Speaking to Defence Connect’s Stephen Kuper, Pat Conroy said he was “frustrated and annoyed” by the commentary in the media and argued that the “very strong advice” from Defence was that the solution chosen was no longer right for Australia.
“We were putting all our eggs in one basket, and that basket was exposed,” he said.
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It comes after the federal government earlier this month sensationally ripped up the $3 billion contract with Lockheed Martin to create a new military SATCOM capability for Australia.
The Australian, which broke the story, claimed the decision was due to a lack of budget. However, the federal government later insisted it was because multiple low-Earth orbit satellites are more secure from attacks than a single geostationary spacecraft, as planned by Lockheed.
Confirming the position, Conroy told Space Connect’s sister brand, Defence Connect, that the “IIP provision for this project hasn’t been touched” and the “money still resides” in that IIP.
“We’ve ceased the procurement activity, and we have focused on looking at other technology solutions, and that is, to be quite frank, because of the growing counter space threats,” he said.
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“I’ve been frustrated and annoyed by some of the commentary out there, by people who just don’t have access to the classified briefings, who profess to be greater experts on this area than the ADF, who might be trying to sell their particular commercial technology or have a view.
“And some journalists have accepted that hook, line and sinker, and I find that frustrating.
“This is a project that’s been going on for a long time, and at the same time, there’s been a massive increase in counter-space threats. Some of that’s been very public.
“A lot of it hasn’t been public, but obviously, governments undertake analysis of what other countries are doing, and the very strong advice from the Defence Department was that the capability solution chosen was not the right one for the here and now. We were putting all our eggs in one basket, and that basket was exposed,
“So we made the hard decision in the national interest and go for a diversified solution that provides more resilience, and you can still have sovereignty that way.
“Sovereignty can be owning platforms, but if those platforms are lost on the first hour of a conflict, they’re not particularly sovereign.”
Conroy added the federal government was “focused on a multi-orbital capability” because it gives Australia “resilience”.
“I’m not going to get ahead of where Defence is going, but that that’ll be a mix of capabilities, a mix of ownership, where we will have legal and physical stepping rights that provide that sovereignty,” he said.
You can listen to the episode in full above, or on your device here.
It comes after Defence’s Director General of Space Capability told an audience in Canberra earlier this month that JP 9102 would be replaced. Speaking at MilCIS, Air Commodore Peter Thompson insisted the project was “not dead” and argued that the threat from adversaries had evolved.
“The only thing that changed was our potential procurement activity with Lockheed Martin,” he said on stage. “The capabilities have changed immensely since first pass. The threat is changing as well.
“Defence isn’t going to waste money on something that is no longer the best use of our money that we’ve got.”
JP 9102 was only signed off just 18 months ago, with prime contractor Lockheed Martin beating big hitters including Boeing, Northrop Grumman Australia, and Optus to become the “preferred tenderer”.
If approved, JP 9102 would have created more than 200 direct jobs, while Lockheed itself pressed ahead with making key appointments for its staff to oversee it.
Speaking to the ABC after Defence released a 187-word statement confirming the changes to JP 9102, Marles said that since the tender was announced eight years ago, industry has created technology that can “literally shoot satellites out of the sky”.
“But we’ve also seen technologies develop where you have thousands of microsatellites in a much more distributed way providing the same effect,” he said.
“We believe we can do that in this way faster and more cost-effective. So, this is frankly moving with the times and making sure that we have the capability that we need which meets the threats and the opportunities that we have in the future.”
Adam Thorn
Adam is a journalist who has worked for more than 40 prestigious media brands in the UK and Australia. Since 2005, his varied career has included stints as a reporter, copy editor, feature writer and editor for publications as diverse as Fleet Street newspaper The Sunday Times, fashion bible Jones, media and marketing website Mumbrella as well as lifestyle magazines such as GQ, Woman’s Weekly, Men’s Health and Loaded. He joined Momentum Media in early 2020 and currently writes for Australian Aviation and World of Aviation.
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