Britain reportedly interested in Aussie ‘super radar’

The UK is watching with interest after Canada leapfrogged the United States to become the first overseas customer for Australia’s Jindalee Over-the-Horizon Radar (JORN) system – in what is expected to become Australia’s largest ever defence export.

According to an exclusive report by ABC Australia’s defence correspondent Andrew Greene, newly elected Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney confirmed Ottawa’s $6.5 billion deal to acquire the JORN technology, following a conversation with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. The announcement was made during a high-profile visit to the Arctic territory of Nunavut, where Carney described the system as vital to detecting and responding to threats in Canada’s northern approaches.

“It will most fundamentally keep all Canadians safe,” Carney said. The Canadian version of the system will support NORAD, the joint US-Canadian aerospace defence initiative, and is designed to monitor both air and maritime threats far beyond the horizon.

The JORN system, developed by Australian scientists and built by BAE Systems Australia, has been in operation for over 30 years. Unlike conventional line-of-sight radar, JORN uses high-frequency radio waves bounced off the ionosphere to monitor targets as far as 3,000 kilometres away. Its over-the-horizon capability has been described as among the most advanced of its kind globally.

While the United States had long been in discussions with Australia about acquiring the same technology, ABC reports that negotiations were stalled by the Pentagon’s ongoing spending review, known as the DOGE audit. Canadian officials saw an opening following Donald Trump’s return to the US presidency and moved quickly to secure the deal ahead of Washington.

According to the ABC, “the Canadians were always going to follow the US purchase and slipstream off that, but circumstances changed and things moved quickly.”

UK officials are also said to be exploring the possibility of acquiring the JORN system. As Greene reports, “the United Kingdom, where the parent company of BAE Systems Australia is based, has also expressed interest in purchasing the JORN technology, but is yet to approve the idea.” No formal deal has yet been announced.

UK defence planners may see JORN as a valuable tool in protecting Northern airspace and providing persistent surveillance over long distances, particularly as the UK deepens defence ties in the Arctic and Indo-Pacific. However, the political and industrial implications of adopting Australian-developed radar over homegrown or allied systems will likely form part of the ongoing consideration.

Australia’s Defence Minister Richard Marles has called the Canadian agreement “potentially the biggest defence industry export that Australia has ever been a part of,” telling ABC’s News Breakfast that the deal could bring enormous benefits to Australian industry.

How does it work?

The Jindalee Operational Radar Network (JORN) is an over-the-horizon radar (OHR) system operated by the Royal Australian Air Force. It is designed to detect and track air and maritime activity across vast distances, with a nominal range of 1,000 to 3,000 kilometres and a potential maximum reach exceeding 4,000 kilometres. The system operates by bouncing high-frequency radio waves off the ionosphere, enabling it to monitor areas far beyond the radar horizon. This capability allows JORN to cover all of Australia’s northern approaches and parts of Southeast Asia, making it central to Australian defence surveillance and early warning strategies. JORN can also monitor meteorological variables such as wind direction and wave height, and is reportedly capable of detecting low-observable aircraft and missile launches at intercontinental distances.

JORN consists of three active radar stations located near Longreach in Queensland, Laverton in Western Australia, and Alice Springs in the Northern Territory. Each radar station comprises a widely separated transmitter and receiver pair to minimise mutual interference. Signals are generated using Frequency-Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW) transmission between 5 and 30 MHz, far lower than conventional radar systems. Beam steering is achieved electronically rather than through physical movement of antennas, while signal detection relies on Doppler shifts and phase differentials across extensive antenna arrays. The system’s effectiveness hinges on continuous ionospheric monitoring, supported by a network of twelve vertical ionosondes which map real-time ionospheric conditions every 225 seconds.

The JORN Coordination Centre (JCC), located at RAAF Base Edinburgh in South Australia, serves as the operational hub, managing data flows and coordinating with other defence and intelligence entities. The system is operated by No. 1 Remote Sensor Unit (1RSU). Data collected by the radar is used not only for defence surveillance but also supports broader strategic objectives, including missile detection and space situational awareness. JORN was the subject of extensive research and development spanning several decades, with early prototypes demonstrated as far back as the 1970s. Its final operational form, delivered in 2003, was later upgraded under successive phases, including a \$1.2 billion enhancement contract awarded to BAE Systems in 2018.

JORN’s sensitivity has proven sufficient to detect small aircraft, such as a Cessna 172, at distances over 2,500 kilometres. The system’s performance is nonetheless constrained by atmospheric and solar conditions, particularly variations in the ionosphere and disturbances from extreme weather. As with all Doppler-based radar systems, JORN is limited in its ability to detect objects moving tangentially to its line of sight or those matching the speed of surrounding media.