Speaking at the MilCIS industry event in Canberra, Air Commodore Peter Thompson insisted the project was “not dead” and argued that the threat from adversaries had simply evolved.
“The only thing that changed was our potential procurement activity with Lockheed Martin,” he said on stage.
Space Connect reported earlier this month how the government would axe the $3 billion “JP 9102” project to deliver a new military satellite communications capability for Australia, led by prime Lockheed Martin Australia (LMA).
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The Australian, which broke the story, claimed the decision was due to a lack of budget for the project.
However, Defence Minister Richard Marles argued days later it was instead because multiple low-Earth orbit satellites are more secure from attacks than a single, geostationary spacecraft, as planned by LMA.
AIRCDRE Thompson, Director General of Space Capability at the Joint Capabilities Division, said, “JP 9102 is not dead … that money is still there, we’re just working out the best way to use it in the current environment”.
He added he understood the “shock” of the announcement but said it was the “right decision for us”.
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“The capabilities have changed immensely since first pass,” he said. “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”.
However, it’s unknown whether Lockheed formally had the final contract signed after it entered the last stages of negotiation.
If approved, JP 9102 would have created more than 200 direct jobs, while Lockheed Martin 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.
Marles added that Australia needs to deliver communications capability that is more “distributed” and “resilient”.
“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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