GROWING THE FORCE: Hist ory
Royal Australian Air Force Base Tindal is a military training base located 15km from the town of Katherine in the Northern Territory. It was officially opened in 1988 and also serves as a staging base for exercises conducted in the area. Although situated outside Katherine, the base’s contribution to the community includes activities such as flood relief, defence aid for the civil community and offering the base’s sporting facilities to the community. It is considered one of the Air’s Force’s key sites, and its staff make up almost 25 per cent of Katherine’s population of 10,000 people. The base has undergone five redevelopment projects since its official opening. A sixth redevelopment project will commence in September 2020 with expected completion in late 2027. The RAAF Base Tindal will become northern Australia's most important strategic air force base with the Morrison government investing $1.6 billion for upgrades that boost military ties with the United States. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the Government had approved a further $1.1 billion program of, on top of the $495 million already invested in New Air Combat Capability infrastructure.
development plan. This round of redevelopment involved investment of $34.9m towards extension of the taxiway, technical and support facilities and engineering services. Aircraft shelters and associated pavements, facilities and engineering services were added in 1991 as part of the Stage 3 development at an investment of $53.5m. Stage 4 was carried out in 1996 at an investment of $31.4m. It involved construction of operational facilities for maritime patrol aircraft, extension of air movement aprons, a command post, a contingency accommodation and associated engineering services. Stage 5 was carried out in 2009 at an investment of $58.74m. It consisted of twelve discrete project elements, developed with the objective of improving the facilities which support the overall capability of RAAF Base Tindal. Most of the facilities at the base were constructed in the 1980s and were generally not designed to support current activity rates. Some twenty years after their construction, many of the base facilities are, in any case, in need of refurbishment.
Upgrade History
The majority of the money, $737 million, will be spent extending the runway and creating a new fuel storage facility to allow for larger aircraft to call it home. Once complete, it is expected to house some of the RAAF’s 72 new F-35 Joint Strike Fighter jets, fuel stockpiles and engineering to support large aircraft like US Air Force B-52 strategic bombers and RAAF KC-30 air-to-air refuellers. The air-to-air refuellers will boost the capacity of the RAAF
The airfield was redeveloped as a non-garrison base by No. 5 Airfield Construction Squadron during 1963-1970. In 1984, the Government had decided to redevelop the base as a manned, operational military airfield with No. 75 Squadron forming a permanent base there. It was again redeveloped in 1988 as part of the Stage 2 44
Sixth Redevelopment Project
