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Growler Airborne Electronic Attack Capability Facilities Project

Completion year 2018

Key People

Ashley Holm

Electrical Section Manager, Principal

Nigel Cooper

Mechanical and Vertical Transportation Engineering Section Manager, Project Engineer

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This project is a new Growler Airborne Electronic Attack Capability Aircraft (Growler) facility at the RAAF Base in Amberley. WGE’s electrical, energy services, fire detection, mechanical and vertical transportation services were heavily involved in design documentation for the defence bases in QLD and NT.

The high security facilities will include new squadron headquarters and hangars for the fleet of twelve EA-18G Growler aircraft, as well as high-tech workshops, offices, car parks, flight simulator facilities and flight lines.

Due to the remote nature of the NT Bases, the WGE energy services and electrical teams worked on the implementation of a large state of the art hybrid solar PV system with battery and diesel generator backup for the new accommodation buildings and associated recreational facilities, range operation control offices, maintenance workshops and climate-controlled storage facilities. This power solution is predicted to save greater than $5 million in running cost over the life of the facility.

As defence engineering consultants, WGE operates within stringent security restrictions and the team is working closely with numerous key stakeholders to ensure the complex project is handled with appropriate sensitivity and adherence to defence requirements.

The Growler facilities incorporate highly technical specifications in order to maintain the world-class electronic warfare system. The multi-stage project design plans are complex and integrate critical machinery and technology, including humidity and environmentally controlled aircraft workshops and the Tactical Operational Flight Trainer (TOFT) flight simulator.

Phase 3 of the project includes an off-grid hybrid solar photovoltaic system for a facility in NT. The system combines solar PV, batteries and diesel generators.