New Underwater Training and Testing Ranges for Australian Navy

Australia’s Department of Defence, recently announced that tenders for new maritime underwater tracking ranges will be released through Austender by late January 2021.

The new underwater tracking ranges will be built in Western Australia and consist of a new deep water tracking range, a shallow water tracking range and a deployable tracking range, deployable in deep and shallow water in multiple locations.

The new range will replace the Royal Australian Navy’s (RAN) original tracking range developed for testing its Collins Class submarines and provide the service with a flexible, integrated surface and underwater tracking range capability.

The new underwater tracking ranges will afford Defence with exercise capability in deep ocean waters and littoral waters, involving surface and sub-surface assets simultaneously, said Capability, Acquisitions, and Sustainment Group (CASG) Director General, Combat Management and Payload Systems, Commodore Darron Kavanagh.

The new underwater tracking ranges will enhance the RAN’s tactical warfighting knowledge by enhancing knowledge on the most effective way to use its submarines and other maritime warfighting assets against a potential adversary, Kavanagh said.

The new ranges will also play a vital role in supporting the testing and acceptance into service of future platforms being delivered through Australia’s National Naval Shipbuilding Enterprise.