Australia’s $1.7B air battle system links RAAF F-35As to missile defense network

The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) will get a new system for monitoring Australian airspace and coordinating responses to air and missile threats, as part of a AU $2.4 billion (approximately US $1.7 billion) investment over six years announced by Australia’s Department of Defence on October 15, 2026.

The funding goes to Project Air 6500, which will deliver the Joint Air Battle Management System (JABMS). The system will replace the Australian Defence Force’s (ADF) current Air Battle Management System and modernize air surveillance and control.

New system will link F-35As with destroyers and ground-based air defenses

JABMS will serve as the command and control backbone for Australia’s integrated air and missile defense. 

It is designed to connect sensors, weapons and decision-makers across the maritime, land, air, space and cyber domains, giving commanders a shared picture of the battlespace to support faster decisions.

Once in service, it will integrate current and future platforms, including the RAAF’s F-35A Lightning II fleet, the Royal Australian Navy’s Hobart-class destroyers and the Army’s planned Medium Range Ground-Based Air Defence capability, which is being delivered under Project Land 6504.

Air Vice-Marshal Martin Nussio, head of the Air Defence and Space Systems Division in Defence’s newly formed Defence Delivery Group, said the project would bring the ADF’s growing air and missile defense capabilities together into a single network. He said it would give commanders the information and decision support tools they need to respond quickly to emerging threats.

Investment includes major facilities at RAAF Base Darwin and deployable command centers

Chief of Air Force Air Marshal Stephen Chappell said the system would improve the ADF’s ability to conduct agile and resilient operations through deployable command and control centers.

He said the investment would cover the replacement of legacy command and control systems, construction of major facilities at RAAF Base Darwin, the purchase of deployable vehicle fleets, support for previously delivered capabilities and the integration of new air and missile defense systems.

Missile defense named a critical priority as advanced threats spread

Australia’s 2026 National Defence Strategy identified missile defense as a critical capability requirement, citing the spread of advanced missile technology and rising strategic competition. Air 6500 is intended to address that priority.

The project is being delivered through Defence’s strategic partnership with Lockheed Martin Australia, with the goal of developing and retaining integrated air and missile defense expertise in the country.

Michael Howell, Defence’s First Assistant Secretary for industry engagement, said Australia’s security depends not only on the equipment it buys, but also on its ability to design, sustain and upgrade that equipment domestically. He said the partnership with Lockheed Martin Australia and local industry was delivering both a world-class command and control capability and a stronger sovereign industrial base.

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