Australia to field Northrop Grumman DARC space radar from 2026

Australia will install the Northrop Grumman Deep-space Advanced Radar Capability (DARC) near Exmouth, WA. The radar is expected to be operational by 2026. The decision was announced during the second AUKUS Ministers’ meeting in California. All three AUKUS partners – the UK, USA and Australia – will collaborate on the new radar capability in order to provide all three partners with timely and reliable information in contested environments.

“Australia’s interests in space are not bound by geography,” said Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles. “Strengthening Australia’s defence capabilities in the space domain and working with our partners is a prudent response to our changing strategic environment.

“This investment harnesses technological advances to maintain a leading edge in Australia’s capability and contribute to strategic deterrence in the region. We will continue to work with our partners to build a region that is stable, peaceful and prosperous, and where sovereignty, including space sovereignty, is respected.”

The DARC radar at Exmouth will provide 24-hour continuous global and all weather coverage to track and identify objects in deep space, boosting our ability to detect and deter space based threats. The DARC system passed its Critical Design Review (CDR) and software demonstration in May this year.

Northrop Grumman already has a US$341 million (AUD$508 million) contract from the US Space Force to build three radars at strategic sites around the world. These will be phased array sensors of with steerable beams that can track multiple targets, with sufficient range to image the Geostationary orbit (GEO) as well as the Low Earth Orbit (LEO). The first of these was scheduled to be installed ‘somewhere in the Indo Pacific’ by the end of 2025.

No frequency band for DARC has been released, but the sensor is a day/night/all weather system and can operate on a 24/7 basis, 365 days a year, unlike the ex-USAF optical Space Surveillance Telescope (SST), also located at Exmouth, which is attenuated significantly by atmospheric phenomena.

The Australian DARC site will integrate with other sites in the United States and the United Kingdom, providing a space domain awareness capability across the AUKUS partnership.

The construction of the site is expected to create up to 100 jobs, with further opportunities for Australian industry through the operation and sustainment of the site.