Surveillance Australia
Encyclopedia
Surveillance Australia Pty Ltd is an Australia
n aviation company. It is a subsidiary of National Jet Systems, which is ultimately owned by Cobham plc
. It is primarily engaged in servicing the Australian Customs Service
Coastwatch
contract, flying surveillance patrols within the Australian Exclusive Economic Zone (AEEZ)
, but it also operates an aircraft for Tenix LADS
.
Surveillance Australia has played major roles in several border protection operations, directly contributing to over 200 foreign fishing vessels being apprehended and destroyed for illegally fishing for shark fin, reef fish and dolphins in Australian waters each year.
In 2005, Surveillance Australia was awarded the $1,000,000,000 Coastwatch contract that will see their aircraft operating through to 2020.
, the company has three operational bases in Cairns
, Darwin
and Broome
. They operate a fleet of six DHC-8-202 and four larger DHC-8-315 'Dash 8s' modified for maritime patrol
and surveillance. One further Dash 8 is configured for the LADS
contract.
The surveillance aircraft are equipped with Raytheon
SeaVue surface search radars with additional Inverse synthetic aperture radar
(ISAR), Synthetic aperture radar
(SAR) and Moving target indication
(MTI) capability, advanced electro-optical sensors and sophisticated communications suites. They can operate day and night close to land below lowest safe altitude
. These aircraft can search an area of 110,000 km² per flight.
A state of the art surveillance information management (SIM) system, able to integrate surveillance and communication and provide real time communications to Customs headquarters in Canberra
is due to be installed and operational by October 2008.
As of September 2008 the Surveillance Australia fleet numbers 14 aircraft:
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n aviation company. It is a subsidiary of National Jet Systems, which is ultimately owned by Cobham plc
Cobham plc
Cobham plc is a British manufacturing company based in Wimborne Minster, Dorset, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index...
. It is primarily engaged in servicing the Australian Customs Service
Australian Customs Service
The Australian Customs and Border Protection Service is the Australian Federal Government agency responsible for managing the security and integrity of the Australian border, facilitating the movement of legitimate international travellers and goods, and collecting border-related duties and...
Coastwatch
Australian Coastwatch
Coastwatch was a Division of the Australian Customs Service, which is an agency of the Australian Federal Government, with its headquarters based in Canberra, Australia...
contract, flying surveillance patrols within the Australian Exclusive Economic Zone (AEEZ)
Exclusive Economic Zone
Under the law of the sea, an exclusive economic zone is a seazone over which a state has special rights over the exploration and use of marine resources, including production of energy from water and wind. It stretches from the seaward edge of the state's territorial sea out to 200 nautical...
, but it also operates an aircraft for Tenix LADS
Tenix Pty Ltd
Tenix is a privately owned Australian company involved in a range of infrastructure maintenance and engineering products and services to the utility, transport, mining and industrial sectors in Australia, New Zealand, the Pacific Islands, and the United States.The antecedent company Transfield was...
.
Operations
The aircraft fly over 20,000 hours a year of surveillance flying in the AEEZ, searching for illegal fishing vessels, people smugglers, drug importation, immigration and quarantine breaches, and also regularly assist in search and rescue operations.Surveillance Australia has played major roles in several border protection operations, directly contributing to over 200 foreign fishing vessels being apprehended and destroyed for illegally fishing for shark fin, reef fish and dolphins in Australian waters each year.
In 2005, Surveillance Australia was awarded the $1,000,000,000 Coastwatch contract that will see their aircraft operating through to 2020.
Fleet and Bases
Headquartered in AdelaideAdelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
, the company has three operational bases in Cairns
Cairns, Queensland
Cairns is a regional city in Far North Queensland, Australia, founded 1876. The city was named after William Wellington Cairns, then-current Governor of Queensland. It was formed to serve miners heading for the Hodgkinson River goldfield, but experienced a decline when an easier route was...
, Darwin
Darwin, Northern Territory
Darwin is the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. Situated on the Timor Sea, Darwin has a population of 127,500, making it by far the largest and most populated city in the sparsely populated Northern Territory, but the least populous of all Australia's capital cities...
and Broome
Broome, Western Australia
Broome is a pearling and tourist town in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, north of Perth. The year round population is approximately 14,436, growing to more than 45,000 per month during the tourist season...
. They operate a fleet of six DHC-8-202 and four larger DHC-8-315 'Dash 8s' modified for maritime patrol
Maritime patrol
Maritime patrol is the task of monitoring areas of water. Generally conducted by military and law enforcement agencies, maritime patrol is usually aimed at identifying human activities....
and surveillance. One further Dash 8 is configured for the LADS
LADS
Laser airborne depth sounder is an aircraft-based hydrographic surveying system used by the Australian Hydrographic Service . The system uses the difference between the sea surface and the sea floor as calculated from the aircraft's altitude to generate hydrographic data.The lack of progress made...
contract.
The surveillance aircraft are equipped with Raytheon
Raytheon
Raytheon Company is a major American defense contractor and industrial corporation with core manufacturing concentrations in weapons and military and commercial electronics. It was previously involved in corporate and special-mission aircraft until early 2007...
SeaVue surface search radars with additional Inverse synthetic aperture radar
Inverse synthetic aperture radar
Inverse synthetic aperture radar is a technique to generate a two-dimensional high resolution image of a target.ISAR technology utilizes the movement of the target rather than the emitter to create the synthetic aperture...
(ISAR), Synthetic aperture radar
Synthetic aperture radar
Synthetic-aperture radar is a form of radar whose defining characteristic is its use of relative motion between an antenna and its target region to provide distinctive long-term coherent-signal variations that are exploited to obtain finer spatial resolution than is possible with conventional...
(SAR) and Moving target indication
Moving target indication
Moving target indication is a mode of operation of a radar to discriminate a target against clutter. In contrast to another mode, stationary target indication, it takes an advantage of the fact that the target moves with respect to stationary clutter. The most common approach takes advantage of...
(MTI) capability, advanced electro-optical sensors and sophisticated communications suites. They can operate day and night close to land below lowest safe altitude
Lowest safe altitude
In aviation lowest safe altitude is an altitude that is at least 1,000 feet above any obstacle or terrain within a defined safety buffer region around a particular route that a pilot might fly. The safety buffer allows for errors in the air by including an additional area that a pilot might stray...
. These aircraft can search an area of 110,000 km² per flight.
A state of the art surveillance information management (SIM) system, able to integrate surveillance and communication and provide real time communications to Customs headquarters in 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...
is due to be installed and operational by October 2008.
Fleet
- 2 Bombardier DHC-8-202 Dash 8
- 4 de Havilland Canada DHC-8-202 Dash 8
- 1 de Havilland Canada DHC-8-202 Dash 8 (LADS-equipped)
- 3 Bombardier DHC-8-315 Dash 8
- 1 de Havilland Canada DHC-8-315 Dash 8
- 3 Reims F406 Caravan II
See also
- Australian CoastwatchAustralian CoastwatchCoastwatch was a Division of the Australian Customs Service, which is an agency of the Australian Federal Government, with its headquarters based in Canberra, Australia...
- Australian Customs ServiceAustralian Customs ServiceThe Australian Customs and Border Protection Service is the Australian Federal Government agency responsible for managing the security and integrity of the Australian border, facilitating the movement of legitimate international travellers and goods, and collecting border-related duties and...
- Border Protection Command
- Cobham plcCobham plcCobham plc is a British manufacturing company based in Wimborne Minster, Dorset, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index...
- LADSLADSLaser airborne depth sounder is an aircraft-based hydrographic surveying system used by the Australian Hydrographic Service . The system uses the difference between the sea surface and the sea floor as calculated from the aircraft's altitude to generate hydrographic data.The lack of progress made...
- National Jet