Giant size home for RAF's jumbo sized air transporters

LONDON, Feb. 1 (Xinhua) -- A hangar, big enough to accommodate three of the Royal Air Force's biggest aircraft, was officially opened Thursday by government defense minister Guto Bebb.

The 100 million-U.S.-dollar maintenance, repair and overhaul facility, which covers 24,000 square meters, has been built at the RAF's Brize Norton air base, northwest of London in Oxfordshire.

It has been built to support RAF transport operations all over the world. From deploying troops and armoured vehicles to a war zone, to getting vital support to humanitarian disasters, the fleet of Atlas transport planes plays a global role and it needs a home to match, said a spokesperson for the Ministry of Defense (MOD).

The RAF Atlas aircraft, a familiar sight in the skies above Brize Norton where they are based, recently formed part of Britain's relief response to Hurricane Irma in the Caribbean where they made shuttle flights to deliver key support.

Air Support director, Adrian Baguley, said: "The Atlas program is delivering a world-class fleet for the RAF, offering Britain next-generation transport and airlift abilities for operations all over the world.

"The aircraft can carry up to 37 tonnes over a range of 2,000 miles. It is able to deploy troops and equipment between and within theaters of operation either by parachute or by landing on short, potentially unprepared airstrips.

The Atlas fleet can also carry armoured vehicles, drastically reducing the time it takes for a deploying force to be ready to fight. For humanitarian roles, it is capable of deploying mobile cranes, excavators and large dump trucks for disaster relief operations - for example clearing earthquake sites."

Defense Minister Bebb said: "This huge hangar will see Brize Norton ready our Atlas fleet for action wherever they are needed in the world."

Wing Commander Ed Horne, who commands 70 Squadron RAF which operates the Atlas fleet, said: "This new hangar provides us with a world-class maintenance facility to match the world-beating capability of the Atlas aircraft. The UK has ordered 22 Atlas aircraft for the RAF, 18 of which have been delivered. The entire fleet is due to be delivered by 2022." Enditem