With RAF Brize Norton’s runway undergoing resurfacing, we have continued to deliver global operations and exercises throughout Project MACE.
On this week’s episode of InsideAIR, Group Captain Andy McIntyre explains how aircraft, crews, and support personnel have operated from locations across the UK while maintaining operational output.
Listen on your favourite podcast app or on our dedicated podcast page.
InsideAir Podcast Episode 150 Transcript
Please note that this transcript is automatically generated, and may have some errors. The original audio is the authoritative wording.
Narrator: Standby for broadcast. Standby for broadcast. You're listening to Inside Air, a behind the wire view of the Royal Air Force, its people, technology, and operations.
Squadron Leader Peter Lisney: Hello, I'm Squadron Leader Peter Lisney, and in this episode, we find out what happens when you close one of the RAF's busiest runways.
Group Captain Andy McIntyre: Whilst our home base is important and that's where we choose to set and put our roots down, we can operate in a dispersed manner but coherent across multiple airports.
Things that we would normally manage locally at Brize, we're now managing over six-ish locations effectively.
And it comes back to how can we effectively continue our operations and outputs under an element of pressure?
Squadron Leader Peter Lisney: Also, in this episode, we'll reheat a few stories just in case you missed them, and we'll be finding out who is under the hat this week.
AS1 Ben Russell: And what's your proudest moment in the RAF?
Sergeant Dean: I've successfully re-homed seven military working dogs out of service life into civilian retirement.
Squadron Leader Peter Lisney: Find out who is under the hat at the end of this episode.
Now, Brize Norton is one of the busiest airbases in the Royal Air Force. So imagine the impact on operations if the runway was put out of action. Well, that's exactly what's going on right now during a four-month resurfacing project. Squadron Leader Amy spoke with Brize Norton's Commander Air Wing to find out more.
Squadron Leader Amy: RAF Brize Norton is the home of the RAF's Air Mobility Force. Aircraft and people operating around the clock, moving personnel and equipment wherever Defence needs them. But right now, its runway is undergoing its major 20-year resurfacing. That means the aircraft still have to fly, the operational task still has to be delivered, just without the use of their home runway. The solution is Project MACE.
Group Captain Andy McIntyre is Commander Air Wing at RAF Brize Norton.
Group Captain Andy McIntyre: So Project MACE is all driven by the, 20-year refurbishment, resurfacing of the Brize runway. MACE itself is all about the bolt hole because with the runway not available and Brize Norton effectively closed, we've had to continue operations by dispersing our fleets across other locations.
There are two other main operating bases at Prestwick and Boscombe Down, but we've got other airfields in use, East Midlands, Stansted, Bournemouth, and Akrotiri, who have taken on a bit more of air mobility operations than they would normally do. So we're trying to preserve air mobility output over that period of Brize not being available to us.
Squadron Leader Amy: What's happening at Brize?
Group Captain Andy McIntyre: So Brize as an infrastructure project is fascinating. They've taken out pretty much all the aggregate from the runway and now it's about reconstituting it and putting it back in to rebuild that, that runway and give us a- another 20 years of life. Royal Air Force Brize Norton is the home of the Air Mobility Force but the job doesn't stop for us, so we've had to disperse and continue to operate across a variety of different locations and task lines to keep our support to Defence going.
Squadron Leader Amy: This simply isn't a case of finding somewhere else to park the aircraft. Brize brings together aircrew, engineers, operations, movements, freight, and support in one complex system. Project MACE has had to take parts of that system, disperse them across different locations, and keep the Air Mobility Force operating throughout.
So why now, sir?
Group Captain Andy McIntyre: Brize Norton is a 24/7 air base, and the Air Mobility Force works 365 days a year every year. So whenever you've, you schedule this, it's, we're going to have to disperse to continue our outputs. Why now is driven by a combination of costs, a significant cost in doing this and this future investment in the infrastructure at Brize.
And then you've got the contractors that want to do the work at the optimum time that's gonna minimize disruption. The synchronization of it was very carefully balanced through a number of factors. Here we are.
Squadron Leader Amy: We talk a lot about preparedness and readiness. We need to be agile, and we need to be able to fly and fight wherever that may be required.
What has fallen out of this project from a learning point of view?
Group Captain Andy McIntyre: So the Air Mobility Force runs about 20 concurrent lines of activity at any given time, and that's 24/7 global standby activity training. It's a huge endeavor. And by the way, MACE, it has a meaning. It's mobility, agile combat employment is where the, the, the term MACE came from.
Because at the very start, we wanted to make an opportunity out of this effective denial of Brize. Now it's done for an infrastructure reason, but it could be any other reason, if we put a scenario around it. So we wanted to make sure that we can operate from across the UK in a slightly different way to continue to deliver all of those outputs effectively.
Throughout, we've looked upon this as an opportunity to develop agile combat employment, transition to conflict work strands, and it comes back to how can we effectively continue our operations and outputs under an element of pressure?
Squadron Leader Amy: And this is where a major infrastructure project becomes something more operationally significant.
The loss of the runway at Brize is planned, but in a different scenario, an operating base could become unavailable with considerably less warning. So rather than simply work around the closure, the Air Mobility Force has used it as an opportunity to test how it disperses and how it continues delivering under pressure.
Group Captain Andy McIntyre: We are used to operating around the world and building relationships with more standing locations such as the Falklands or Akrotiri. But as we do exercises globally, or even operations into places like Tristan da Cunha, we're always building relationships and strengthening that network.
Squadron Leader Amy: Agile Combat Employment, or ACE, is about being able to operate from dispersed locations rather than relying solely on established main operating bases. For MACE, that has meant establishing new relationships, understanding different airfields, and proving that the force can remain connected while operating across multiple locations.
Group Captain Andy McIntyre: What this has done is hopefully strengthen those relationships with Prestwick, with Boscombe Down. They become familiar with Air Mobility. We've, we become familiar with the different location and the different operating challenges there, and that should set us up really nicely for the future because we can do this more ad hoc, hopefully, and continue that great work.
Squadron Leader Amy: What are the timings? When is it likely to all be over? Is there any dates in the diary yet?
Group Captain Andy McIntyre: So there's a really detailed plan of the runway works day by day. There's 40 aircraft dispersed across the... A- and again, operations didn't stop, so dispersed across the, the globe to enable that. Now, they started on time, which was really good, but with really favorable weather for runway works over July and August, they are on track at the moment.
We're about a quarter of the way through a four-month program, so we're really optimistic we can be back in on time in November.
Squadron Leader Amy: What has been surprising for you, or what has impressed you about our people?
Group Captain Andy McIntyre: The Air Wing numbers around 1,600 people. And nobody is unaffected. Now, some people have had longer to plan than others because the location's locked in at quite a late stage in some areas.
That's been all part of the, the huge endeavour we've undertaken. But the challenge has been mapping how things work at Brize, 'cause a lot of it's habit. We just get on and make it work. But then to work out how that's gonna have to be mapped across to new locations was a real planning challenge that I think we've overcome really successfully.
What I'm seeing so far is people really leaning in, and I know we, we've put them out by asking them to go over the summer to work in a different location. But having been around all of those locations over the past week or two, I'm seeing people that are really getting stuck in, and actually they're enjoying the challenge, and they're enjoying something a bit different in their daily lives. I really hope they're taking as much pride from that, that as I have in them in, in the way they're going about that business.
Squadron Leader Amy: But perhaps the real test of MACE isn't what's happening to the runway, it's what's continued to happen without it.
Group Captain Andy McIntyre: The fact that people I don't think are noticing that we're dispersed is really important because it means that it's working.
Things that we would normally manage locally at Brize, we're now managing over six-ish locations effectively. Everybody has been asked to do that in a different way, and the fact that's transparent to most I think is, it's a sign of success because we're not making noise because it's working.
And I just wanna make sure that we give credit to every single individual across the enterprise that's been leaning in to make that happen and make it a success.
Squadron Leader Amy: So for people listening to this today, what is one thing about Project MACE that you want them to take away from our chat?
Group Captain Andy McIntyre: This is a big deal, and to actually get here and deliver that is hugely rewarding.
I really hope that every individual that's out there in a different location doing their job well in a different location, building new relationships, takes as much pride and personal benefit from that. I hope that they see this as the once in a generational thing. I still remember my, my Bolthole time from 2005, and I think they will look back fondly on this time, and I really hope they make the most of the opportunities that they have within that, and that includes outside of work with force development or getting to know a new location.
Again, I'm really impressed with the way that everybody's pulled together.
Squadron Leader Amy: How does this project, in your mind, demonstrate that the RAF is built to respond wherever and whenever the nation needs it?
Group Captain Andy McIntyre: We've moved 40 aeroplanes, large aircraft that you can't just park in corners of small airfields. And we've moved our engineering enterprises, contracted military, put in place new arrangements, and seamlessly left Brize Norton two days earlier than the latest date whilst continuing to deliver operations throughout.
And I think we should be really proud of that. As an air force, it shows our agility, and it didn't all go as per plan. There were changes induced upon us because operations do that to us. Our agility, our responsiveness, our cohesion, our ability to maintain operations safely and effectively throughout all of this, it's all down to our people, and every single person has stepped up.
Every single person has leant into their piece of the challenge and not looked at it from an individual perspective. They tried to look at it as part of a bigger package, and that has really manifest in what I'm gonna say is a, a successful laydown. Now, it's not to say challenges aren't ahead throughout as the winter comes, but nonetheless, I don't think we could have asked anything more of our people, and I don't think anybody could ask any more of the Air Mobility Force in what we've done so far.
Squadron Leader Amy: Looking ahead, what excites you most about the future of air mobility and the RAF's ability to support global security?
Group Captain Andy McIntyre: So the Air Mobility Force is already a global 24/7 player. We proved that in Highmast. We proved that with a no-notice response to Tristan da Cunha, activity in March in, in the Middle East providing life-saving tasking in and out of operational theaters.
I think what this proves is that whilst our home base is important, and that's where we choose to set up and put our roots down, we can operate in a dispersed manner but coherent across multiple airfields. We've shown that we don't necessarily need our home base to continue to function, and I think that, that has huge benefits for our global security.
Squadron Leader Amy: How does this project demonstrate that the Royal Air Force is structured, trained, and postured to act at pace with judgment and alongside allies?
Group Captain Andy McIntyre: So a couple of years ago, the Royal Air Force restructured to have a station, a distinct station commander and commander air wing. Brize was one of the earliest stations to adopt that model, but it's now across the Air Force.
That model is perfect for this endeavor, so the Station Commander can focus on the runway works themselves and the infrastructure aspects to that and how we're going to manage the return of the Air Mobility Force and how we operate the station with no airplanes there for four months.
Whereas me as Air Wing Commander , I've been able to focus on the bolt hole with support in the planning, with working with 2 Group enablers and our industry partners Deep planning has now allowed me to disperse my air wing and then continue to operate it. And that if the, it's an example of how this model should work, I think is writ large in Project MACE or Operation MACE VECTOR as, as we locally refer to it.
When we need to defend our home bases and we need to continue to deliver air power, having two people with distinct responsibilities to do that, I think it's really quite exciting.
Squadron Leader Amy: The aircraft will eventually return to Brize Norton, and if the programme remains on schedule, operations will return to a familiar home.
But MACE will leave behind something more than a resurfaced runway, new relationships, new operating experience, and lessons about what it takes to keep air mobility moving when the normal way of doing business isn't available. For Group Captain McIntyre, though, the final word belongs to the people who've made it work.
Group Captain Andy McIntyre: I just want to echo that thanks to, out to the 400 people that are out across the UK delivering Air Mobility Force operations, whether engineers, crew, op support staff within the air wing, or our enablers, the movers, the medics, the, the whole Air Mobility Force enterprise, including all of our industry partners and contractors that have planned, in some cases, for a long time, in other cases, really short notice planning to get out the door and make this work.
And it's down to every individual and the way that every individual has worked together as a, as one whole team. So I'm hugely grateful to everyone for that. So thank you.
Corporal Emma Kerwin: Hi, I'm Corporal Emma Kerwin, and this is Reheat, where we look back at some of the RAF stories you might have missed.
After 19 years, the headquarters of the Royal Air Force has been redesignated Air and Space Command. The change reflects the RAF's role as Defence's lead command for space, alongside its responsibility for air power. It will continue to oversee UK Space Command, safeguarding UK and Allied interests in space, and lead the RAF groups.
Air Chief Marshal Sir Harv Smyth, Chief of the Air Staff, says, "As space becomes an operational domain in its own right, it's vital space power is planned and delivered at the highest levels of military leadership." The RAF has tested its ability to transport the NATO Submarine Rescue System, nicknamed Nemo, in the event of an emergency response.
During Exercise Flying Fish, 350 tons of kit was distributed among 27 lorries and driven over 265 miles from Glasgow to RAF Brize Norton. The equipment was loaded onto heavy and medium-lift aircraft simulators, including the A400M for the first time. The RAF says the transporter aircraft can now be used by the UK and NATO for future mobilization.
Chinook helicopters from 18 Squadron have been working alongside the Parachute Regiments on Salisbury Plain as part of Exercise Decisive Maneuver. The training focused on air assaults, bringing RAF and Army personnel together to practice operating as a single force. The exercise is designed to prepare UK forces for the demands of modern high-intensity conflicts and maintain their readiness to deploy worldwide.
And finally, a special thank you from Inside Air. What you're listening to today is our 150th episode. Since we launched back in 2021, we've had more than 700,000 downloads, with people listening in more than 100 countries around the world. So a big thank you to you wherever you are. That was Reheat for Inside Air.
AS1 Ben Russell: I'm AS1 Ben Russell, and this is Under the Hat, where we get to know an aviator in less than a minute. Name you're known by?
Sergeant Dean: So I'm Sergeant Dean Kibble.
AS1 Ben Russell: What's your profession?
Sergeant Dean: So I'm the senior NCO of the Military Working Dog Operational Capability Unit based at RAF Northolt.
AS1 Ben Russell: What's the best thing about your job?
Sergeant Dean: Best thing about the job is obviously getting to work with the dogs every day. And we're just out there enjoying training and just dealing with the dogs.
AS1 Ben Russell: Hardest part of your job?
Sergeant Dean: The worst part I'd say is probably when we have to take away a dog from a handler or if we have to leave a dog that we've been teamed with for our career, which is a sad part, but it's part of the job unfortunately.
AS1 Ben Russell: Best location you've served?
Sergeant Dean: I've done two tours of the Falklands. The second tour being down there was a bit more kinetic than the first with doing the police dogs. which was patrolling the corridors and protecting the personnel within BFSAI. So that was a bit more interesting than the first time.
AS1 Ben Russell: What bit of luxury kit do you never deploy without?
Sergeant Dean: Power bank.
AS1 Ben Russell: And what's your proudest moment in the RAF?
Sergeant Dean: So proudest moment for me is obviously all revolving around the dogs. The current dogs section I work at successfully re-homed seven military working dogs out of service life into civilian retirement.
Squadron Leader Peter Lisney: That's all for this episode of Inside Air. Please give us a review and subscribe on your favorite podcast app and join us again soon.
Narrator: You've been listening to Inside Air, a Behind the Wire view of the Royal Air Force, its people, technology, and operations. If you're serving in the RAF and have a story for us, please speak to your unit media and communications officer.
Inside Air is written and produced for the Royal Air Force by RAF Media Reserves.
