{"id":64561,"date":"2015-11-24T14:29:59","date_gmt":"2015-11-24T14:29:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?guid=7c19ef5e71cf391279dd017600ae950b"},"modified":"2015-11-24T14:29:59","modified_gmt":"2015-11-24T14:29:59","slug":"news-story-hrh-the-earl-of-wessex-opens-new-facilities-at-raf-waddington","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?p=64561","title":{"rendered":"News story: HRH The Earl of Wessex opens new facilities at RAF Waddington"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO<\/abbr>) and contractors Babcock International completed the programme, named Airseeker, last month on behalf of Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S). <\/p>\n

The contract for the 58 week project was awarded to Babcock International in 2014. The work consisted of 3 main elements including new hardstands, paved areas for aircraft to be parked, a new mission support facility known as the New Annex, and refurbishment of an existing hangar. <\/p>\n

Dan Willmott, DIO<\/abbr>\u2019s Project Manager, said:<\/p>\n

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This is an excellent example of DIO<\/abbr>\u2019s work to support military capability. The project succeeded due to the close working relationship between DIO<\/abbr>, Babcock International and Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S) who all focused on producing a quality product. It is because of that teamwork that this project was completed on time and on budget.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

A full structural survey of the hangar was carried out, which confirmed that even though it was nearly 90 years old, the structure was in near-perfect condition. A new aircraft tail dock extension was constructed at the southern end of the hangar and a new roof was installed. New high level windows replaced the old and damaged windows, LED lights were installed and the hangar was decorated throughout.<\/p>\n

New hardstands were required as the existing hardstands were not suitable or large enough to allow the new aircraft to access the new hangar.<\/p>\n

The new mission support facility known as the New Annex, constructed in front of the hangar, is a sophisticated building which supports training and administration for 51 Squadron. <\/p>\n

\n
\"Exterior<\/div>
Exterior of the New Annex. Crown Copyright. Photo: via MOD<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Group Captain Richard Barrow, Station Commander of RAF<\/abbr> Waddington, said:<\/p>\n

\n

The completion of the renovations to the home of 51 Squadron<\/a> has seen the solid structure of the pre- WWII hangar be modernised throughout, and brought up to date to create environmental efficiency whilst working with this outstanding aircraft.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

In addition to HRH The Earl of Wessex, the opening was attended by Air Commodore Jeff Portlock, Information, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR)<\/a> Force Commander; Group Captain Richard Barrow, RAF<\/abbr> Waddington Station Commander; Wing Commander Tom Talbot, Commanding Officer of 51 Squadron, together with representatives from DIO<\/abbr> and Babcock, including DIO<\/abbr> Project Manager Dan Wilmott. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

HRH The Earl of Wessex has officially opened an \u00a318 milion complex at RAF Waddington, designed to support the RAF\u2019s new Rivet Joint electronic surveillance aircraft.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64561"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=64561"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64561\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=64561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=64561"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=64561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}