NSW gov to upgrade 5000 RFS vehicles with Starlink

The NSW government will now spend $69 million equipping more than 5000 Rural Fire Services vehicles with Starlink equipment and services over the next three years.

The vehicle-as-a-node (VaaN) project has been in motion for some time already, having been allocated $11.3 million in the 2023-24 state budget [pdf] and a procurement process being kicked off late last year.

At the time, it was noted that VaaN would “include low earth orbit satellite services and hardware as well as mesh/4G routers to provide seamless and robust connectivity.”

In a statement on Monday morning, the NSW government said that installations of VaaN would begin across the Rural Fire Service (RFS) fleet “beginning this year”.

The government said that “Starlink satellite technology will enable the use of radios, mobile phones, and other handheld devices anywhere and at any time - even in remote areas or if communication infrastructure has been damaged during a disaster.”

“The upgrade will provide an important backup to communication systems and location-finding technology already in use,” the government said.

“It will also give crews the capability to live stream video of fires from anywhere in the state, providing command centres with the latest intelligence about an incident. 

“More than 5000 RFS operational vehicles will be equipped with the new technology over three years under the $69 million VaaN project.”

VaaN technology has similarly been given to the State Emergency Service (SES) and to Fire and Rescue NSW.

“Communications blackspots are a significant obstacle for rural firefighters and can make an already challenging operation even harder,” RFS commissioner Rob Rogers said in a statement.

“This new technology greatly enhances our network of brigades across the state and will assist communities when needed.