Bringing Australia’s most advanced aircraft sustainment onshore

Critical investment in defence infrastructure and national resilience

Australia’s military aircraft are among its most sophisticated national assets. How they are maintained – where that work happens, who carries it out and how quickly aircraft can return to service – has a direct impact on defence readiness, resilience and national capability.

The Deep Maintenance and Modification Facility (DMMF) brings advanced aircraft sustainment onshore and strengthens sovereign capability in practical terms – reducing downtime, retaining specialist expertise and embedding decision-making closer to operations.

The DMMF is an AU$200m purpose-built facility designed to support the long-term maintenance and servicing of the Australian Defence Force’s (ADF’s) P-8A Poseidon maritime surveillance aircraft and E-7A Wedgetail airborne early warning and control aircraft.

Since construction began, its scope has expanded. New Zealand Defence Force P 8A Poseidon aircraft will also undergo comprehensive maintenance, repair and overhaul at the DMMF, while the United States’ Navy MQ 4C Triton aircraft will undergo repair at the adjacent RAAF Base Edinburgh, reinforcing Australia’s role as a trusted regional sustainment partner and contributor to alliance readiness.

Our role

We were appointed project manager / contract administrator in June 2024 to support Renewal SA's internal project delivery team, with our engagement running through to March 2026. Our role was to support Renewal SA to enable smooth project delivery from construction through to handover and takeover (HOTO).

Acting as the central point of coordination, our team managed day-to-day contract administration and supported alignment between construction activities, approved designs, budgets and timelines. This included:

• Coordinating communication between Renewal SA and construction partners
• Supporting the management of variations and emerging issues
• Monitoring contractor performance
• Confirming that works met the high quality and compliance standards required for a secure defence environment.

Our team also led and managed all aspects of HOTO on behalf of Renewal SA, supporting the project through its full lifecycle, from planning and development through design, pre-mobilisation, construction and commissioning. This continuity was critical to maintaining project knowledge and supporting a seamless transition into defence operations.

In addition, we provided subject matter expert advice on defence and Commonwealth requirements, helping Renewal SA navigate the processes associated with working on the Defence Estate. This included specialist advice on site-wide civil engineering and pavement infrastructure, including apron and tow-way design, and construction performance and compliance considerations.

One of our Adelaide-based senior team members co-authored the first revision of the Defence Aircraft Pavement Maintenance Manual and previously led engineering for Defence’s National Airfield Pavement Maintenance Program. This nationally recognised experience proved pivotal in resolving construction compliance and defect-rectification challenges, contributing to the delivery of aircraft pavement assets capable of meeting defence performance requirements over the long term.

Engineered for scale

The DMMF is an impressive structure, designed to accommodate some of the ADF’s most complex aircraft and systems. Key features include:

• Massive hangar doors: each of the four hangars is fitted with doors spanning 48m – wide enough to line up four city buses nose to tail. Each door consists of six panels measuring 8m wide and 14.5m tall and weighing four tonnes each. The panels stack vertically, with installation of each door taking approximately six weeks.
• 2000 tonnes of structural steel: the facility incorporates 2000 tonnes of structural steel, including four main trusses weighing 130 tonnes, requiring three cranes to lift into place. Sixty-one percent of the steel was sourced from Whyalla Steelworks, supporting local industry.
• Use of helicopter to lift equipment: helicopter lifts were used to move exhaust flues from the ground onto the main hangar roof – a solution selected to manage complexity and safety.

A nationally significant defence investment

The DMMF has been described as “one of the most significant investments in critical defence infrastructure by the South Australian Government in history”, second only to the Techport commitment of the 1980s, which helped establish South Australia as the nation’s naval shipbuilding capital.

Although scheduled for completion in mid-2026, the DMMF – the only facility of its kind in Australia – was delivered ahead of schedule and on budget. This outcome demonstrates what is possible when strong governance, industry capability and public-sector intent are aligned. As a key national asset, the facility will support defence readiness, resilience and the long-term sovereignty of Australia’s aerospace system, while creating new opportunities in advanced manufacturing.

Located next door to the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) base at Edinburgh in South Australia, the facility will be leased by the Department of Defence and operated by Boeing Defence Australia (BDA). It will support long-term lifecycle sustainment and upgrades, ensuring aircraft – and their highly classified sensors and mission systems – remain operational, relevant and secure well into the future. In doing so, it reduces reliance on overseas sustainment pipelines and strengthens Australia’s ability to respond at pace to emerging operational demands.

Beyond its defence outcomes, the DMMF will deliver an estimated A$160m in economic growth for South Australia and create hundreds of jobs, including 450 during construction and 50-80 highly skilled defence jobs in advanced aircraft maintenance, engineering, avionics and logistics, embedding long-term capability and specialist knowledge where it’s needed most.