Smith Myers announces ARTEMIS expansion into Australia & New Zealand at AVALON 2023
Smith Myers formally kicks off its ANZ (Australia and New Zealand) expansion strategy at AVALON 2023 – the southern hemisphere’s largest combined industry and public aviation, aerospace, space and defence event.
Smith Myers have been partnered with Kim Blacker and his company Stratelo in the ANZ region for a decade now. Kim, founder and MD of Stratelo, will be using AVALON 2023 to kick-off Smith Myers ANZ expansion strategy by presenting ARTEMIS to government and industry search and rescue groups, aircraft and aircraft system manufacturers and prime integrators. ARTEMIS airborne capabilities are available for use on manned rotary and fixed-wing platforms and drones with large and small payloads.
“Mobile phones hold the key to speedy and pinpoint location of people who are lost and offer a key opportunity to augment search and rescue (SAR) services during natural disasters in the ANZ region”, according to Blacker.
In the case of Australia alone, the search and rescue region covers the Australian continent and large areas of the Indian, Pacific and Southern Oceans as well the Australian Antarctic territories. This region is nearly 53 million square kilometres (one-tenth of the Earth’s surface) and borders the search and rescue regions of 10 other countries. [See details and maps: Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA): Australia’s search and rescue region).
The search and rescue system in Australia has returned an average of 2,000 people per year, to their families who might have otherwise perished on the seas, in the mountains, or in the outback, according to the Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience. Meanwhile, the Australia National SAR Council reports that the SAR system is used every day of the year with an average of five incidents occurring daily. *
“We have worked with Kim and Stratelo now for 10 years on multiple projects and the interest Kim has garnered in our life-saving ARTEMIS systems in ANZ has gained significant momentum. The timing seemed right for an ANZ expansion and AVALON the perfect platform to make this important announcement,” explains Andrew Munro, Managing Director, Smith Myers.
With Australia’s vast territory, often unforgiving climate and largely unpopulated interior SAR is a key service, pulling together a range of agencies including Commonwealth, Federal and State, across civilian, police and defence resources.
“Many people who are lost, injured or in a disaster area are in possession of a working mobile phone, even if they are in an area with no mobile coverage,“ says Kim Blacker, who explains how airborne cellular search and rescue solutions can use a mobile phone as a rescue beacon to quickly and inexpensively geolocate the person(s) of interest and, if they are conscious and able, communicate with them.
“One government user of ARTEMIS recently reported that it utilises the system on
around 80% of SAR taskings”.
The global search and rescue (SAR) equipment market size grew from $82.69 billion in 2022 to $87.45 billion in 2023 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.8%.. The market is expected to grow to $106.48 billion in 2027 at a CAGR of 5.0%, according to a recent report. New designs and technology are changing the way in which SAR missions are being conducted,
“We are pleased to be working with Smith Myers to expand this life-saving capability in ANZ. As well as talking about the ARTEMIS at AVALON 2023, we will be starting an extensive road show of briefings and demonstrations in the coming months,” Blacker concludes.
*(National SAR Council Report 2013).
About the speaker:
Kim Blacker is the founder and managing director of Stratelo Pty Ltd who provide solutions for critical technology applications in the areas of defence, police, security and emergency services. Kim focuses on understanding his customer’s technical and business requirements and then finding or developing solutions. At Stratelo, Kim has partnered with several international partners including Smith Myers (UK), Epiq Solutions (USA) and SRT (USA) who provide a range of solutions in areas such as RF, mobile, WiFi, Bluetooth and satellite.
Kim has been involved in the mobile industry in business and technical roles in Australia for over 25 years. Prior to founding Stratelo, Kim spent 10 years as the Business Director for Asia Pacific at Telsis where he worked closely with their major partner Ericsson to help mobile operators implement solutions in countries ranging from Australia and New Zealand to Japan and Pakistan. Kim has formal qualifications in business and electronic engineering and started his career in a technical role with the Department of Defence.
About: Stratelo www.stratelo.com
Stratelo provide an extensive range of telecommunication solutions and services that address critical customer applications. We partner with leading international vendors, develop customised solutions and provide detailed consulting, engineering and technical support services to our customers.
About: Smith Myers www.artemis.smithmyers.com
Smith Myers Communications Ltd is an award-winning UK company specialising in the design, development, manufacture and support of application-specific cellular network and handset capabilities for Network Operators, Government Agencies, Law Enforcement, Military, and Search and Rescue organisations. Awards include: Royal Aeronautical Society Silver Medal; ADS Security Innovation Awards, British Engineering Excellence Award, and ICCA (International Critical Communications) Award.
