Toni-Anne Munn will take the senior position after a career that has involved stints at Thales, KPMG, and Telstra.
The global prime has also announced its leased office space in Melbourne’s CBD, which will begin to house up to 200 Victorian employees to work on the program.
JP 9102 is the name of the $3 billion government contract to deliver a new military satellite communication capability for Australia.
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The deal is arguably the most significant in the history of Australia’s space sector, with its goal of reducing the country’s reliance on the United States and its military assets.
Lockheed beat off competition from other major contractors, including Boeing, Northrop Grumman Australia, and Optus, to become the “preferred tenderer”. The company is now progressing to the next stage of the Defence procurement process, which includes engaging in collaborative tender clarification and improvement activities.
David Ball, the regional director for Lockheed Martin Space, hailed Munn’s “proven track record of delivering major complex defence programs”.
“With her innovative project leadership skills and comprehensive understanding of industry, Toni-Anne will be instrumental in realising Lockheed Martin Australia’s vision for a resilient and self-reliant national space sector,” he said.
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Reporting to JP 9102 program director Chris Jewell, Munn will split her time between Canberra and Melbourne and collaborate closely with Defence and industry partners.
Those partners include a consortium of smaller businesses, including Linfox, Shoal Group, Ronson Gears, and Clearbox Systems.
Head of air defence and space systems division Air Vice-Marshal David Scheul previously said JP 9102 would deliver Australia’s first sovereign-controlled satellite communication system over the Indo-Pacific regions.
“Currently across Defence, there are up to 89 capabilities which depend on satellite communications,” AVM Scheul said.
“Once delivered, the new system will increase the resilience, agility, and flexibility of Defence’s military satellite capability.”
The new satellite communication system will include:
- new Defence-controlled and operated geostationary communications satellites;
- multiple ground stations across Australia;
- Integrated Satellite Communications Management System; and
- two new satellite communications operations centres.
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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