New Wedgetail Head contract signed with Boeing Defence Australia

Joint Media Release

• The Hon Steven Ciobo MP, Minister for Defence Industry

The Federal Government today announced the signing of the E-7A Wedgetail Head Agreement with Boeing Defence Australia (BDA).  The Agreement integrates $1.5 billion in current contracts into a flexible overarching framework for this significant capability which supports 600 jobs across Australia.

Minister for Defence, the Hon Christopher Pyne MP, and Minister for Defence Industry, The Hon Steven Ciobo MP, welcomed this new contracting framework which will further improve the partnership between Defence and BDA for current and future BDA work and capability upgrades through the life of the Wedgetail capability.

“The Boeing-built Wedgetail was designed for the Royal Australian Air Force and provides airborne surveillance, communications and battle management systems,” Mr Pyne said

“This important agreement will simplify and make more efficient the contract arrangements that support this world leading capability.”

The Government also announced the In Service Support Contract (ISSC), which the Wedgetail is sustained through, has been extended through to 2025 under the new framework.

“The extension to the ISSC will allow BDA to deliver long-term value-for-money Wedgetail sustainment services to Defence and see continued growth in Australian industry content, particularly in systems and software engineering,” Minister Ciobo said. 

This arrangement and the award of the ISSC extension acknowledges the excellent relationship between the parties, and is an important step in meeting First Principles Review reform priorities whilst maintaining the strategically important E-7A Wedgetail Airborne Early Warning and Control capability.