Airservices Australia has chosen Thales Australia to build an integrated civil and military air traffic management system (ATM) under that country’s “OneSky” program. The selection for what the parties described as the world’s first such large-scale ATM system was announced on February 27 during Avalon 2015, the Australian International Airshow.

Airservices is the OneSky program’s lead agency, working with the Australian Department of Defense to field the joint system in phases beginning in 2018. It will acquire new en route and terminal area automation systems for managing civilian air traffic and new approach and tower automation systems the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) operates for the military. Together, the civil and military elements of the system will support more than 200 operational ATC workstations at multiple locations.

The government-owned air navigation services provider did not disclose the cost of the system, which is expected to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Lockheed Martin also competed for the program.

Thales, the incumbent supplier of Australia’s current civilian ATC system, has entered into an “advanced work” contract arrangement with the government to begin development of the new system. Its OneSky partners include Frequentis and Boeing Defense Australia.

“Thales has worked closely with Airservices over many years in delivering the current system, but as that reaches the end of its operational lifecycle we will use our experience to implement new technologies that will make life easier for air traffic controllers and airline operators,” said Thales Australia CEO Chris Jenkins. “We are also excited to be working with Defense toward delivering a truly efficient integrated air traffic management system for all Australian airspace users.”

A national aviation policy white paper the Australian government issued in 2009 called for greater coordination of civilian and military ATC activities and led to the OneSky joint procurement effort. Australia’s current civilian ATC system has undergone more than 200 incremental changes since it was commissioned in 1998, Airservices said.

“It is now time to look to the next 20 years and seize this once-in-a-generation opportunity to replace the aging systems used by Airservices and RAAF controllers with a single national solution,” said Airservices CEO Margaret Staib. “This will allow us to provide operational efficiency improvements for future growth and ensure we are meeting the demands of our customers and delivering them value for money.”