Australia has signed its largest-ever defence export agreement, securing a landmark A$2.5 billion (US$1.8 billion) deal with Canada to supply advanced over-the-horizon radar technology derived from the Jindalee Operational Radar Network (JORN), officials announced on Monday.
The agreement marks a significant milestone for Australia’s defence industry and underscores growing security cooperation between two close allies that share strategic interests through the Five Eyes intelligence partnership.
Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles described the contract as unprecedented in scale for the nation’s defence sector.
“It is far and away the largest defence export that we have ever done,” Marles told reporters during a press conference announcing the deal.
The contract will provide Canada with technology based on Australia’s world-leading over-the-horizon radar (OTHR) capabilities, enabling long-range surveillance across vast areas far beyond the reach of conventional radar systems.
While specific details regarding delivery schedules, system configurations, and deployment locations have not yet been released, the agreement is expected to substantially enhance Canada’s ability to monitor activity across its expansive northern territories and maritime approaches.
The deal also represents a major boost for Australian industry, creating opportunities in manufacturing, engineering, software development, technology transfer, and long-term system support.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese hailed the agreement as a demonstration of Australia’s technological expertise and growing reputation as a supplier of advanced defence systems.
“Australia is a world leader in Over the Horizon Radar technology, and this agreement showcases Australian innovation,” Albanese said.
“As close friends and valued partners, Australia and Canada’s relationship is grounded in decades of operational cooperation, shared strategic interests, and deep collaboration through the Five Eyes partnership.
“Today’s agreement marks a significant milestone in Australian defence trade and lays the foundation for deeper and mutually beneficial defence industry collaboration with Canada.”
The announcement comes as nations around the world invest heavily in surveillance, early-warning, and intelligence-gathering technologies amid increasing geopolitical competition and growing concerns about Arctic and Indo-Pacific security.
For Canada, whose northern territory stretches across millions of square kilometres and includes some of the most remote regions on Earth, persistent surveillance remains a strategic challenge. Advanced radar systems capable of monitoring aircraft and maritime traffic over enormous distances are increasingly viewed as essential to maintaining situational awareness and national security.
Australia’s JORN technology is particularly suited to such missions.
Unlike conventional radar systems, which rely on microwave signals travelling in straight lines, over-the-horizon radar can detect objects thousands of kilometres away by exploiting the reflective properties of Earth’s ionosphere.
Traditional radar systems are constrained by the curvature of the Earth. Once an aircraft or ship moves beyond the visual horizon, it becomes invisible to standard radar installations unless additional sensors are positioned elsewhere.
JORN overcomes this limitation by transmitting high-frequency (HF) radio waves that travel upward into the atmosphere and bounce off the ionosphere, a layer of electrically charged particles located approximately 75 to 450 kilometres above the Earth’s surface.
The radio waves are refracted back toward the ground, where they can illuminate aircraft, ships, and other objects located far beyond the radar’s direct line of sight. Reflected signals are then received and processed by sophisticated computing systems capable of determining the location, movement, and characteristics of detected targets.
The result is a surveillance capability that can monitor vast regions extending thousands of kilometres from Australia’s coastline.
The technology relies heavily on the Doppler effect, which measures changes in the frequency of returned signals caused by moving objects. By identifying targets travelling at different speeds from their surroundings, the system can distinguish aircraft and ships from background noise and environmental clutter.
Because ionospheric conditions vary according to solar activity, time of day, season, and atmospheric conditions, operating over-the-horizon radar requires highly advanced signal-processing capabilities and continuous environmental monitoring.
Rather than continuously sweeping like conventional rotating radar systems, OTHR focuses its energy on selected areas within a broad coverage arc and can shift its attention dynamically as operational priorities change.
JORN serves as Australia’s primary long-range surveillance system and is regarded as one of the most sophisticated operational over-the-horizon radar networks in the world.
The network consists of three major radar stations located at Longreach in Queensland, Laverton in Western Australia, and Alice Springs in the Northern Territory.
These sites are connected to a central coordination and processing facility located at RAAF Base Edinburgh in South Australia.
Each radar station features enormous antenna arrays stretching across several kilometres. Hundreds of antenna elements work together electronically to steer radar beams without requiring physical movement of the structures.
The scale of the infrastructure is immense. Unlike the rotating radar dishes familiar to most people, JORN’s antenna fields resemble long rows of towers extending across the landscape.
The system can monitor areas up to 3,000 kilometres from the radar sites, providing coverage across vast stretches of northern and western approaches to Australia.
Its surveillance capabilities support a wide range of military and civilian functions, including air and maritime traffic monitoring, border protection, fisheries enforcement, search-and-rescue operations, and defence planning.
Beyond defence applications, JORN can also generate environmental information such as wave heights, ocean conditions, and wind patterns, offering valuable data for meteorological and maritime purposes.
The success of JORN reflects more than half a century of Australian research and development.
The origins of the project date back to the 1970s, when scientists from what is now known as the Defence Science and Technology Group began investigating the feasibility of over-the-horizon radar technologies.
The experimental program was given the name “Jindalee,” derived from an Aboriginal word often interpreted as meaning “the place the eye cannot see.”
Early tests demonstrated that aircraft could indeed be detected at extraordinary distances by reflecting radio signals off the ionosphere.
Those initial successes encouraged further investment, leading to decades of technological refinement and engineering innovation.
During the 1980s and 1990s, the project evolved from a research initiative into an operational defence capability. The radar network entered service progressively and has undergone multiple upgrades to improve reliability, range, accuracy, and resilience against modern threats.
Today, JORN remains one of Australia’s most significant indigenous defence achievements and a rare example of a highly advanced military technology developed largely within the country.
Its continued modernization has ensured that it remains relevant in an era of increasingly sophisticated aircraft, unmanned systems, and maritime activities.
The Canada agreement is expected to deliver substantial economic benefits for Australia’s defence sector.
Minister for Defence Industry Pat Conroy described the arrangement as a powerful example of how defence exports can strengthen both national industry and broader strategic relationships.
“The Jindalee Operational Radar Network is a great Aussie success story – world-leading technology that has led to the biggest defence export agreement in Australia’s history,” Conroy said.
“The arrangement represents a powerful example of how defence exports support economic growth, build high-technology capability, and strengthen national resilience.”
The project will involve Australian companies across a range of sectors, including advanced manufacturing, systems integration, communications, software engineering, and logistics support.
BAE Systems Australia, which serves as JORN’s principal industry partner, is expected to play a central role in delivering the technology and supporting future development.
Conroy highlighted the company’s contribution to maintaining Australia’s leadership in over-the-horizon radar technology.
“BAE Systems Australia, as the key industry partner, plays a central role in reinforcing Australia’s position as a global leader in OTHR technology,” he said.
“Today’s agreement directly supports the ongoing evolution and resilience of the Jindalee Operational Radar Network.”
Analysts say the deal could also enhance Australia’s standing as a supplier of advanced defence technologies at a time when governments are increasingly seeking trusted partners for sensitive military capabilities.
Beyond its commercial significance, the agreement reflects broader trends in defence cooperation among Western allies.
Australia and Canada have long collaborated through intelligence-sharing arrangements, military exercises, and multinational operations. Both countries are members of the Five Eyes intelligence alliance, alongside the United States, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand.
The radar agreement adds a significant industrial dimension to that relationship, deepening technological cooperation while enhancing the surveillance capabilities of both nations.
As security challenges continue to evolve, long-range detection systems are becoming increasingly important for monitoring airspace, maritime routes, and remote regions.
For Canada, improved surveillance of northern approaches is expected to become even more critical as Arctic shipping routes expand and strategic competition intensifies in polar regions.
For Australia, the agreement demonstrates the international value of a technology developed over decades to address the unique challenges of monitoring vast oceanic and continental distances.
JORN may lack the public profile of fighter aircraft, submarines, or missile systems, but defence experts regard it as one of the country’s most strategically valuable capabilities.
By providing persistent awareness across enormous areas, it delivers something militaries prize above almost everything else: time. Early warning allows governments and armed forces to understand events before they become crises, giving decision-makers crucial options in rapidly changing situations.
