The new AIR6500 system is intended to disperse missile targeting and launch systems, potentially allowing more thorough coverage of Australia’s airspace.

As concerns over competition in the Indo-Pacific rise, Australia is pouring money into fighters, destroyers, missiles, radars, and ground-based air defenses. But possessing sophisticated weapons alone isn’t enough; those weapons need to be integrated in order to make the wider system work effectively.

Understanding this, the Australian government has awarded Lockheed Martin Australia a roughly AUD $1.32 billion (USD $927 million) contract to expand Australia’s AIR6500 Joint Air Battle Management System. The award is part of a broader AUD $2.4 billion (USD $1.7 billion) investment over six years in Australia’s air and missile defense system.

The purpose of the AIR6500 system is to connect sensors, command-and-control systems, aircraft, ships, ground-based air defenses, and targeting networks. Rather than each platform fighting battles based on the information it collects individually, commanders are given an integrated picture of the battlespace from which to make more informed decisions. The strategic significance here is that Australia is investing in more than just weapons but in a wider network that allows for enhanced coordination between those weapons.

What Does $1.7 Billion in Air Defense Actually Buy?

The new contract covers AIR6500 Tranche 2B, which Lockheed says will offer improvements in advanced command-and-control aids, expanded communications, greater cybersecurity, resilient sensor networking, integration with Australia’s targeting enterprise, and improved connectivity with allies. The architecture is deliberately intended to be scalable. This is important because Australia will continue adding new sensors, missiles, aircraft, unmanned systems, possibly even space-derived targeting information.

The basic concept holds that the sensor and the shooter do not need to be combined within the same platform, as has long been the case in previous air defense systems. For example, in the past, a warship’s radar would detect a target, and then that warship would fire a missile. Networked warfare, however, is likely to separate those functions. One platform can detect something while another platform receives the targeting picture and conducts the engagement. This unlocks the potential for Australia to use the best sensor available and the best weapon available, rather than just relying on a combined platform that just happens to be physically next to the incoming threat.

About Lockheed Martin’s AIR6500 Air Defense System

The AIR6500 system will connect weaponry that, by itself, is already impressive. Australian platforms include the Hobart-class air-warfare destroyers and the F-35A Lightning II, for example. The Hobart-class provides Australia with the Aegis combat system and standard missiles. The F-35A is a fifth-generation fighter with AESA radar, infrared sensing, electronic support, sensor fusion, and secure networking.

Australia has also declared Final Operational Capability for Army NASAMS batteries, which each contain three launchers for short-range ground-based air defense. Individually, these systems are useful. AIR6500 now promises to combine the capabilities of these individual platforms into a more integrated, and therefore more lethal, system.

The timing is important. The Indo-Pacific is becoming much more contested, and China possesses one of the world’s largest and most diverse missile arsenals. In a major regional conflict, Australia would serve as an important hub in one of the world’s most far-flung locales, allowing the US and others to stage bomber operations, logistics, intelligence, and more. So protecting Australia, with an integrated air defense system like AIR6500, has implications beyond just defending the homeland.

About the Author: Harrison Kass

Harrison Kass is a writer and attorney focused on national security, technology, and political culture. His work has appeared in Tablet, City Journal, The Hill, The Spectator, and The Cipher Brief. He holds a JD from the University of Oregon and a master’s in Global & Joint Program Studies from NYU. More at harrisonkass.com.

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