Babcock Australasia’s (Babcock) $7 million extension of its custom-built facility at Woodville North has now been completed.
“Babcock continues to future-proof its capability through further expanding our operations in South Australia. Our $7 million Woodville North expansion enables us to deliver critical current Defence priorities such as our work supporting key programs like JP9101, and future national priorities, like AUKUS," Babcock Australasia CEO, Andrew Cridland, said.
“We are excited to continue to expand our operations in South Australia – it allows us to support more jobs and provide exciting career opportunities to attract local, national and interstate talent to the state.”
The new extension expands the $31 million facility – opened in October last year – which houses more than 100 staff working across national programs supporting the Collins Class submarine fleet and Hunter Class frigates, and Defence’s Counter Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosive (C-CBRNE) program.
“We are privileged to continue our partnership with Babcock delivering the second stage at Woodville North - supporting the expansion of their operations," Commercial & General Executive Chairman, Jamie McClurg, stated.
"Our team have earned a track record in the defence sector for their ability to execute with precision and are proud to be contributing to the important economic opportunity that AUKUS provides for South Australia.”
As the Adelaide-headquartered defence prime gears up to support the nation-building AUKUS endeavour, the company has added two new ten-tonne overhead cranes to the site, which can be utilised on a range of different projects.
"This significant development not only reinforces South Australia's position as a national defence manufacturing hub but also highlights the critical role local industry continues to play in supporting our sovereign defence capabilities," Minister for Defence and Space Industries, Stephen Mullighan, commented.
"Babcock’s facility will help SA to deliver on an ambitious AUKUS initiative and ensure we are ready to take on other future defence projects."
The expanded warehousing assembly hall has also served as a new bespoke production and test facility to support Babcock’s upgrade and enhancement of the nation’s Defence High Frequency Communications System (JP9101) – an $877 million program and Babcock Australasia’s single largest contract to date.
A team of 18 specialist engineers will work in the space where they will conduct required integration testing on the new communications system before it is deployed to sites across Australia. The extension has grown the facility by an extra 50 per cent to now total 6,000 sqm of floorspace. Babcock partnered again with Commercial & General to deliver the expansion.