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The ship is preparing to depart NSW’s Garden island after BAE Systems Australia fitted it with an upgraded maritime satellite system.
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HMAS Parramatta is set to become the first of 14 Royal Australian Navy ships to put to sea with updated maritime satellite communications (SATCOM) terminals installed, marking a critical project milestone.
BAE Systems’ advanced terminal infrastructure, Maritime Communications Element (MASTIS), is expected to provide a major enhancement to the RAN system operations.
Specifically, the upgraded terminals are designed to provide increased bandwidth, greater efficiency of Defence satellite capacity, and enhanced network interoperability between ships, aircraft and land-based platforms.
“The sailing of the first ships to receive their MASTIS upgrade is a really important milestone in this program and demonstrates our commitment to collaborating with the Commonwealth to bring timely capability to the end users,” BAE Systems Australia defence delivery director Andrew Gresham said.
“BAE Systems Australia’s commitment to the sustainment of our Navy fleet goes beyond the vessels themselves.”
The upgraded capability is being installed on the RAN’s landing helicopter dock ships, the Anzac fleet, the guided missile destroyers, and amphibious support ship HMAS Choules.
HMAS Choules is expected to become the second ship to be upgraded, departing Garden Island shortly after Parramatta, with the remaining 12 ships to be upgraded during their planned maintenance cycles over the next 12-18 months.
As part of the program, the land based MASTIS training facility will also be upgraded at North Ryde for RAN training.
[Related: BAE Systems Australia appoints new maritime sustainment director]
