Page 14 - AVALON 2023 - Day 1 | DAILY NEWS

COLLINS AEROSPACE ENJOYS

WIDE FOOTPRINT IN AUSTRALIA

Collins Aerospace, a US-based company
owned by Raytheon, has just shy of 150
employees in its Australian workforce.
Sonny Foster, Managing Director for Collins
Aerospace in Australia, said the company
has a 50+-year presence.

Defence comprises approximately 90% of
its work, and the commercial sector the
remainder, though the company is focusing
on expanding the latter.

Collins Aerospace has a facility in Sydney,
from which some exports are even con-
ducted. An example is the Distributed
Aperture System on the F-35 fighter, with
around half of those used on the interna-
tional fleet are made in Australia.

Foster explained: ‘I think one of the keys
for us is, particularly over the last two
decades, is that we’ve really demonstrated
an ability to take core capability out of our
global organisation – typically the US, UK,
Germany – and really customise those
capabilities specifically for the Australian
customer and, in this case, the Australian
Defence Force. We’ve really grown a great
capability in Australia.

‘We have what we’d say is a full spectrum
of engineering, business development and
programme management, which we call
the triad. We’ve had that established in standoff-type intelligence gathering or sur- Therefore, ‘What this JSAS system does,
Australia and that’s been very successful. veillance, reconnaissance where you can it really allows our customers to work in a
But what we’ve also demonstrated very suc- see farther, detect threats and obscure tar- live virtual constructive environment. And it
cessfully is our ability to reach back into the gets a little bit farther.’ The MS-110 can be allows for a much deeper read. It’s not just a
organisation so we really see ourselves as fitted on fighters, UAVs or transport aircraft, simulator that you’re in; it’s a much deeper
very integrated into the global company.’ for example. integration where you can actually tie in
live aircraft with simulators with construc-
Phil Jasper, President of Mission Systems The USAF awarded the company a contract tive generated elements as well, to really
for Collins Aerospace, said one important for MS-110 pods to be used on fast jets in rehearse more sophisticated, more collabo-
ADF project is supplying Digital Terminal March 2021. Indeed, the first flight of an rative operations.’ Training could thus occur
Control Systems (DTCS) under Project MS-110 aboard an F-16 occurred last year. at the campaign level, for example.
Land 17. The DTCS is used by joint ter-
minal attack controllers and joint forward Another product that Collins Aerospace is JSAS is being implemented in the US on
training ranges, but it is designed for coa-
observers to accurately direct aircraft and highlighting is the Joint Secure Air Combat lition interoperability.
artillery attacks on targets. The company Training System (JSAS). Jasper elabo-
was selected for Land 17’s next phase in rated: ‘As we see capabilities in the military Space is another domain in which Collins
July 2021, which will ensure this long-term throughout the world continue to get more Aerospace works. The bulk of its space
relationship continues for a second decade. and more advanced, it’s becoming ever- business is around human spaceflight, pro-
more important to be able to train operators ducing things like environmental control
At Avalon Airshow 2023, Collins Aerospace on how to use all of that very sophisticated and life support systems for spacecraft,
is highlighting its MS-110 airborne recon- technology, and it’s not always realistic to exploration-type vehicles and spacesuits.
naissance pod. Jasper explained it is ideal expect to do live exercises or live training.’ Indeed, last year it was awarded a NASA
for ‘the demand we’re seeing across the This could be due to the cost of fuel or the contract to develop the agency’s next-gen-
globe for longer-range, higher-resolution, number of assets available, for example. eration spacesuit.
14 | FEBRUARY-28-2023 WWW.GBP.COM.SG/DAILY NEWS