New £15 million ‘green’ hangar opens at RAF Brize Norton

Work on a £15 million environment-friendly hangar is now complete – providing RAF maintenance personnel with state-of-the-art facilities capable of housing the next generation of large military aircraft.

The Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) has worked with industry partner PriDE to deliver the new two-bay hanger at RAF Brize Norton, in Oxfordshire. Boasting 5,000 square metres of floor space and 16 metre-high doors, the hangar easily accommodates the C130J Hercules and will also be capable of housing the larger A400M aircraft, set to replace the Hercules from 2016.

Work began in January on the new hangar, which has been specially designed to be environmentally friendly, with more than 1,000 square metres of solar panels providing electrical power. Light levels adjust automatically and heating is provided by gas-fired tubes mounted in the roof. Tanks gather rainwater from the top of the structure and release it gradually to prevent flooding and the hangar can even be dissembled and put up elsewhere if military needs change.

Air Vice Marshall Phil Osborn officially opened the structure.  He said: “The completion of this hangar is extremely important to assist with maintenance of the Hercules Fleet which is a critically important defence asset. All those involved with this project are to be congratulated and thanked for a job well done.”

The new hangar at RAF Brize Norton complements a six-bay base hangar, a two-bay hangar and 12 older hangar buildings used for parachute training, defence movement training, storing equipment, spares and housing training simulators.

DIO project manager Roger Price said: “The DIO’s priority is to support our Armed Forces as they prepare for operations. This facility was built very quickly to meet a shortfall in hangar capacity for C130J Hercules maintenance. The project team worked very closely with the customer and operator, delivering the project within budget and ahead of programme.”

RAF Brize Norton is the largest station in the Royal Air Force, employing more than 4,000 Service Personnel and 600 civilians.   

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Further information: 
 
Press enquiries to:
Emma Sloper, DIO Press Office: 0121 311 2418 or Emma.Sloper100@mod.uk
DIO website: www.mod.uk/dio

Notes to editors

1. The Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) is part of the Ministry of Defence (MOD). It is responsible for managing and maintaining land and properties to meet the current and future needs of the MOD and personnel at home and abroad, and to support current operations. 

2. Our work includes providing, supporting and improving: operational units; single living and service family accommodation; training areas and historic military sites. DIO actively manages these to ensure the needs of Defence are met, value for money is achieved, our heritage is protected and to achieve our environmental goals. 

3. PriDE is a joint venture between Interserve Defence Ltd and Southern Electric Contracting, created specifically to manage DIO’s South East Regional Prime Contract (SE RPC). Valued at around £380m, the SE RPC is one of five regional prime contracts currently in place in the UK. As Prime Contractor, PriDE is responsible for estate management and construction services at almost 100 MOD sites throughout the south-east region, encompassing nearly 6000 buildings and facilities'. These facilities include some of the MOD’s largest and most prestigious sites such as RMA Sandhurst, St James’ Palace, Cavalry Barracks and RAF High Wycombe.

4. Picture Caption - Please credit Crown Copyright/MOD 2012

Air Vice Marshall Phil Osborn opens the new hangar at RAF Brize Norton.