New RAN patrol boats to include R&S comms equipment
The six new Cape-class patrol boats for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) will include communications equipment from Rohde & Schwarz (R&S), after the German company was awarded a contract from shipbuilder Austal.
Under the deal announced on 12 July, worth an undisclosed amount, R&S will provide its COTS-based Naval Integrated Communications System (NAVICS) with multi-layer security and secure external line of sight (VHF/UHF) and BLoS HF communications.
NAVICS features Ethernet standards and Voice over Internet Protocol switching which, said R&S Australia Managing Director Gareth Evans, ‘makes it both future-proof and scalable’.
As reported in May by Shephard, the fast-tracked construction programme for the new Cape-class boats will cost about A$350 million ($226.3 million), with the boats to be constructed at Austal’s shipyard in Perth.
The first delivery is expected in September 2021 and the final boat will be handed over in mid-2023.
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