Download - Royal Australian Navy

308 AUSTRALIAN MARITIME ISSUES 2006: SPC-A ANNUAL
Customs Coastwatch has a fleet of fixed and rotary wing aircraft. It has the
ability to respond quickly to incidents and adapt its surveillance program
as operational conditions demand. It can coordinate response activities by
Customs’ own fleet of ocean going vessels or Australian Navy vessels. 14
Weapons of Mass Intelligence and Other Anti-terrorist
Countermeasures
Combating the threat of terrorism and other asymmetric threats by conventional
maritime forces will require not only the relevant hardware such as ships, planes and
helicopters, but will also include other appropriate military assets and systems from
our arsenal of weapons.
Weapons of mass intelligence and other anti-terrorist countermeasures include, but
are not limited to, enhanced electronic communications links, intelligence gathering
and analysis utilising Geospatial Imagery as well as satellite technology.
The fight against terrorism and intelligence gathering is ongoing and ASIO and DIO
will continue to monitor and disseminate information to the ADF accordingly. Other
countermeasures and systems would include fast patrol boats; Over the Horizon Radar
(OTHR), for example, Jindalee; and Uninhabited Aerial Vehicles (UAVs).
Senator the Hon Sandy Macdonald, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Defence,
announced:
A Defence trial, using an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) and an Armidale
Class patrol boat, will be conducted across Australia’s North West Shelf in
September 2006. The trial is being led by the Defence Science & Technology
Organisation (DSTO) in collaboration with the Navy, RAAF, Army and other
areas of Defence, as well as the Joint Offshore Protection Command (a
partnership between Defence and the Australian Customs Service). 15
Complementing the above is the ongoing close cooperation between the RAN and
the Australian maritime industry, provided via Naval Cooperation and Guidance for
Shipping (NCAGS – formerly Naval Control of Shipping).
Naval Cooperation and Guidance for Shipping
The mission of NCAGS is:
to provide the coordination capability between the Australian Defence
Force and the Australian maritime industry to facilitate the protection of
merchant shipping. 16