RAF Lakenheath F-35 sub-programme delivery partner

Opportunity

The Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) Major Projects and Programmes (MPP) United States Visiting Forces (USVF) Infrastructure Programme is a ten-year, £1.5bn programme to maintain and develop the infrastructure used by American forces stationed in the UK. The DIO, which is part of the UK’s Ministry of Defence, delivers the USVF infrastructure on behalf of the United States.

One of the programme’s most critical recent investments was the F-35 Sub-programme at Lakenheath in Suffolk. This £350M programme was originally set up in 2018 to prepare the RAF base for the arrival of the F-35A aircraft – the first integrated F-35 campus of its kind in the UK. Mission critical support buildings, as well as other associated infrastructure, were required, and the base needed to be ready in time for the first F-35 aircraft to land in December 2021 – a key milestone for the sub-programme. Full completion and handover of all assets and facilities is on track for Q2 2024.

As delivery partner for the sub-programme, we were commissioned to provide programme, project, commercial, contractual, and technical management on behalf of the DIO, and to fulfil the duty of the NEC Construction Supervisor. This meant we were responsible for developing the concept designs and reviewing and assuring contractor developed technical designs.

Solution

Working in a highly complex stakeholder environment, we provided DIO with both technical and commercial assurance across the 15 projects that made up the sub-programme. Our 43 full-time staff included a dedicated sub-programme management team providing overall subprogramme leadership excellence. The team also provided expertise in the fields of risk, schedule, commercial, technical integration, stakeholder engagement, learning from experience, collaboration, and delivery.

To deliver these services across the assets, ‘clusters’ were developed – which included representatives from DIO, the key stakeholders and the contractor – a joint venture between Kier Group and VolkerFitzpatrick Ltd (KVF35). The clusters are co-located and designed to work collaboratively, thus reducing unnecessary paperwork by effective communications, and enabling efficient decision making.

We developed the programme management plan written on behalf of all parties involved in the F-35 Sub-programme, which clarified roles and responsibilities and empowered all parties to collaboratively hold each other to account. We focussed on design challenges with our Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) providing ‘over the shoulder’ reviews during design development to confirm compliance to relevant UK and US standards. This provided confidence for our stakeholder design reviewers against delivery of customer requirements.

We adopted a strong focus on New Engineering Contract (NEC) training throughout the programme, delivering a two-day course to upskill USVF, DIO and Delivery Partner personnel who were unfamiliar with the NEC contract. This investment in people ensured we shared best practice and a collective operating picture of the challenges in hand.

Through Mott MacDonald’s technical experts, we delivered services in accordance with DIO’s Digital Plan of Work (DPOW) stages using the most onerous of UK and US mandatory requirements. These included airfield standards for taxiways and aircraft parking aprons, hangars, fuel system maintenance facilities, training facilities, operations buildings and many other maintenance facilities and infrastructure works.

In response to the challenging timescale faced by the sub-programme for delivery, we worked collaboratively with the contractor to rationalise the schedule. This included a rethink to the sequencing of design and construction phases so that more activities were simultaneous and construction could start on some elements of the project as early as possible.

When the COVID-19 pandemic struck in 2020, all contributing organisations worked diligently to ensure successful continuity of service delivery by adapting working arrangements and joining together to support the mission and maintain the schedule.

Furthermore, in 2022 the sub-programme encountered a new challenge to delivery with the discovery of a breeding population of one of the UK’s rarest birds and a species afforded additional legal protection when breeding – the black redstart. RAF Lakenheath was shown in 2022 to support as much as half of the UK black redstart breeding population, more than any other site in the UK – making it a ‘nationally important’ site for the birds. Mott MacDonald, DIO and KVF35 reacted energetically and conscientiously to the challenges posed by the presence of a breeding Schedule 1 bird. We swiftly implemented weekly bird monitoring by an experienced ornithologist and installed bird netting and audio deterrent in assets under construction to protect the breeding birds and to preserve the delivery schedule on site.

Outcome

The F-35 Sub-programme successfully met the deadline for the F-35’s arrival in December 2021, largely through a disciplined and extensive focus on the schedule. We completed the requirements documentation, developed output specifications and procurement documentation all within a highly complex programme comprised of individually funded projects. As of Q3 2023, ten of the 15 assets have been successfully handed over with the remainder of facilities due for completion and handover by Q2 2024.

Upon successful handover of the first critical asset in August 2022, DIO Major Programmes and Projects USVF Programme Director, Steve Rix said: “I am not sure I have the words to convey my thanks to you all for your achievement of handing over this asset. I recognise this has been a massive team effort for a number of years spanning from a less than ideal start through to the last-minute obstacles that came our way.

I have greatly appreciated the continued commitment, determination, and innovation from you all to get this project across the line and contribute to our support of the 48FW mission. As I said, I do not have the words, so just THANK YOU, enjoy your achievement.”

US stakeholders have also praised the work. It has served as a positive example of the use of NEC contracts in delivery, and lessons learnt have helped inform the DIO and the wider industry. The project won the Institute for Collaborative Working in Defence Award 2022.

Over the duration of the sub-programme, volunteers from across Mott MacDonald, DIO, stakeholders and the contractor have undertaken numerous local community initiatives such as socially distanced tree planting during COVID-19 and engagement at school careers fairs providing insight on engineering and construction. KVF35 have also supported the local community and economy at RAF Lakenheath winning the DIO Social Value Award in 2021 for their work generating £83m of social value, with 42% of project costs directed to local small and medium enterprises.

With the base serving 5,500+ military personnel and family members, and approximately 700 contractors on site at the height of construction, the investment has provided local employment and wider benefits to the local economy.

I am not sure I have the words to convey my thanks to you all for your achievement of handing over this asset. I recognise this has been a massive team effort for a number of years spanning from a less than ideal start through to the last-minute obstacles that came our way.

Steve Rix

DIO Major Programmes and Projects USVF Programme Director