The Jindalee Operational Radar Network (JORN) is a connected series of three remote over-the-horizon radars located in Queensland, the Northern Territory and Western Australia.
The state-of-the-art defence system provides wide-area surveillance at ranges of 1,000 to 3,000 kilometres and plays a vital role in supporting the Australian Defence Force’s air and maritime operations, border protection, disaster relief and rescue operations.
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.
JORN is controlled and operated by the Royal Australian Air Force from the Battlespace Surveillance Centre at its Edinburgh base in South Australia.
We have played a central role in the development of Australia’s critical sovereign surveillance capability over the past 35 years. Since the beginning, we have supported the development of long range detection capability with the original Jindalee radar based in the Northern Territory near Alice Springs as a test bed.
We work closely with the Defence Science and Technology Group to enhance and drive the network’s unique technology.
We continued to support the system once it became an operational radar that was subsequently integrated into the JORN network. We also provides deeper maintenance for the majority of JORN network hardware.
We are delivering the JORN Phase 6 upgrade which will support an extra 100 jobs within our company and another 100 in the supply chain. With the Federal Government’s investment on the JORN network, we will upgrade both the hardware and the system’s software and support sustainment through to 2028.
Collaboration a driver for success
The JORN Phase 6 upgrade is supported by a large network of more than 110 Australian suppliers, including indigenous suppliers and local SMEs.
Collaboration with partners in defence, government, industry and academia has underpinned the world-leading approach in delivering a truly sovereign capability.
Partnering with academia is an important part of engaging talented and skilled students early, funding teaching programs and growing research centres for new technology development. Our partnership with DSTG, defence and the University of Adelaide to launch the JORN Open Innovation Network will accelerate this approach.
Red Ochre Labs, our hub for disruptive technology and early product development, also presents significant opportunity for further research and development into keeping JORN at the forefront of high frequency technology and ensuring the continued development of this critical sovereign capability.
Having the ability to do some of that research and development alongside key defence, industry and academic partners will keep JORN, and our technology more broadly, at the cutting edge and delivering for our defence force.
Listen and learn: JORN
In this podcast episode, we travel to remote Australia to meet the people behind this home-grown technology and discover why JORN is the jewel in Australia’s defence crown.
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