Thales Australia develops sovereign Maritime Domain Awareness capability

Thales Australia is developing a Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) capability to detect, identify, classify and track potential threats in the maritime environment, which is crucial for Australia’s security due to its large marine jurisdiction. While the military sector's maritime activities are well-monitored, civil maritime security threats are pervasive, covert and difficult to track.

The Australian Government’s Civil Maritime Security Strategy includes four pillars: Understand, Influence, Prevent, and Respond. Thales Australia’s MDA capability can significantly contribute to these areas:

• Understand: Utilising big data analytics, sensor data from terrestrial and satellite observation systems is fused to provide a near-instantaneous picture of the maritime environment.
• Influence: Effective collaboration among stakeholders is essential to protect Australia's expansive marine environment.
• Prevent: Timely, actionable intelligence serves as a deterrent to those attempting illegal activities near Australia and its allies.
• Respond: Suspicious observations are passed to an Intelligent Mission Tasking System (IMTS), directing Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) assets, such as aircraft, for targeted missions like investigating illegal fishing activities.

Thales Australia’s MDA solution, while a commercial offering, is grounded in decades of partnership with Defence and proven delivery of secure, innovative capabilities.