Boeing

RAAF BASE WILLIAMTOWN, New South Wales, April 4, 2011 -- Boeing [NYSE: BA] today announced that the company's Vigilare network centric command and control system (NC3S) developed for the Commonwealth of Australia has completed site acceptance testing at the Eastern Regional Operations Centre (EROC) at Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Base Williamtown.

During the site acceptance testing conducted March 7-18, Boeing demonstrated that EROC is successfully interfacing with all external systems and that Vigilare has the full range of system functionality to provide enhanced battlespace management and surveillance operations for the RAAF.

Boeing and the Australian Defence Materiel Organisation's Vigilare Project Office recently received an Australian Defence Magazine Judges’ Choice Award for their collaboration and commitment as they deliver Vigilare to the RAAF.

"EROC is the last piece of the puzzle for Vigilare. Once it joins the Northern Regional Operations Centre (NROC) in operations, the RAAF will have a truly complete and comprehensive operational picture of the skies above Australia and surrounding areas," said Lee Davis, Vigilare project manager, Boeing Defence Australia.

EROC's final test is an operational test taking place from March 28 to April 8. Operational testing prepares EROC for conditional acceptance, which is the last milestone before final system acceptance from the Commonwealth of Australia. NROC, located at RAAF Base Tindal, Northern Territory, has been operational since Sept. 2.

"The Judge's Choice Award is especially gratifying as we prepare to complete delivery of this complex project to Australia," said Mike Scott, general manager of Boeing Defence Australia's Network & Space Systems division. "We're enormously proud to be recognized for excellence in collaboration with the Defence Materiel Organisation and our supplier partners."

Vigilare, the RAAF's ground-based air defense system, consists of two operations centers, NROC and EROC, which are equipped with operator consoles and equipment to form a recognized wide area surveillance picture that is distributed to national command and control centers.

NC3S is Boeing Defence Australia's international Vigilare product. It combines information in near real-time from a wide range of platforms, sensors, tactical data links and intelligence networks to deliver tactical and strategic surveillance operations and battlespace management in the air and joint domains. The live inputs from these sources present a unified operational picture to the operator at single or multiple operational centers.

Boeing Defence Australia's Network & Space Systems division provides a range of command and control, managed network communications, engineering services and cyber and information solutions, including Australia's Modernised High Frequency Communications System and Vigilare ground-based air defense system.

Boeing Defence Australia, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Boeing Company and a business unit of Boeing Defense, Space & Security, is a leading Australian aerospace enterprise. With a world-class team of about 1,500 employees at 15 locations throughout Australia and four international sites, Boeing Defence Australia supports some of the largest and most complex defense projects in Australia.

A unit of The Boeing Company, Boeing Defense, Space & Security is one of the world's largest defense, space and security businesses specializing in innovative and capabilities-driven customer solutions, and the world's largest and most versatile manufacturer of military aircraft. Headquartered in St. Louis, Boeing Defense, Space & Security is a $32 billion business with 66,000 employees worldwide. Follow us on Twitter: @BoeingDefense.

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Contact:

Jenny Waller
Boeing Defence Australia
+61 7-3306-3148
jenny.l.waller@boeing.com