Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says radar technology that Canada has agreed to purchase from Australia is “world-leading” and will help forge closer ties between the two countries amid growing trade uncertainty.
Canada announced the $6.6 billion partnership with Australia on Wednesday (AEDT time), setting up a program of work to deliver a new early warning radar system for the Canadian Arctic.
If finalised, the deal will represent Australia’s largest-ever defence export, dwarfing the sale of 100 Australian-made armoured vehicles to the Germany military last year.
The advanced over-the-horizon radar (OTHR) technology is being pursued to strengthen the “domain awareness” of the Canadian Armed Forces, allowing for faster “detection and tracking” of threats.
Shortly after speaking with Canada’s new Prime Minister Mark Carney on Tuesday, Mr Albanese confirmed that Canada was looking at Jindalee Operational Radar Network (JORN) technology.
The network is operated by the Royal Australian Air Force and is used to monitor air and sea movements in Queensland, the Northern Territory and Western Australia.
The JORN has developed over the last 50 years, having first been been designed and built as a experimental radar by the the Defence Science and Technology Group in the 1970s.
It is currently being upgraded by BAE Systems at a cost of $1.2 billion. The project has been underway since 2018, although new partners are continuing to join, including as recently as last month.
Mr Albanese on Wednesday said the OTHR technology was “world-leading” and an example of the kind of know-how that Australia must seek to export in future.
“Australian’s are smart, we’re good at innovation. We want a future made in Australia and we want to export wherever possible,” the PM said.
“It’s important that we diversify our trade relationships… It’s important that we develop that diverse series of relationships, and Canada is a very important one.”
Defence minister Richard Marles, who was also asked about the deal on Wednesday, said the project is a “really big opportunity for the nation”, while acknowledging that “there’s a little water to go under the bridge”.
“We’ll continue to work with Canada in relation to that, and that they are taking the opportunity of collaborating with us and partnering with us in respect of this technology makes sense,” he said.
“This is some of the best technology in the world in terms of what it can do, and it greatly will contribute to the radar technology that exists in North America.”
Canada has said it intends to apply its Industrial and Technological benefits Policy to the project, and that Australian industry partners will work with Canadian companies to build local expertise and capacity.
It also plans to “work closely with the United States to ensure the interoperability of domain awareness solutions for the defence of North America”.
Mr Marles confirmed that discussions with the US about purchasing the JORN technology — which have been underway “for some time” — are also ongoing.
Australian Industry and Defence Network chief executive Mike Johnson welcomed Canada’s decision to purchase the OTHR technology, adding that JORN is a prime example of Australian innovation.
“More than 100 local companies are involved in upgrading the system as its next iteration is completed within Australia,” Mr Johnson said later on Wednesday.
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