The contract for modernizing the facilities at Lajes Base to accommodate the operation of P-8 aircraft has been awarded.
Budgeted at 11.4 million dollars (around 10.87 million euros), the work was awarded to the US construction company CMS Corporation, as announced on its website in August.
“These upgrades are crucial to optimizing the facilities that support the operations of the P-8A Poseidon. Our team is proud to contribute to increasing the effectiveness and readiness of this important mission and we are committed to delivering exceptional results in this endeavor,” the company said on its website at the time of the award.
According to CMS Corporation, the project aims to “improve the support infrastructure for the P-8A Poseidon, a modified 737 aircraft used by the US Air Force and Navy for multi-mission maritime operations, including intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions”.
The intervention includes the “complete renovation of the 705 building and associated support areas to meet the operational needs of the aircraft’s functions”.
It is also planned to install a “new automatic aircraft post-flight clean water wash system to support the maintenance and operational readiness of the P-8A aircraft”.

A paved area of approximately 282 square meters will also be repaired to “provide a safe space for outdoor storage and preparation of essential equipment for P-8A operations at Lajes”.
In January, the US Navy launched a tender for a design-build contract to upgrade facilities at Lajes Base to support P-8 aircraft operations.
According to the call for tenders, the contract was due 705 days after notification.
In newspaper articles consulted by DI, it was still unclear whether the facilities upgrade at Lajes Base was intended to support the current transition flights or whether there was a plan to project anti-submarine warfare missions from Terceira.
It is worth remembering that in December 2023, when Terceira hosted the 50th Permanent Bilateral Commission between Portugal and the United States of America, a visit was made to the military infrastructure with a US Navy P-8 plane placed prominently on the runway.
On the occasion, the US commander of Lajes Base, Christopher Boyd, who leads the 65th Air Base Group, considered the geostrategic location of Lajes Base to be “extremely important”.
In 2023, Lajes Base invested 34.6 million dollars (32.98 million euros), the highest since 2006.

In Diário Insular, José Lourenço-director

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