After years of planning and negotiations, the first steps have been taken to transform the city into the nation’s hub of defence communication.
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Earmarked for operation within 52 weeks of construction and running to a federal budgeted of $24 million, the Ground Station East’s three satellites will manage the Australian Defence Force’s communications throughout the Indopacific region.
The construction partnership with Northrop Grunman Australia is part of the $200 billion nationwide investment in defence detailed in 2016, when Riverina MP Michael McCormack stood as the assistant minister for defence.
“I’ve got every faith that it is going to bolster Kapooka, certainly within the construction phase, certainly with the jobs going forward and that I think overrides any [security] concerns anyone might have,” said deputy prime minister Michael McCormack.
It also forms part of the $960 million that will be rolled out at Kapooka by the end of the 2036 financial year.
“Wagga was chosen not only for the presence of the base here at Kapooka, but also because the electromagnetic environment here is very quiet,” said Northrop chief executive Ian Irving.
“Today it’s vital to have good situational awareness and communications both on the battlefield and through disaster relief operations,” Mr Irving said.
“So the ability to communication across the globe with our forces wherever they may be deployed is absolutely vital for situational awareness and keeping our service men and women safe in the dangerous jobs we ask them to do, as a nation.”
