New hangar at Edinburgh to be 70m longer than Adelaide Oval as part of $200m federal-state defence project

The sod has been turned on a huge new hangar – 70m longer than Adelaide Oval – that will take shape at the Edinburgh Defence Precinct and create more than 400 jobs.

A new hangar 70m longer than Adelaide Oval will be built at the Edinburgh Precinct to upgrade and modify specialised defence aircraft.

Federal Defence Industries Minister Pat Conroy and SA Defence Industries Minister Stephen Mullighan on Thursday turned the sod on the $200m project, which will accommodate P-8 Poseidon aircraft.

One of the P-8 Poseidon aircraft entering a hangar. Picture: Supplied

One of the P-8 Poseidon aircraft entering a hangar. Picture: Supplied

Mr Mullighan said the project is due for completion by mid-2026 and construction will create about 450 jobs.

He said South Australia will become the home for maintenance and modification of the aircraft.

“Importantly, it just reinforces our reputation as the defence state,” he told FIVEaa on Thursday morning.

Concept picture of the new hangar that shows the size comparison with Adelaide Oval. Picture: Renewal SA

“While we’re very proud of our naval shipbuilding record and the fact that we’ll be building nuclear-powered submarines here, we’re really keen to send a message to the rest of the industry it’s not just about naval shipbuilding.”

Mr Mullighan said the government’s involvement in the project secured it for South Australia over any other location.

“We want to make sure that we’ve got as much of this work here in South Australia because we want our kids at school aspiring to these high-skill, high-pay jobs in the defence industry,” he said.

The four-bay hangar will be 240m long and 60m wide.

Once finished, it will support about 50 new highly-skilled jobs in fields such as mechanical, avionics and structural engineering, as well as painters and ground-servicing trades.