The tests were conducted in March and early April aboard HMAS Hobart and NUSHIP Brisbane in the Gulf of St Vincent southwest of Adelaide.
Video showing the NUSHIP Brisbane sea trials.
CEC is designed to enhance the capability of a surface fleet by combining ship-borne radar and fire control data into a common picture, allowing one ship to engage an adversary based on the other ship’s data. Australia is only the second nation to integrate CEC after the US.
“The new Cooperative Engagement Capability is a significant step-change for Australia as we face increasing threats from cruise missiles and advanced aircraft,” Defence Minister Marise Payne said in a statement on Tuesday.
“Together Hobart and Brisbane bring revolutionary air defence capabilities – not by adding new radars or weapon systems, but by utilising existing sensors and weapons in a more effective manner.
“Not only does this capability enable us, for the first time, to share targeting data in real time between ADF assets, it will also enable us to share it with United States assets, providing new levels of interoperability within a coalition force.”
The ADF will also integrate CEC with other assets such as the RAAF’s E-7A Wedgetail AEW&C aircraft, its future AIR 6500 Integrated Air and Missile Defence (IAMD) program, and the SEA 5000 Future Frigate’s Aegis combat management system, to provide a long-range, cooperative and layered air defence.
