Australia announced an additional investment to upgrade military infrastructure and capabilities across the Northern Territory.
The latest project will focus on airfield improvements and enhanced aerial refueling missions associated with the KC‑30A multi-role tanker transport aircraft managed at the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Base Tindal.
New littoral maneuver centers will be built in the region in addition to the reconstruction of the Larrakeyah Defence Precinct in Darwin.
The HMAS Coonawarra military base, also located in the city, will receive new berthing platforms to provide further support for the country’s surface combatants and submarines.
Simultaneously, the funding will see major maintenance at facilities in RAAF Base Darwin and Mount Bundey Airfield.
In February, the government allocated 35 million Australian dollars ($22.9 million) to revamp a primary hangar and related helicopter support capabilities at RAAF Townsville, as well as training hubs and working dog centers in Lavarack Barracks.
Australia announced another 24 million dollars ($15.7 million) the same month to upgrade army infrastructure in Robertson Barracks and the Howard Springs South.
Supporting National Defence Strategy
The Australian Department of Defence wrote that the large-scale infrastructure project in the Northern Territory aligns with the government’s 2024 Integrated Investment Program.
This initiative plans to spend up to 18 million Australian dollars ($11.8 billion) to sustain the nation’s contribution to the “collective security of the Indo-Pacific.”
Projects completed and are still underway will give effect to the country’s 2024 National Defence Strategy, which aims to improve the readiness and interoperability of the Australian Defence Forces (ADF).
“The Albanese Government is boosting spending on defence to deliver a generational uplift in the capabilities the ADF needs to make Australians safer and to protect our national interests,” Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy stated.
“The [Integrated Investment Program] includes investments…to ensure Defence has a logistically connected and resilient set of bases, ports and barracks across Australia’s north, building on the capabilities of the Darwin region as a key component in the national maritime sustainment network.”
“This is good for jobs, good for the Territory, and good for Australia’s peace and security.”
