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.

Rudy Ruitenberg is a Europe correspondent for Defense News. He started his career at Bloomberg News and has experience reporting on technology, commodity markets and politics.

巴黎——英国国防部计划建造一个机库大小的隔离舱，足以容纳 F-35 战斗机和奇努克运输直升机，以测试其军事资产对抗 GPS 干扰和其他类型电子战的能力。

英国国防部周三在一份声明中表示，英国公司QinetiQ将根据一份价值2000万英镑（约合2600万美元）的合同，在位于英格兰西南部的博斯康比唐（Boscombe Down）国防部基地建造一座“静音机库”。该部称，这座消声机库预计将于2026年启用，建成后将成为欧洲最大的机库之一，远超英国现有的同类设施。

电子战几乎成了乌克兰战争的常态。俄罗斯干扰GPS频率，以降低西方提供的制导导弹的精度；双方都利用干扰来击落无人机。与此同时，俄罗斯对波罗的海周边GPS信号的干扰，也经常对当地民用航空造成干扰。

国防采购和工业部长玛丽亚·伊格尔在声明中表示：“敌对势力利用GPS干扰军事装备以使其失去方向感的威胁日益普遍。这座尖端测试设施将帮助我们消除平台中的漏洞。”

该部表示，该机库将用于测试英国军事装备的完整性，测试不会影响其他用户，例如紧急服务和空中交通管制。

据国防部称，该舱室足够大，可以容纳包括F-35战斗机、奇努克直升机和英国使用的MQ-9B“保护者”无人机在内的设备。F-35战斗机长15.7米，“保护者”无人机翼展24米，“奇努克”无人机高5.68米。

“这不仅将成为欧洲最大的此类试验舱之一，而且还将成为世界上最先进、技术最先进的试验舱之一，可以安全地重现敌对环境，对战斗机和无人机等军事装备进行测试，”英国国防装备与支持部门电子战空间负责人理查德·布卢姆菲尔德说。

该部表示，隔离机库将减少反射和射频波的泄漏，而舱室内的 GPS 模拟器和威胁模拟器将能够创造各种敌对环境，以测试设备抵御干扰和其他威胁的能力。

布鲁姆菲尔德表示，由于 GPS 干扰“已被充分证实”，新设施对于保障英国武装部队的安全至关重要。

国际战略研究所编辑罗伯特·沃尔去年8月撰文指出，乌克兰战争和中国的军事现代化重新激发了人们对高端电子战的兴趣，而相关领域仍有许多工作要做。美国陆军表示，俄乌战争的经验正在推动其干扰器的研发，在忽视电子战数十年后，该军种再次将电子战列为优先事项。

鲁迪·鲁伊滕贝格是《防务新闻》的欧洲记者。他的职业生涯始于彭博新闻社，拥有报道科技、大宗商品市场和政治方面的经验。