British aerospace leader QinetiQ will build the largest anehoic hangar in Europe to test electronic warfare systems.

This hangar will help the UK Ministry of Defence, as well as local companies, to test electronic warfare systems, which play a key role on the battlefield today.

The hangar is designed to test combat fighters, drones, helicopters, and other aviation equipment.

Under the new £20 million contract, QinetiQ will build a radio frequency, anti-jamming test facility at the Ministry of Defence’s Boscombe Down site in Wiltshire.

“The ‘silent hangar’ will be large enough to fit some of the biggest military assets, including Protector drones, Chinook helicopters, and F-35 fighter jets,” the Defense Ministry said.

Construction of the hangar is expected to be completed in 2026, and in the same year, testing of the developed systems will begin there, which will be integrated into aircraft.

“This cutting-edge test facility will help us eliminate vulnerabilities from our platforms, protect our national security and keep our Armed Forces better protected on global deployments,” Minister for Defence Procurement and Industry, Maria Eagle, said.

The peculiarity of anechoic hangars is that testing of electronic systems does not affect the surrounding systems used by both military and civilian services.

This allows to safely and secretly test various developments that may in the future become an important means of protecting aircraft or improving their capabilities to install electronic jammers.

Militarnyi previously reported that the German government has developed a list of key solutions designed to protect its infantrymen from the threat of drone attacks.

A working group on unmanned aerial vehicles, founded in November 2023, submitted a report a few weeks ago containing about 200 proposals aimed at strengthening protection against small drones in the Bundeswehr.