Royal Australian Navy Discussions and Updates 2.0

[Pusser01]

On that point does Australia have SOSUS In its sea lanes?

The closest thing to SOSUS that is open source would be the replacement for the old UWTR which was decommissioned several years ago. L3Harris awarded $328 million underwater tracking range contract - Australian Defence Magazine

 

[Pusser01]

I’m sure quite a few state actors would love to know the answer to that question.

Unless there has been something announced publicly by defence or in parliament, anyone who knows the answer to that question would be unable to answer.

There was this published a few years ago, cheers. https://www.dst.defence.gov.au/site...s Paper - Remote Undersea Surveillance F1.pdf

 

[ADMk2]

I'm pretty sure its fully foreign owned by Singtel.

Launched by Optus / Singtel, dual operated with the mil payload provided by ADF and the civilian comms payload by Mitsubishi Electric.

 

[OldTex]

I'm pretty sure its fully foreign owned by Singtel.

The satellite is owned by Optus, which is owned by Singtel. The Defence payload is hosted on the satellite hence why its full name was Optus C1D. As SATCOM is an enabler for all ADF services perhaps further discussion on this topic should be done on the ADF thread?

 

[hauritz]

The closest thing to SOSUS that is open source would be the replacement for the old UWTR which was decommissioned several years ago. L3Harris awarded $328 million underwater tracking range contract - Australian Defence Magazine

Anduril is developing its Seabed Sentry system which is intended for deployment from the Ghost Shark (Dive-XL). No mention of it being adopted by Australia but there seems to be a certain logic that Australia will be looking at this sort of system.

Seabed Sentry

AI-enabled sensor that brings connectivity and awareness to the deep dark sea.

www.anduril.com

 

[seaspear]

Could be interesting linking Australia and New Zealand by by some modern sosus arrangement perhaps even Tasmania could be joined to mainland by such arrangement

 

[Todjaeger]

Could be interesting linking Australia and New Zealand by by some modern sosus arrangement perhaps even Tasmania could be joined to mainland by such arrangement

Possibly, but there is also the distinct possibility the 'accidents' might take place which damage, cut or just outright destroy such SOSUS arrays.

There have been a number of instances in the last couple of years where undersea cabling has been cut, which can get quite complicated in detecting who was responsible and taking action when this happens in int'l waters. IIRC cabling between mainland Norway and the Svalbard had been cut, as well as two cuts to cabling in the Baltic last year, so there are certainly current vulnerabilities.

Having at least some of the SOSUS lines kept within the 12 n mile limit of home waters would then add additional risks to a hostile actor attempting to damage such systems, unlike something which might happen in int'l waters.