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Defence Industry Minister Melissa Price has announced that construction of the $57 million High Performance Computing Centre, to be built by South Australia-based Hansen Yuncken, will begin this month.
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The specialised facility, dubbed the Defence High Performance Computing Centre (DHPCC), will provide the Defence Science and Technology Group (DST) and broader Australian Defence Organisation (uniformed and civilian) with a secure capability to conduct "high fidelity modelling and simulation".
Minister Price said the contract came with firm obligations that the company would maximise opportunities for local sub-contractors and workers.
"Under the Morrison government’s Defence Policy for Industry Participation, Hansen Yuncken will use local contractors for 94 per cent of its total construction sub-contract packages," Minister Price said.
The DHPCC works are being delivered as a single work package. The works include a dual purpose facility collocated within a single building of approximately 8,930 square metres gross floor area (GFA) and comprising:
- A new high security/high integrity (HS/HI) HPC data centre capability;
- Secure visualisation and auditorium facilities;
- Dedicated DST secure meeting, training and laboratory facilities; and
- Associated car parking.
The centre – or Project D9541 – will also host 'visualisation capability and training facilities', according to tender documents.
Minister Price said the DHPCC is a 2016 Defence White Paper initiative to establish centralised, networked, supercomputing capabilities that will support advanced research, development, modelling and experimentation across Defence.
This announcement follows the original announcement of the facility in April 2019, when now Defence Minister Linda Reynolds said, "High performance computing, or supercomputing, plays a vital role in the design, development and analysis of modern weapon systems and national security systems, including our future ships and other major defence platforms."
Minister Reynolds added, "Consistent with the Defence Policy for Industry Participation, the head contractor will develop a Local Industry Capability Plan to maximise the opportunities for local businesses to be involved in the project, both directly through sub-contract packages and indirectly through manufacturing, supply and transportation of the equipment and materials."
Construction of the new facility is scheduled to commence later this month with completion in late 2020.
Stephen Kuper
Steve has an extensive career across government, defence industry and advocacy, having previously worked for cabinet ministers at both Federal and State levels.
