The Prince of Wales visits RAF Coningsby

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The Prince of Wales, Honorary Air Commandant of RAF Coningsby, has visited the base to learn about future technological innovations and open a new Boxing Club.

During the visit, His Royal Highness spent time in the Air Traffic Control Centre to hear about ‘Project Marshall’, a multi-billion-pound equipment upgrade programme of air traffic control radar services across Lincolnshire.

Whilst in the centre, The Prince also met staff and was shown new radar displays and control systems that have been put in place to improve efficiency and elevate data sharing.

Following this, His Royal Highness visited the BAE Systems Typhoon Maintenance Facility (TMF). The site, which has been open for over a decade, specialises in longer term maintenance of Typhoon jets and focuses on delivering faster turnaround times to ensure that more planes are readily available for frontline use at any given time.

At the TMF, The Prince met maintenance staff and heard about the transformative technologies which are currently being explored by the Royal Air Force and BAE Systems. The new technologies include exoskeletons and VR headsets, which will allow jet support to be carried out in a smarter and faster way. In addition, there is also technology that is used to identify any structural issues on objects such as fighter jets and drones to further increase the speed of aircraft maintenance and availability of front-line Typhoon fighter jets.

Finally, His Royal Highness officially opened the new RAF Coningsby Boxing Club. The club is situated in the heart of the RAF base and creates a central place where personnel can go to exercise and box. The new Boxing club is the extension of a popular provision of boxing coaching during the pandemic.