EM Solutions signs $150 million contract for Naval SATCOM under SEA1442 Phase 5

The Australian government’s Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group (CASG) has awarded Brisbane-based EM Solutions a $150 million contract to upgrade the Royal Australian Navy’s SATCOM systems across its existing fleet under Project SEA1442 Ph.5.

The contract will modernise both the Primary and Alternate SATCOM for the existing RAN surface fleet using EM Solutions’ King Cobra and Cobra SATCOM terminals; the Cobra terminal won the AMDA Foundation’s SME Innovation Award at the Indo Pacific 2019 International Maritime Exposition.  The development of each of these terminals has been supported by Defence through the Defence Innovation Hub and earlier Concept Technology Demonstrator (CTD) programs.

This is by far the largest contract ever signed by EM Solutions, a subsidiary of Canberra-based Electro Optic Systems (EOS), and demonstrates how support for Australian defence companies, particularly Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs), can deliver world-leading capability and enhance sovereign capability, says the company.  EM Solutions enters this contract as the Prime Contractor which will initially result in around 30 new positions, some of which have already been filled, at the company’s head office in Brisbane.

“The signing of this contract is the result of a close collaboration between EM Solutions and CASG since the announcement in early 2022 that EM Solutions had been selected to respond to a limited release tender for Work Package 1 of the SEA1442 Phase 5 program,” said John Logan, EM Solutions’ Vice President of Programs.  “It has been a learning journey to ensure the delivery of optimised, cost-effective capability to our sailors in the future.

“Through a technology evolution program EM Solutions aims to support Navy in managing SATCOM technology evolution and obsolescence management continuously,” he added.  “The trust shown by the ADF in EM Solutions, transitioning from a component supplier to a prime contractor, is a credit to everyone who has contributed to our business to achieve this significant milestone, as with our previous contract negotiations with CASG.”

EM Solutions is also expanding its local industry supply chain to support, develop and deliver programmatic, integrated logistics services (ILS) and training. The company will continue to work with existing partners and develop new sovereign component and subsystem suppliers for its Naval maritime SATCOM systems.

The acquisition contract is initially valued at approximately $150m over the next seven years and provides up to a further $50m in material and service purchases by CASG once the initial program deliverables are approved. This contract does not include ongoing support and sustainment services, however as previously announced in October 2022, EM Solutions already has an existing contract with CASG to support the deployed Cobra systems and those previously acquired for new ship builds.

EM Solutions has already achieved significant success securing multiple export contracts for its Naval Maritime SATCOM solutions including four for Cobra and five for King Cobra. The Cobra system also won the prestigious CASG/ADM Essington Lewis Award in 2019.