The Ministry of Defence has confirmed that Glasgow Prestwick Airport will temporarily host the RAF’s Voyager A330 refuelling fleet during major resurfacing works at RAF Brize Norton.
The move is part of Project MACE, a bolthole operation designed to maintain the UK’s air-to-air refuelling capability during a planned overhaul of Brize Norton’s Aerodrome Operating Surfaces.
According to a government transparency notice published on 12 June, the contract—valued at £1.2 million including VAT—will be directly awarded to Glasgow Prestwick Airport due to the site’s unique suitability. The upgrades at the airport will include the installation of concrete jacking pads, required for safe and compliant aircraft maintenance.
The Ministry of Defence stated: “Air Commercial, part of the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD), intends to award a contract to Glasgow Prestwick Airport (GPA) for the provision of services. The estimated value of the contract is £750,000 with a proposed term of 36 weeks. This Direct Award is related to a larger programme of work, referred to as MACE.”
The Voyager A330 is the RAF’s sole air-to-air refuelling tanker and also supports strategic air transport. The MOD warns that without these temporary facilities, “the Voyager fleet will be unavailable to support the Fast Jet fleet which critically defend UK airspace.”
The notice highlights that Prestwick is the only viable option due to technical and operational constraints:
“Only one airport, Glasgow Prestwick Airport, can meet all of the MOD’s technical requirements. GPA is the only airport that could take 7 Voyager aircraft. All other airfields lack the necessary secure communications… others would require full runway reconstruction, again at significant time of several years.”
The notice continues:
“Without the pads, the seven aircraft would quickly become unworthy of flight, jeopardising Defence outputs.”
In addition, the MOD stresses the importance of keeping the fleet together rather than dispersing it across multiple airfields:
“Dispersing the fleet across a number of sites would stretch these already scarce resources and would ultimately lead to many of the aircraft becoming unworthy of flight.”
Direct award of the contract is justified under the Procurement Act 2023 for both technical and defence reasons. The MOD concludes:
“Direct Award to GPA is necessary… to enhance or maintain the operational capability, effectiveness, readiness for action, safety or security of the armed forces.”
Work at Prestwick is expected to begin in July 2025 and last for 11 months, in preparation for the Voyager fleet’s arrival during the summer of 2026.
So the only option for the entire fleet (cough) is a commercial airport that will take 12 months to be ready. Good fuel saving though.
Had a “Grand Tour” around the Cotswolds last weekend on the way to Didely Squat Farm, lot’s of massive disused Air bases lying around.
PS, Didley Squat Farm is a tad overated.
Good luck putting the radars, ground control facilities, ils beacons and secure communications in for under 1.2 million and under 3 years.
Why not Fairford? Just down the road…..
Perhaps the US said no however it is so large I am sure it could hold both B52s and a few Voyagers.
Where exactly is the rest of the ATFleet off to is the main question.
BZN i# a single runway airfield unlike Lyneham which we gave up.
Capability…..ha ha
Because the RAF side of Fairford is empty, no buildings left AFAIK.
The tankers are a PFI, maintenance is done by private civilian contractors. Getting them all through US clearances would be expensive and thats a big if the US would allow them on base at all
The US require Fairford for their purpose. B52 deployment etc Plus U2 sorties
I suspect the RAF wants prestwick ready for other reasons.
We used Fairford last on the last bolthole.
All good points, and as for hardstandings, think about the International Air Tattoo hosted at Fairford. Also, I assume all the crews, maintainers, ground handling and service equipment, vehicles, buses etc will all have to be deployed, with the nearest open RAF Station over 200 miles away at Lossiemouth.
Unless of course they are going to lease a couple of housing estates to accommodate people. Interesting to see the support costs as well as the operational cost, especially as it will be over a 12 month period. Will the Falklands and Akrotiri schedules also run from there, requiring overnight hotel accommodation. So much for Lyneham closing, or perhaps thats where the A400s will operate from. Not sure that the airfield has been dismantled yet
Also, bit like the Tristars, the undercarriage weight footprint per wheel when fulled loaded requires extremely strong concrete, not just on the runway, but also the taxiways and parking bays, which eliminates most , or rather whats left of the RAF today. All the old V bomber bases have gone except Waddington. God forbid the Red Arrows should deploy somewhere else again, perhaos they shouldnt have shut Scampton after all…….lol
When I was discussing the School of REME the other day, who are now on site, I was told the runway is now covered with solar.
Some of the taxi ways now have REME training assets on them too.
And the former RAF KINLOSS? It’s runway is still active and there is loads of parking space for the few airframes they are talking about! But Prestwick has always been a good option for the military which other’s use on a regular basis. Would be sensible to get the RN back there with the ASW tasked Helo’s to protect the bombers as before for that surely is still very much needed?
Lots of dispersals there. Though 39 RE now live there so unsure on accommodation.
Says a lot that they cannot be dispersed as they don’t have the resources.
So in wartime?
And what of Atlas?
Hi M8 Its actually a very sensible solution in fact it’s a bit of a no brainer, as far as I’m aware it’s the only Military FBO in UK and it so it’s pretty already exists, is in constant use and is thus very cost efficient. We are in peacetime and still on a peacetime budget so why waste money re inventing the wheel elsewhere.
Prestwick ticks all the boxes and is ready to go, it is pretty unique in that it can fuel / service most European / US heavy Military aircraft and is already equipped with the security arrangement’s, comms, rest, crew / briefing rooms etc etc that a Military base can offer. It even has pre organised arrangements and contracts for local accommodation provision for crews etc.
So all it needed is £750,000 spent on it vs god knows how much for anywhere else, it’s a bargain. There’s a reason it’s used 24/7/365 by the USAF, RCAF, NATO etc , the location, the ATC isn’t purely civilian and it’s not tied to fixed Slots. Oh and it’s where Airforce 1 lands when it needs fuelling or its occupant wants to go golfing.
Hi mate.
All makes sense.
I assume the “secure comms” comment from MoD was due to its previous life when Gannet was in part of it. I’m sure I recall that it had Uniter on site as well.
Air Force one regularly refuels at Prestwick
“Unworthy of flight”.
Sounds like an insult!
I’m pretty sure there are other runways that are rated for the loadings and long enough.
Maybe infrastructure is a thing but there should be a lean program for these and there should be modern buried fuel tank farms – please don’t say it is expensive – it really isn’t as it is just a big digger, big hole, big tank and concrete…..we do it all the time…..
On decommissioned bases there isn’t much ‘security’ to worry about.
It’s not so much the runways, but the taxiways and parking areas that aren’t suitable. Waddington, for example, can have Voyagers land and take off from it’s runway, but none of the pans have the load rating required for one to be parked up.
Heathrow and Gatwick have runways long enough 😁
So HM Gov better start thinking, long and hard, and fast, about re-commissioning lots of old RAF aerodromes. Now needed for dispersal of assets (not lining all our aircraft up in nice pretty straight lines on aprons on one or two aerodromes, and maybe even housing some SAM sites as we are going to need ’em soon.
Hmmm…perhaps requiring a judicious investment in infrastructure, IAW provisions of the future 1.5% of GDP expenditure on “related military” activities? Any dual use facilities will almost inevitably become world class entities. Truly, military and “related military” infrastructure is one area wherein issues will be resolved as a result of decisions to be taken at NATO Summit 2025. Virtually guaranteed. Provision for actual military hardware for ENATO? Stay tuned, there may be a battle royal developing in the foreseeable future…
Hope so….Scampton, Binbrook, former RAE Bedford ?
That’ll be fun for the aircrew and families that all live in That Oxfordshire, often in their own homes …
The RAF might need to start developing a wartime mindset.
They have done this before at Brize. I’m sure the RAF very much has a wartime mindset.
They had a Voyager at Mildenhall for a while last time I beleive.
This is great news BUT is the MOD aware that Prestwick is used by a growing number of Chinese Transport Aircraft- doubtless equipped with ( or will be equipped with) necessary surveillance equipment to monitor this and increasing military traffic
Voyager is hardly top secret.
Currently at Prestwick there are parked US Airforce C17, Hercules C130 and last month I saw a C5 Galaxy, but I was an overnight also Canadian C130 were there aswell
I was on a Ryanair flight from Europe
They are air China commercial aircraft not military planes and there is only so much info you can get rolling past our PFI owned A330-200 tankers on the ground.
We re not talking spy planes here.
Prestwick is heavily used by the USAF and RCAF.
As ever it’s a balancing act. There probably are other options but they’ll cost more, involve more admin, or interfere with day to day running of units on that camp. I’m sure the Anglians would be very upset to loose their vehicle parks, armouries company lines and training area if the RAF turned up and said they needed to use the airfield.
Agree.
You mean Cottesemore?
I don’t think the runway was operational anyway.
There are many runways on MoD estate. We’ve made lists of them here before. Sure, not all sites could handle a Voyager, but they exist, and could be improved if necessary.
Once they’re housing estates, too late.
So I’m glad they have been retained.
May have changed since I was there, but the runway was operational and listed as an emergency landing site. Don’t think anything besides an Apache ever landed there, but for sure there where low passes as various aircraft practiced approaches from time to time.
The last time Brize had major surface works carried out we bolted to Fairford and Marham.
Yes they did. However the Fleet is meant to be up to 14 airframes less the 2 in commercial work and one down the Falklands that leaves 11. So why only 7 mentioned? Where are the C17’s going and A400’s? Brize was never really a sensible base to the only transport spot for the MOD. Yet another poor decision by those making them!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Any future conflict near home would be lost within hours of it starting with the thinking of those in the MOD. SAD times.
I took it to mean.
Still only 9 in core, not the 5 spare which make the 14.
1 in MPA.
1 in Cyprus. Or maybe more.
Boscombe down was actively considered as the transport hub but Sting and some retired very senior officers complained bitterly about it.
Sting ? don’t tell me he called the police.
“Don’t land, don’t land, don’t land so close to me”.
Nice one, nice one, like it alot.
I remember!
Did not like the noise from SAOEU.
The biggest concern from all this is the lack of resources to maintain the tankers in an airworthy state at more than one location. As they’re maintained by civilian contractors it sounds like the commercial contract simply failed to consider the need for contractors at more than one location.
Exactly. And in war, knackered.
Hope the crews remember and take their golf clubs….
BZ Glasgow Prestwick is all I have to say. 🏴👍🇬🇧
RAF Lyneham the x home of the much loved Fat Alberts should have been kept available for this very purpose. Along with Fairford this is a lot closer, but I guess QRA is coming out of Scotland.
Obvious alternative is ex. RAF Finningley , now Doncaster Sheffield airport.
Currently in limbo, pending attempts to re-open for Civil use.
Ideal earner for current authorities and mid country for temporary RAF Voyager Ops.
@Carrickter
I did ponder what would make a Voyager unworthy of flight. Association with Boris or is it merely a new level of MoD bollockspeak or just someone using three words when one would suffice. Paid by the word perhaps?
KB