Chief Information Officer GroupBRANCH DivisionChief Information Officer Group

Radiofrequency Spectrum - Opportunities and Challenges from a Defence perspective

SCOPE• Defence Use of Spectrum – Some Context

• Factors Influencing Defence Use of spectrum

• Emerging Defence Spectrum Issues and Opportunities

• Defence Spectrum Management Commitment

• The first duty of the Australian Government is to provide for the security and defence of Australia and Australian interests. Government must ensure that we have defence capabilities to respond to a range of contingencies as well as a robust capacity to deal with military threats of a conventional kind should they arise.

Australia’s National Security – A Defence Update 2005, © Commonwealth of Australia 2005 ISBN 0642296340

• The first duty of the Australian Government is to provide for the security and defence of Australia and Australian interests. Government must ensure that we have defence capabilities to respond to a range of contingencies as well as a robust capacity to deal with military threats of a conventional kind should they arise.

• Defence planning must provide for both the needs of the present and the possibilities of the future.

Australia’s National Security – A Defence Update 2005, © Commonwealth of Australia 2005 ISBN 0642296340

Australia’s Strategic Environment• Increased uncertainty – possibility of little warning

• Technology revolution – challenges Australia’s technological advantages

• Asymmetric threats – reduces the value of Australia’s strategic geography

• Non-state players – strategic threat from transnational terrorist organisations

• Regional military capabilities – growing and leveraging modern networking, data fusion, intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance systems

Australia’s National Security – A Defence Update 2005, © Commonwealth of Australia 2005 ISBN 0642296340

The role of Defence in protecting Australia• Whole of government approach to national security

• Defence Contribution will go far beyond warfighting

– Border protection command

– Science and Technology

– Increased Defence focus on domestic security

– Specific roles for reserve forces in domestic security

Australia’s National Security – A Defence Update 2005, © Commonwealth of Australia 2005 ISBN 0642296340

Spectrum Legislation• The Crown and as a consequence Defence is bound by

the Radiocommunications Act 1992.

• The Act exempts Defence Employees and Defence Force members from offences under the Act

• The provision of “adequate” spectrum is one of the 8 competing objects of the Act

• The act allows the responsible Minister to make restrictive orders during a declared emergency (up to 3 months)

• Defence ensures compliance with the act through a series of internal Defence policies and supporting procedures

Implications for Defence Spectrum requirements

• Increasing demand for spectrum for Defence systems

• Spectrum is not just required for offshore operations - Defence requires reasonable surety of access to spectrum for operations in Australia

• Training within Australia must be realistic and cannot always be confined to training areas or be simulated

• Management of spectrum resources has therefore become an important risk mitigation strategy for Defence in both investment and operational terms.

Network Centric Warfare• Key enabling concept that underpins the Australian

Defence Force’s (ADF) Future Joint Operations Concept

• Does not dictate how the ADF intends to fight

• The ADF’s NCW capability will provide the means for transition from a network aware force to a seamless, network enabled, information-age force.

So what is NCW?

Defence Spectrum Consumption• About 8.58GHz of spectrum

• Defence bands have reduced from 13.59 GHz in the last decade

• Defence holds a wide range of additional apparatus licences

• Defence spends in the order of $10.5 million on spectrum per annum

• Defence is normally consulted during consideration of alternate uses of “Defence bands”

Defence spectrum – some factors• Growth in requirements:

– Longer term growth in requirements is difficult to estimate

– Growth partially driven by Government desire for the ADF to retain a technologically advantage

– Our Spectrum Strategic Plan endeavors to provide a longer term view of Defence spectrum requirements.

• The need to maintain allied interoperability

Defence spectrum – some factors• Frequency bands are often determined by the threats

• Long lead time in the procurement of some Defence capabilities

• It is impractical in some cases to modify the spectral requirements of systems procured overseas to meet Australian allocations

• Defence systems typically stay in service for extremely long periods of time

Defence spectrum – Opportunities• Technological Developments

– Convergence– Software Defined/Cognitive radios– Ultra-wideband systems– Other spread-spectrum systems– Advanced EHF SATCOM– Improved waveforms– Laser free space communications– Smart Antennas– etc

Defence spectrum – OpportunitiesImproved management

Critical Defence spectrum bands• HF Band• UHF Band from 230 to 400 MHz• UHF Band from 420 to 450 MHz• UHF Band from 1215-1400 MHz• UHF Band from 2900-3400 MHz• SHF Band 4.4-5 GHz• SHF Band 7/8 GHz• SHF Band 8.5-10.5 GHz• SHF Band 15 GHz• SHF Band 27 GHz

Risks to Defence capability• Communications

• Surveillance

• Network Centric Warfare

• New Air Combat Capability/JSF

• Air Warfare Destroyer

• Telemetry

Enduring Features of Defence Spectrum Planning

• Spectrum is a national resource shared with non Defence users.

• Spectrum is vital to the conduct of ADF operations and training in support of operations.

• Demand for spectrum will continue to grow.• Spectrum must be harmonised with Allies as far as possible

• Technology developments will produce new options for using spectrum and also opportunities to use it more efficiently.

• Warfighting concepts, tactics and weapons will continue to evolve and create new challenges for spectrum management.

Defence spectrum management commitments

• Defence recognises that spectrum is a national asset

• Defence will do all that is possible to meet its obligation to Government to retain access to sufficient spectrum

• Defence will manage growth in demand for spectrum

• Defence will work with allies to harmonise spectrum use

• Defence will pursue technological innovation

• Spectrum requirements will be considered in developing warfighting concepts

• Defence will be an efficient and effective manager of its spectrum assets

Questions?