JORN is one of Australia's most critical defence capabilities, providing wide-area surveillance across the nation's northern and western approaches. The Phase 6 program is modernising the network, replacing ageing technology and ensuring it remains operational for decades to come.
For Daronmont, the achievement marks the culmination of years of complex engineering, testing and integration work.
“We often forget to look up and appreciate just how far we've come, especially when we're deep in the work,” said Rubin Kothari, Head of Programs at Daronmont Technologies.
Completing two site installs in just three to four weeks is an outstanding achievement."Rubin Kothari
The site installation milestone follows a long list of critical program achievements, including Preliminary Design Review, Detailed Design Review, Development Test and Evaluation and Factory Acceptance Testing.
“We're now in the site installation phase after ticking off a long list of mission-critical milestones, a journey that's taken nearly eight years and around 125,000 hours of non-stop effort,” Mr Kothari said.
“The challenges have been significant, technically, contractually and logistically, which is exactly what you'd expect on a highly complex acquisition program.”
Daronmont, a long-term partner of BAE Systems Australia through the Partnering4Success program, has played a key role in upgrading critical elements of the JORN capability.
The partnership has evolved beyond a traditional subcontractor relationship, with both organisations adopting a 'one team' approach from the outset. The collaborative model has strengthened decision-making, resource planning and program delivery while opening new opportunities across the defence sector.
Nathan Herrmann, HF Sensing Program Director, said the close working relationship between the two organisations had been fundamental to the program's success.
The collaboration between the BAE Systems and Daronmont teams has been critical to these successful outcomes and will continue to be essential as we progress through future stages of the project,"Nathan Herrmann
“Daronmont's unique capabilities complement our core strengths, and our collaboration upgrading critical elements of the JORN capability has proven highly successful.”
Mr Herrmann credited the success to a culture of openness, transparency and a shared focus on delivering the best outcomes for capability.
“This is a credit to how Daronmont operates as a leading Australian defence industry small-to-medium enterprise,” he said.
Based in Adelaide and Melbourne, Daronmont specialises in the design, integration, installation and support of complex electronic and software-intensive systems across the Defence sector.
The company's roots in high frequency radar stretch back to its early work with the Defence Science and Technology Group and Telstra to commercialise high frequency radar technology. Today, that expertise continues to support one of Australia's most strategically important defence capabilities, helping ensure JORN remains at the forefront of national security.