UK to build F-35-sized ‘silent hangar’ to test jamming, electronic war

Paris: Britain’s Ministry of Defence plans to build a hangar-sized isolated chamber big enough for F-35 jets and Chinook transport helicopters to test its military assets against GPS jamming and other types of electronic warfare.

U.K. firm QinetiQ will build the “silent hangar” at the ministry’s Boscombe Down site in south-west England under a £20-million (US$ 26 million) contract, the ministry said in a statement Wednesday. The anechoic hangar is due to open in 2026 and will be one of the biggest in Europe, far bigger than existing facilities in Britain, the ministry said.

Electronic warfare has become a near-constant feature of the war in Ukraine, where Russia jams GPS frequencies to disrupt the accuracy of Western-supplied guided missiles, and both sides use jamming to down drones. Meanwhile, Russian jamming of GPS signals around the Baltic Sea has been a regular source of disruption for civilian aviation there.

“Hostile threats jamming GPS to disorientate military equipment has become increasingly common,” Minister for Defence Procurement and Industry Maria Eagle said in the statement. “This cutting-edge test facility will help us eliminate vulnerabilities from our platforms.”

The hangar will be used to test the integrity of U.K. military equipment without the testing affecting other users such as emergency services and air-traffic control, the ministry said.

The chamber will be big enough to fit equipment including the F-35 jet, Chinook helicopter and the MQ-9B Protector drones operated by the U.K., according to the ministry. The F-35 has a length of 15.7 meters, the Protector has a 24m wingspan, while the Chinook stands 5.68m tall.

“Not only will this be one of the largest such chambers in Europe, but it will also be one of the most up-to-date and high-tech in the world, where hostile environments can be safely recreated to put military equipment, such as fighter jets and drones, through testing,” said Richard Bloomfield, the head of Electronic Warfare Space at the UK’s Defence Equipment and Support.

The isolated hangar will reduce reflections and the escape of radio-frequency waves, while GPS simulators and threat emulators in the chamber will be able to create various hostile environments to test how well equipment can withstand jamming and other threats, the ministry said.

With GPS jamming “well documented,” the new facility will be vital to help keep U.K. armed forces safe, Broomfield said.

The war in Ukraine and China’s military modernization have renewed interest in high-end electronic warfare, and there is catching up to do, International Institute for Strategic Studies editor Robert Wall wrote in August last year. The U.S. Army has said observations from the Russia-Ukraine war are driving its development of jammers, and the service is again prioritizing electronic warfare after decades of neglect.