have provided sustainment services in support of Australia’s TADRS capability for sixteen years and the award of this new contract will ensure the continuation of the TADRS Program well into the future.”

“Lockheed Martin Australia is proud to continue providing the service to the RAAF, with our core workforce of 25 highly skilled Australians supporting the program across the country,” he said.

Mr. North also highlighted the considerable progress made by the Department of Defence and Lockheed Martin Australia to continue to train and build sovereign sustainment capabilities and maximise program efficiencies.

“In recent years, the Department of Defence and Lockheed Martin Australia have worked together to continue to up-skill our sovereign capabilities in support of TADRS sustainment requirements,” he said. “This has resulted in the program continuously reducing scheduled maintenance downtime while increasing operational availability.”

Lockheed Martin Australia currently employs 25 staff directly in support of the TADRS in Williamtown and over the term of the new contract an average of five additional highly skilled positions will be established across Darwin and Williamtown.

About Lockheed Martin Australia

Headquartered in Canberra, Lockheed Martin Australia is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation. The company employs more than 1000 people in Australia working on a wide range of major programs spanning the aerospace, defence and civil sectors.

About the Tactical Air Defence Radar System (TADRS)

The TADRS is a deployable tactical air defence radar based on the Lockheed Martin AN/TPS-77 Long Range Radar System that utilises an Active Electronic Elevation Scanning Array. Australia was one of the first countries to procure the TPS -77 Radar and the capability has been in service with the RAAF since 2004.  In recent years, the Australian TADRS processing has been upgraded to the latest version (Block 3), bringing the capability in line with Radars being sold today. TADRS performs air surveillance operations and forwards digital target data to regional centres. Deployable by air, land or sea, TADRS is designed to be transportable and both rapidly setup and packed up.

Media Contacts:

Michelle Scully, +61 448 032 387; michelle.m.scully@lmco.com