Boeing Defence Australia (BDA) has been awarded a series of contracts to upgrade the Australian Defence Force’s (ADF) defence high-frequency communications system (DHFCS).

Awarded as part of Australia’s Nullarbor communications improvement initiative, the contracts have a combined value of more than A$120m ($112.3m) and require BDA to increase the capacity and ease-of-use of the DHFCS.

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BDA Information and Operational Services general manager Bill Madley said the contracts represent a vote of confidence in the company’s ability to maintain vital strategic assets.

"Importantly, this contract with BDA will also see substantial savings on the support of existing equipment."

Australian Defence Minister David Johnston said the agreement is further proof that the government is continuing to ensure a safe and secure Australia, and builds upon an initial concept developed and tested by Ebor Computing.

"Importantly, this contract with BDA will also see substantial savings on the support of existing equipment," Johnston said.

The work undertaken with Ebor involved significant signal improvement and direction finding in support of high-frequency communication, which is expected to enable improved and more reliable communications worldwide.

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Under another extension, worth A$86m ($80.5m), BDA will continue to support the operation and management of the DHFCS system over the next five years.

A A$24m ($22.4m) agreement will see the company design, develop, install and support a fully operational Nullarbor system at four separate DHFCS facilities.

The company will maintain and upgrade DHFCS operational capability for an additional five years as part of a A$15m ($14.4m) engineering service contract extension.

Ebor Computing will serve as one of the subcontractors for the upgrade, which is expected to lead to improved communications.

Initially delivered to ADF in 2004, the DHFCS system consolidated the high-frequency communication system into a single integrated system.

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