Page 50 - Australian Defence Magazine October 2021

50 DEFENCE IN THE NORTH
OCTOBER 2021 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
Over the coming decade the Commonwealth has said it expects to spend $8 billion on Defence facilities in the Ter- ritory, including $2 billion in capital infrastructure works invested alongside the US and a combined $1.1 billion pro- gram of works at RAAF Tindal.
Of these, the $737 million RAAF Tindal Airfield Works and Associated Infrastructure project falls under prime con- tractor Lendlease and a $10 million earth-covered magazine
of State Antony Blinken, the Tindal expansion was well- received in the US.
“[The expansion] gives breathing space (and free ac- cess) for the US to expand its own presence in northern Australia... most crucially, the decision extends Austra- lia’s reach and air-combat capabilities well beyond its own shores,” Buchan said. “It assures Australia’s dominance of what Australian strategists call the ‘air-sea gap,’ an area that encompasses Australia’s primary sphere of primary strategic interest—the maritime sea lines of communica- tion and air approaches to the north of the Australian landmass and into Southeast Asia.”
However, the infrastructure works in the north have not escaped scrutiny. The Australian Strategic Policy Institute has asked whether local companies have been ‘shut out’ by US risk reduction processes, which mandate a bond worth twice the contract price for Australian bidders. While waiv- ers are available, Defence told ASPI that no requests have been made and ASPI’s further analysis showed that just 3.5 per cent of total US contract value went to companies other than Lendlease.
MARITIME SUSTAINMENT
It isn’t just the vast inland areas of northern Australia that grant Canberra strategic leverage. The northern coasts are also becoming key maritime sustainment hubs supporting
ABOVE: HMAS Canberra departs the Port of Darwin for Indo-Pacific Endeavour 2021.
“THE DECISION EXTENDS AUSTRALIA’S REACH AND AIR- COMBAT CAPABILITIES WELL BEYOND ITS OWN SHORES”
facility at Tindal (awarded by the US Naval Facilities Command Pacific) falls to Icon SI; up- grades to range facilities across the NT are being managed by Sitzler; contracts to build facili- ties to support Marines living in Darwin have been awarded to Jacobs and Tiwi Partners; and other works at RAAF Darwin
have been awarded to Sunbuild, AECOM Construction and Nova Nacap Joint Venture, an American company.
The scale of the works at RAAF Tindal are making it the primary node for the delivery of Australian air power north of the continent. The runway extension will enable US strategic bombers to operate from Australia, which partially offsets Washington’s reliance on Guam as the is- land falls under the shadow of Chinese long-range missile strike capabilities.
According to Peter Buchan of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, an influential Washington- based think tank that previously hosted current Secretary
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