A 2014 aerial photo of the HMAS Harman naval base, with Queanbeyan in the background. Photo: ADF.
The Department of Defence has released a tender for the building construction, support and maintenance and repair services for a new intelligence training centre at HMAS Harman, the Royal Australian Navy’s communications base at the eastern edge of the ACT, next to Queanbeyan.
Regarded as a critical link in the navy’s communications network and an administrative centre for navy personnel in the Canberra region, Harman is home to communications elements that collectively make up NAVCAMSAUS Command.
These elements include Naval Communications Area Master Station Australia (NAVCAMSAUS) and the Naval Communications Station (NAVCOMMSTA) Canberra, which provides UHF military satellite communications and high-frequency radio communications for the Australian Defence Force (ADF).
It also houses the Defence Network Operations Centre (DNOC), which provides support for ADF military operations, and the base is also home to two Army Reserve units, a naval cadet unit, and the Royal Australian Air Force’s No 28 Squadron reserve unit.
Like many of the ADF’s bases, Harman is undergoing redevelopment, including new and refurbished office accommodation, an upgraded and expanded base-entry precinct, and refurbished live-in accommodation.
Last year, Riotact reported on 28 new poles being erected between the base and the existing East Lake to Gilmore transmission line, which runs west of the Monaro Highway, to provide “continuous and uninterrupted power supply essential to support Harman’s communication capabilities”.
A 2019 tender document said: “The power supply augmentation requirement under project … is to enable Defence to meet its objective for Harman to convert from (the current 11 kV low voltage) to (a 132 kV high voltage) supply arrangement.”
The upgrade will also include new data storage, upgraded communications and intelligence facilities, and associated large-scale cooling and air systems.
The latest tender documents were released on 8 July and close on 6 August. Under the Joint Project (JP)2150 Phase 1 Joint Intelligence and Targeting Training Facility Project, the works will “deliver a training facility which will comprise a mix of classroom, syndicate and lecture style rooms across multiple security zones, along with working accommodation and other support facilities and services”.
The project will also deliver a communications node and security-monitoring facility.
The new facility is expected to be housed in a four-storey building with working accommodation for 40 personnel, a Zone 4 secure area, and include engineering services, amenities, parking for about 140 vehicles, and other unspecified support facility requirements.
The communication node facility will be a separate single-level building that will accommodate about five people.
The tender says the contract is estimated to cost between $70 million and $90 million, and is expected to be awarded in the first quarter of 2025 with an expected completion date in the second quarter of 2026.
Original Article published by Andrew McLaughlin on PS News.
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