Devonport Naval Base has welcomed the first landing on its new, multi million pound, Helicopter Operating Facility.
A Dauphin from the Fleet Helicopter Support Unit (FHSU) touched down at the new facility, which provides a forward base away from their home airfield in Newquay, to facilitate Fleet Operational Sea Training (FOST) staff transfers to ships at sea, undergoing training in the local exercise areas.
The area, at the northern extremity of the Naval Base, has been transformed by Morgan Sindall Construction into a state of the art installation, complete with a Meteorological Observation Station and provision to refuel visiting Helicopters.
As well as the Dauphin of the FHSU, the new facility is capable of accommodating the Royal Navy’s Merlin and Wildcat Helicopters.
Lieutenant Commander Simon Smith, an Air Traffic Officer working at Plymouth Military Radar, will see the facility used by aircraft supporting ships at sea.
He said;
“My role in the Helicopter Landing Site (HLS) has been in addition to my normal work and it’s providing an operational input into the construction and bringing it up to today, where we will be getting the first helicopter operation from the site.
“The whole purpose is to transfer FOST personnel from shore to sea to carry out operational training of the ships. For the last 10 years that has been happening from HMS Raleigh, which is a good hour transit away. This will now be a 10 minute drive in the Base to the HLS and then straight out to sea, making for a much more efficient process.”
Ian Rosevear, operations officer for British International Helicopters (BHI) who provide the FHSU to the Royal Navy, said:
“We provide helicopters to aid training for ships that are just off shore. We are an asset for FOST and we will take crew and staff out to the warships, as well as aid with flying exercises and spotting during Naval Gunfire Support.”
“Today the idea is to ensure that everything works and to test the comms, also to test the range at which we can hear the helicopter and they can hear us. In the future, FOST staff can come here, be briefed by the Royal Navy Survival Equipment specialists and pick up their equipment in a more local site”
Mike Parker, project manager from Defence Infrastructure for HMNB Devonport, who oversaw the project to create this new facility, said;
“This is the first flight for the Fleet Helicopter Support Unit from here, a project to deliver a Helicopter Landing Site in the naval base at Devonport. The project started back in February 2019 and was handed over to the Naval Base just before Christmas.
“The site at Bullpoint was a real challenge for the project team. We are on the side of a special area of conservation, the River Tamar, so we do need to be really cognisant of that. The site is bordered by oil and water interceptors, as well as plenty of standard operating procedures to ensure that we can control any loss of fuel in the event of an accident or incident.
“We have made the defence related environment assessment methodology excellence standards, so this is a dream facility which we’re really proud of and it means the infrastructure we are delivering is sustainable.”
The Helicopter Operating Facility will now be used to efficiently transport Fleet Operational Sea Training staff out to ships off the south coast exercise areas, ensuring operational capability is maintained for both the Royal Navy and it’s NATO Partners.
