Defence Events

Systematic opens Asia Pacific HQ in Australia

Posted 22 February 2022

The company behind the Battle Management System used by the Australian Army, US Army and New Zealand Defence Force and more than 30 other countries, Systematic, opened its Asia Pacific headquarters today, as the company commits to interoperability between Australia and its allies.

Above: (left to right) Founder & CEO, Michael Holm, Senator the Hon Zed Seselja and Vice President AsiaPacific Region, David Horton.
Courtesy Systematic

The Minister for International Development and the Pacific, Senator Zed Seselja, joined Denmark's ambassador to Australia, New Zealand and Fiji, Pernille Dahler Kardel, the founder of Systematic, Michael Holm (flying in for the occasion from Denmark), along with the company’s global head of product development, Henrik Messell, also from Denmark and the global head of defence business development, Andrew Graham, from the UK.

Senator for the ACT, Zed Seselja, who cut the ribbon for the occasion, said that Canberra is the natural home for innovative defence industry professionals, with a large and vibrant defence industry community.

"Canberra is very much the heart of our defence industry, where people every day are doing practical, technical work that builds on our important strategic role in the region, so it's very welcome to see another leader in this space open their doors here."

"And, of course, as the home to our international and diplomatic services, Canberra is also the central hub of collaboration between Australia and other nations."

Systematic - which supplies Command-and-Control (C2) software - saw its flagship suite, SitaWare, adopted as the Australian Army’s interim Battle Management System on 16th April, 2021.

Since then, SitaWare proved to be interoperable with Australia’s force and its allies at the Joint Warfighting Assessment in Colorado in June 2021. Elements of the Australian Army, the US Army and the British Army shared a common operating picture (COP) across the battlespace, thanks to the SitaWare BMS.

In the same way, SitaWare was used for C2 by the Australian Army, Navy and Airforce at the HQ level at the Talisman Sabre 21 exercise.

Mr Graham said, for the many nations facing an ever increasing range of sophisticated threats: “SitaWare is enabling defence forces to work together, becoming more than the sum of their parts. The platform allows nations, big or small, to fully connect, combine their strength and deter adversaries. This is as important for Australia as it is for nations across the globe.”

David Horton, the Vice President for Asia Pacific Region said: “With a strong coalition of like-minded nations working together, we can maintain a peaceful Asia-Pacific. Australia is well-placed to play a lead role. And for that, we need a common operating picture.”

“Systematic is committed to Asia Pacific as Australia plays that role. With offices in Brisbane, Canberra, along with Wellington and Papakura in New Zealand, we offer a strong team of engineers, technical experts and support staff for the region. It shows we are backing the Defence leadership in Australia and New Zealand — as well as our warfighters.”

Global CEO, Michael Holm strongly supports the plan to strengthen alliances in the region: “We are here for the long run. We’re determined to provide the interoperability that make our alliances real.”