The Australian Government has signed an agreement with the Government of Canada to export an Australian Over the Horizon Radar (OTHR) system.<\/p>\n
This is the first international sale of the OTHR capability, with the agreement being worth $2.5 billion.<\/p>\n
In March 2025, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney had announced his country\u2019s intensions to acquire an OTHR Network through a partnership with Australia.<\/p>\n
\u201cA key component of Canada\u2019s NORAD (North American Aerospace Defence Command) modernization plan, the radar system\u2019s long-range surveillance and threat tracking capabilities will detect and deter threats across the North,\u201d Prime Minister Carney said at the time.<\/p>\n
\u201cCollaboration with Australia on this critical technology will further deepen our long-standing bilateral defence relationship, while supporting Canada\u2019s commitment to strengthening North American defences in partnership with the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n
Canada\u2019s version of the capability will be the Arctic OTHR system (A-OTHR) and will provide early warning radar coverage from threats to the Arctic.<\/p>\n
The Department of Defence and the Canadian Department of National Defence have collaborated on developing requirements for the A-OTHR system. This commitment was reaffirmed by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Prime Minister Carney in March 2026.<\/p>\n
\u201cAustralia is a world leader in Over the Horizon Radar technology, and this agreement showcases Australian innovation,\u201d Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs close friends and valued partners, Australia and Canada\u2019s relationship is grounded in decades of operational cooperation, shared strategic interests, and deep collaboration through the Five Eyes partnership.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Jindalee Operational Radar Network (JORN) is an Australian-designed and built system which provides wide-area surveillance of ships and aircraft out to 3000 kilometres.<\/p>\n
It is now in its fourth decade of service and has continuously been updated through the Phase 6 upgrade being undertaken by BAE Systems Australia and 110 local companies. This upgrade aims to extend the system\u2019s use until at least 2040.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the biggest defence export agreement in Australia\u2019s history, which reflects our close and long-standing friendship with Canada,\u201d Minister for Defence, Richard Marles, stated.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn an increasingly complex strategic environment, Australia and Canada are committed to working together to grow our defence relationship and this initiative is a clear demonstration of that enduring partnership in action.\u201d<\/p>\n
JORN, otherwise known as the Jindalee OTHR, has an established network of three remote OTHRs located in Western Australia, Queensland and the Northern Territory. It is an integral part of Australia’s national defence capability.<\/p>\n
According to BAE Systems, JORN works by refracting high-frequency electromagnetic waves off the ionosphere to ‘see’ objects thousands of kilometres away that are invisible to conventional radars because of the curvature of the earth.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Jindalee Operational Radar Network is a great Aussie success story \u2013 world-leading technology that has led to the biggest defence export agreement in Australia\u2019s history,\u201d Minister for Defence Industry, Pat Conroy, highlighted.<\/p>\n
\u201cBAE Systems Australia, as the key industry partner, plays a central role in reinforcing Australia\u2019s position as a global leader in OTHR technology. Today\u2019s agreement directly supports the ongoing evolution and resilience of the Jindalee Operational Radar Network (JORN).\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The agreement has also established a framework for joint research and development (R&D) to evolve OTHR capabilities for the countries\u2019 mutual benefit.<\/p>\n
Industry partner BAE Systems is set to commence delivery of Canada\u2019s A\u2011OTHR capability on 1 July 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Australian Government has signed an agreement with the Government of Canada to export an Australian Over the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":752109,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-752108","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/752108","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=752108"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/752108\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/752109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=752108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=752108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=752108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}