Acacia and Cobham to modify SAPL Dash-8s

Adelaide-based companies Cobham Special Mission and Acacia Systems have teamed to modify the former’s fleet of Dash-8 surveillance aircraft. Aircraft integration work commenced last month at Cobham’s aircraft maintenance hub in Adelaide. The project will see defence software and systems engineering company Acacia, together with Cobham, upgrade critical technology on board aboard the aircraft and within the ground operations command centre.

Cobham’s Managing Director of Special Mission James Woodhams said, “Cobham and Acacia have a successful track record collaborating on customised Mission Management Systems (MMS) for aircraft considered national Tier 1 assets.”

Acacia is designing and developing the software, he said, adding, “The partnership will extend beyond the project, with Acacia providing long-term through-life support for the software, including further development and improvements.”

Cobham deploys highly-modified aircraft and specially-trained crew to conduct airborne surveillance and search-and-rescue operations for the Australian government under the Surveillance Australia Pty Limited brand name. Modification and integration of these aircraft is undertaken in-house by Cobham in Australia, with the support of local SMEs such as Acacia.

The ongoing partnership between Cobham and Acacia has been a catalyst for innovation and local investment in South Australia, and importantly has led to significant Australian industry capability. Prior to the development of the MMS system by Cobham and Acacia, Australian-based organisations had to rely on importing foreign-developed MMS.

“We are committed to working with smart Australian companies – such as Acacia – to continue to innovate and build our capability within civil and military domains in Australia and abroad,” Mr Woodhams said.