Dara carries out repairs on RAF aircraft

Project Red Dragon, which secures the jobs at RAF St Athan, will be built on a 100-acre site at the base in the Vale of Glamorgan, south Wales.

The long-awaited government approval comes after months of uncertainty over the future of the site.

It is expected to act as a springboard for plans for an aviation centre of excellence at RAF St Athan, in the Vale of Glamorgan.

Assembly First Minister Rhodri Morgan said this could potentially create a further 4,000 jobs.

The scheme also has a knock-on effect securing hundreds of jobs at RAF Sealand, Flintshire.

Adam Ingram: Announced go ahead

The announcement on Thursday by Armed Forces Minister Adam Ingram is seen as a vital boost to RAF St Athan, which faces strong competition for maintenance contracts from BAe Systems.

Reacting to the statement, Rhodri Morgan said the project would "reinforce Wales' global reputation as a centre of excellent in aero-engineering".

Welsh Secretary Peter Hain said it was "superb news".

The new complex will replace RAF St Athan's existing repair centre - spread out across a 1,000-acre site - and create a new, state-of-the-art facility.

The Red Dragon project unveiled in August 2002 has two unique features which set it apart from other military aviation maintenance contracts.

The first is that it will see the construction of a "super-hangar", which will include 47 bays to work on fighter aircraft.

Dara plays a crucial role in delivering support to our Armed Forces. Adam Ingram

The bays can be reconfigured to allow engineering teams to also work on heavy-lift, fixed-wing aircraft as well as heavy-lift helicopters such as the Chinook.

Another ground-breaking aspect of the deal is that it will be the only Western military which will be able to develop its aviation maintenance arm using finance raised from the private sector.

'Cutting edge'

Assembly Economic Development Minister Andrew Davies said it will be one of the "world's most advanced repair and maintenance facilities and will secure Wales' place in the rapidly-developing aerospace sector".

"Furthermore, in consolidating all of Dara's existing operations in St Athan into one cutting-edge complex, Project Red Dragon frees up the rest of the land for further development."

The Defence Aviation Repair Agency (DARA) was created in April 1999 with the amalgamation of the RAF's Maintenance Group Defence Agency (MGDA) and the Naval Aircraft Repair Organisation (NARO.