Australian Army to acquire Systematic's C2 system

US and British Army personnel use SitaWare headquarters. (Systematic)

The Australian Department of Defence (DoD) has awarded a contract to Danish firm Systematic to supply its SitaWare Headquarters (SHQ) command-and-control (C2) software system for the Australian Army.

Systematic said on 21 July that the contract was awarded under the DoD's Land 4140 project, which aims to enhance the army's ground command, control, communications, and computers (C4) capabilities.

The Australian Army has been evaluating SHQ since 2021 and has also employed the system during the biennial multinational Exercise ‘Talisman Sabre' to support interoperability and joint operations. According to Systematic, SHQ is in service with Australian allies including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and New Zealand.

SHQ has served as the Australian Army's interim battle management system (BMS) since 2021, following the DoD's decision to replace C2 software delivered by Elbit Systems under the Land 200 project, which was intended to improve C4 capabilities.

According to Janes C4ISR & Mission Systems: Joint & Common Equipment, SHQ can be employed by brigade/battalion headquarters, as well as mobile tactical headquarters, to provide a common operating picture of the battlefield.

The software provides situational awareness, collaborative planning, force tasking and unit-status management, integrated chat, web access, and advanced geographical information system (GIS) tools, including terrain analysis. It also incorporates a Central Meridian Shift capability, enabling map projections to be centred on meridians other than Greenwich, a feature particularly relevant to Asia-Pacific militaries.

In November 2024, Systematic said it delivered SHQ for the Australian Army's All Corps Captains' Course to train junior officers in planning and executing challenging tactical scenarios.

For more, please see: Boeing to deliver Australian battle management system