The Air Force has awarded a $7.3 million contract towards the construction of a one-megawatt solar power plant at Buckley AFB, Colo. The Denver Business Journal reported Tuesday that the US division of London-based AMEC received the contract to design the solar photovoltaic system for the base. According to the newspaper, AMEC intends to complete the project in just over a year. The Buckley initiative is just one of USAF’s solar energy projects. The service is erecting a three-megawatt solar farm at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, is promoting the creation of a solar energy system at Edwards AFB. Calif., and just recently began operation of a new 220-kilowatt solar plant at Hill AFB, Utah.
As the threat of Iranian-made drones grew, the Air Force rushed last year to equip F-15E Strike Eagles in the Middle East with a cheap, cost-effective way of defeating them. The service fielded the new capability in roughly a week.
