The 436th Logistics Readiness Squadron held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a $23 million hazardous cargo fuel facility earlier this month.
As a safety precaution, all aircraft arriving to or departing from Dover AFB with hazardous cargo, such as ammunition or explosives, are marshaled to an area known as the hot cargo pad.
Located in a remote area of the base, the area is out of the reach of the base’s primary fueling system which pumps fuel from aboveground storage tanks through a system of underground pipes to 31 access points on the runway ” Even the closest fuel point to the hot cargo pad is close to a mile away.
hydrant pits located at the aircraft hot cargo area May 28 on Dover Air Force Base, Delaware. Maximum-performance tests were conducted on the fuel pump house as Jet-A fuel was pumped through the new hydrant system to each of the fuel hydrant pits. (U.S. Air Force photo by Roland Balik)
A C-5M cargo jet can hold up to 51,140 gallons of jet fuel, and a C-17 Globemaster III holds 28,000 gallons. In the past, refueling and de-fueling aircraft on the hot cargo pad required multiple fuel trucks making many trips across the ba
The new $23 million facility and hydrant system will streamline the refueling process for aircraft on the hot cargo pad by adding a fuel pumping and monitoring facility and three pits on the hot cargo pad.
Each of the new pits has the capability to pump 600 gallons (4,000 pounds) of fuel per minute. Fuel reserves for the new facility are kept in two aboveground storage tanks. Each tank can hold 210,000 gallons of fuel.
“Overall, we will be able to use one R-12 pump truck in place of up to five R-11 trucks per mission, cutting our response times by 33 percent and our refueling times by 50 percent,” said Lt. Col Kevin Etherton, 436th Logistics Readiness Squadron commander.
