Under Project Sea 1448 Phase 1D, the CEAFAR RADAR was being fitted to HMAS ARUNTA for an extended trial period of operational
testing and evaluation. The goals of the trial included:
To confirm the operation of CEAFAR in a ship environment
To collect data on the performance of the system in a maritime environment
The trial involved the installation of multiple CEAFAR faces on HMAS ARUNTA’s Forward Mast Module while minimising impact on and
from existing sensors. Internal equipment required location in areas to minimise existing ship evolutions while enabling ready access for
trials purposes. As the first shipboard installation of the CEAFAR System, the integration of the radar into an ANZAC frigate raised many
challenges and integration issues. These needed to be overcome in the limited time available for the development of the integration solution
to ensure HMAS ARUNTA could still meet its operational commitments.
AMT performed the design of the CEAFAR Ship Installation under contract to Tenix Marine and the ANZAC Alliance. This included the complete
design and platform integration and development of the installation work package. AMT worked closely with CEA and the ANZAC Alliance members
in developing and defining the ship interfaces of the CEAFAR System for the greatest efficiency of shipboard integration. Specific
components of AMT activity included:
Concept design for the overall integration
Design of external supports / foundations for the CEAFAR faces
Design of foundations for internal equipment
Cabling design
Interfaces to ship support services
The work package was developed in a form to facilitate the installation of the system within HMAS ARUNTA’s nominated availability and to
minimise the impact to the existing ship and its systems while providing the necessary strength to meet ship design loads. Similarly the
installation is designed to enable removal upon completion of the trial with a similar low impact on the ship.
The system has been installed on HMAS ARUNTA and is understood to be functioning well. The formal Project Sea Trials program was
successfully completed on 16 March 2004. The system has undergone continuing evaluation over an extended period, with the experience gained
being vital to consideration of the technology in future RAN applications.
“…a large thank you and congratulations to everyone for a successful engineering design, integration, installation and set to work effort
for the CEAFAR system.
“Overall the work standard and overall result from the ANZAC Alliance has been excellent.”
James Hanson, Project Manager, SEA 1448 Phase 1D
AMT is proud of the major part it has played in the successful installation of the CEAFAR Trial on HMAS ARUNTA. The high technical
standards and professionalism of the multi-disciplinary naval ship design team, in the production of the ship integration design and
installation work pack, has significantly contributed to the success of the CEAFAR Trial. Numerous letters have been received by the project
team from Defence attesting to their satisfaction with the ship integration effort, a sample of which can be seen by following the link below.
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Minute from Ms Shireane McKinnie, Head Electronic Systems Division, Defence Materiel Organisation. |
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Mast module design proposal
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