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South Australia-based Silentium Defence has secured a $7.4 million contract with the Australian Army to deliver its MAVERICK M-series passive radar system for testing procedures.
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The MAVERICK M is a soldier portable radar system for covert air, land and maritime surveillance. Silentium expects that the passive radar system will provide capability advantages to the Australian Defence Force and allied nations.
Interestingly, the passive radar does not signal the presence of the operator using the system as it utilises existing radar energy that is already being emitted in the location such as television signals, thus creating less of a signature for the operator on the battlefield.
Dr James Palmer, chief executive of Silentium Defence, outlined that the radar will improve the situational awareness of the operator, thus taking them further out of harm’s way.
“Comprehensive situational awareness with sufficient time to act has never been more critical,” Palmer said.
“Our MAVERICK M-series passive radar system, designed in collaboration with Defence provides that awareness without compromise. This is true world-class technology, developed right here in Australia.”
Silentium hopes that its array of radars and sensor systems will meet a growing demand for space domain awareness and air traffic management around the world, which is currently estimated at $19 billion.
The agreement between the Army and the Australian SME come following a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the business and SAAB Australia to advance complementary capabilities in counter UAS (C-UAS) and situational awareness solutions.
Dr Palmer confirmed that the MoU was a reflection of growing demand for the capability advantage Silentium's passive radar capabilities deliver for established surveillance systems and platforms.
“Highly customisable, our systems are agnostic by design to allow integration with varied technologies and platforms, both current and future-state,” he said.
[Related: SA defence industry to showcase capability]
