REDARC part of Kongsberg's significant milestone

Kongsberg Defence AustraliaKongsberg Defence Australia

Image: Kongsberg visit REDARC facility March 2020

REDARC announced their partnership with Kongsberg in March 2020, selected as Kongsberg Defence Australia’s preferred partner and supplier of electro-mechanical components for the NASAMS system’s Fire Distribution Centre (FDC) as part of project LAND 19 Phase 7B.

Kongsberg Defence Australia has announced that a significant milestone for the Project has been reached, receiving approval to commence local production activities for the first time.

Under this program, Kongsberg Defence Australia is supporting prime contractor, Raytheon Australia, to deliver a new Short-Range Ground-Based Air Defence capability for the Australian Army.

Kongsberg Defence Australia’s milestone enables the team to commence production activities for the first Fire Distribution Centre (FDC) for the National Advanced Surface to Air Missile System (NASAMS) capability.

NASAMS is a state-of-the-art weapons system that is in service with, or under delivery to, 11 nations. The system will enable the Army to quickly detect, engage, and destroy aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles, and cruise missile threats.

The commencement of Kongsberg Defence Australia’s local FDC production activities in Adelaide follows the successful completion of its Production Readiness Review. The FDC is the Command, Control, Communications and Computing (C4) subsystem at the heart of the NASAMS capability. The shelter-based FDC comprises of approximately 10,000 components that have largely been sourced through Australian suppliers, including Adelaide-based REDARC Electronics, Albury-based MILSPEC Manufacturing, and Sydney-based Eylex. The FDC shelters have been designed and manufactured by Adelaide-based Daronmont Technologies using their local supply chain.

REDARC have commenced the delivery of the electrical mechanical boxes, an integral part of the power distribution and safety interlock systems following successful completion of production quality gates in late 2020. MILSPEC have delivered over 600 manufactured parts for the Air Defence Console, racks and other mechanical fixtures.

Fitment checks recently conducted with MILSPEC have demonstrated quality workmanship in the production of complex assemblies. Eylex continue to deliver the thousands of cables required that integrate the complex network of sub-systems following their First Article Inspections last October.

Despite the supply chain challenges in sourcing components due to COVID, all Australian suppliers have worked collaboratively to resolve these challenges, affirming Australian industry’s commitment to delivering NASAMS.

Kongsberg Defence Australia’s proud partnership with their Australian suppliers enables these companies to benefit from the program by growing their local business and increasing their Australian workforce, becoming more competitive whilst enhancing their capabilities. It also provides export opportunities for the supply of components and assemblies for international programs through
exposure and qualification into KONGSBERG’s Global Supply Chain.

Kongsberg Defence Australia’s General Manager, John Fry, said the transfer of technology and production expertise is a demonstration of KONGSBERG’s commitment to further developing Australian Industry Capability (AIC).

“Receiving approval to commence production activities is a key milestone for Kongsberg Defence Australia and an important step in the delivery of the NASAMS capability to the Australian Army in partnership with Raytheon Australia. It demonstrates KONGSBERG’s commitment to transfer technology and production expertise to Australian Industry, and the creation of sovereign capability to support NASAMS and other KONGSBERG programs in Australia and the region”. Mr Fry said.

Kongsberg Defence Australia will assemble and conduct sub-system level integration of the Fire Distribution Centre and NASAMS Classroom Trainers in Adelaide using predominantly Australian supplied components. Kongsberg Defence Australia will also conduct final assembly of the Canister Launchers, and support KONGSBERG and Raytheon Australia in integration activities.

 

About REDARC

REDARC was established in 1979. In the last five years, two new brands have joined the REDARC stable – Hummingbird Electronics in 2015 and REDARC Defence Systems in 2019.  In 2020, the Company founded REDARC Corporation in the USA. The Company specialises in GPS monitoring products, sensors, battery power conversion and management systems, safety devices and electronic brake controllers. Their products can be found on vehicles used in emergency services, defence and mining, and recreational vehicles such as 4WDs, caravans and camper trailers globally. REDARC take their domestically proven products to Canada, USA, Mexico, Europe, New Zealand, the Middle East, South Korea and South Africa.