History

CEA Technologies was established in 1983, founded by two retired Royal Australia Navy

Royal Australian Navy

The Royal Australian Navy is the naval branch of the Australian Defence Force. Following the Federation of Australia in 1901, the ships and resources of the separate colonial navies were integrated into a national force: the Commonwealth Naval Forces...

 (RAN) personnel, Ian Croser and David Gaul. Employing over 260 employees, it is Australia’s largest majority owned Defence Company

Defense contractor

A defense contractor is a business organization or individual that provides products or services to a military department of a government. Products typically include military aircraft, ships, vehicles, weaponry, and electronic systems...

. CEA specialises in the design, development and manufacture of radar and communications systems for civil and military applications.

Products and services

CEA researches, develops, and manufactures

• Wideband antenna systems
• Active phased array
  Phased array
  In wave theory, a phased array is an array of antennas in which the relative phases of the respective signals feeding the antennas are varied in such a way that the effective radiation pattern of the array is reinforced in a desired direction and suppressed in undesired directions.An antenna array...
  
   radars
• Missile fire-control system
  Fire-control system
  A fire-control system is a number of components working together, usually a gun data computer, a director, and radar, which is designed to assist a weapon system in hitting its target. It performs the same task as a human gunner firing a weapon, but attempts to do so faster and more...
  
  s
• Maritime integrated communications systems
• Harbour and coastal surveillance systems

Location

The head office (headquarters) of CEA Technologies is located in Fyshwick, Australian Capital Territory

Fyshwick, Australian Capital Territory

Fyshwick is an industrial suburb of Canberra, located east of the South Canberra district. On Census night 2006, Fyshwick had a population of 54 people....

, one of the few industrial zoned suburbs of Australia's capital, Canberra

Canberra

Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...

. Currently the head office is located in three separate but linked buildings, CEA is expanding to build a fourth building on the adjacent block.

Structure

Approximately one third of the staff are engineers covering all necessary disciplines needed to design and develop leading edge radar and military grade communications products. A skilled production group produce printed circuit board

Printed circuit board

A printed circuit board, or PCB, is used to mechanically support and electrically connect electronic components using conductive pathways, tracks or signal traces etched from copper sheets laminated onto a non-conductive substrate. It is also referred to as printed wiring board or etched wiring...

 (PCB) assemblies and mechanical assemblies in small to medium production runs.

Facilities

In addition to the administration and engineering offices and laboratories, the buildings also house a small manufacturing and assembly facility, and an indoor antenna test facility (ATF). A mobile outdoor antenna test facility is used to support field testing and proving of radar and antenna systems.

CEA also has facilities/offices in Adelaide, South Australia, Melbourne, Victoria, Perth, Western Australia

Perth, Western Australia

Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....

, and San Diego, California

San Diego, California

San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...

.

Major programs

CEA is providing the CEAFAR Active Phased Array Radar and CEAMOUNT Active Phased Array Illuminator as part of the Anti-Ship Missile

Anti-ship missile

Anti-ship missiles are guided missiles that are designed for use against ships and large boats. Most anti-ship missiles are of the sea-skimming type, many use a combination of inertial guidance and radar homing...

 Defense (ASMD) upgrade to the RAN's

Royal Australian Navy

The Royal Australian Navy is the naval branch of the Australian Defence Force. Following the Federation of Australia in 1901, the ships and resources of the separate colonial navies were integrated into a national force: the Commonwealth Naval Forces...

 ANZAC class frigate

Anzac class frigate

The Anzac class is a ship class of ten frigates; eight operated by the Royal Australian Navy and two operated by the Royal New Zealand Navy...

. It is listed as one of the Top 30 Defence Material Organisation(DMO) projects.

CEA has provided integrated communications systems to the Armidale class patrol boat

Armidale class patrol boat

The Armidale class is a class of patrol boats built for the Royal Australian Navy . Planning for a class of twelve vessels to replace the fifteen Fremantle class patrol boats began in 1993 as a joint project with the Royal Malaysian Navy, but was cancelled when Malaysia pulled out of the process...

.
CEA originally supplied and now supports vessel traffic service

Vessel Traffic Service

A vessel traffic service is a marine traffic monitoring system established by harbour or port authorities, similar to air traffic control for aircraft...

systems to several sites around Australia and internationally.