Galileo Avionica awarded with a 20 million euro contract for Australia's Border

Released on Monday, February 05, 2007

Galileo Avionica, a Finmeccanica company, was awarded with an 20 million euro contract- as part of the Customs Coastwatch programme for the aerial surveillance of Australia's maritime areas. The contracted system is based on the ATOS, Airborne Tactical Observation and Surveillance System. The System is named in the contract as SIM (Surveillance Information Management).

The contract signed with prime contractor Surveillance Australia Pty Ltd (SAPL) will run for 12 years up to 2020. It includes the provision for 12 Surveillance Information Management - ATOS along with 1 fixed ground station, 2 mobile ground stations, training, computers, work stations, technical assistance and spares.

To achieve this contract, Galileo Avionica has leveraged its fifty years of experience in leading technologies for Surveillance. ATOS is already installed on the ATR 42MP operated by the Italian Treasury Police and Coast Guard and, in its Light Version, on the Piaggio Aero P166-DP1 aircraft used by the department of Pratica di Mare of the Italian Treasury Police. It is available in various configurations and can easily be installed on a wide range of platforms (fixed and rotary wings), guaranteeing the maximum flexibility.

Of the 12 SIM supplied by Galileo Avionica to the Surveillance Australia Pty Ltd (SAPL), 10 will be installed on fixed wing aircrafts (Dash 8), while 2 systems will be operate on helicopters.

The Systems will contribute to the Australian Government's capacity to detect and deter such illegal activities as: illegal immigration, drug and people smuggling, illegal fishing, environmental offences and quarantine threats around Australia, particularly across northern coastline.

The SIM will integrate the aircraft surveillance sensors and all the information will be sent back to the Border Protection Command National Surveillance Centre in Canberra in real time. The SIM will also make better use of surveillance data available from other sources.

Surveillance Australia has conducted a global search - in accordance with the rigorous and comprehensive selection process - among the leading industries in the sector to identity a SIM System that would satisfy Coastwatch's requirements.