Son Sant Joan air base, adjacent to Palma airport, will soon have a large logistics warehouse, which will spark debate among the Balearic community. The Air and Space Force plans to build a large facility there to serve as a warehouse for missiles, including Hellfire missiles according to Confidencial Digital, bombs and various explosive materials, with a capacity of around 75 tonnes. According to the specialised website infodefensa.com, the project will have a budget of around €1.8 million and has already been awarded to the joint venture formed by MAB, Grupo Render Industrial and Coexa.
Defence plans include the installation of GBU-49 bombs or Hellfire guided missiles on the revolutionary MQ-9 Predator combat drones, managed by Wing 23, the unit responsible for these unmanned aircraft. These drones have a range of 3,000 kilometres and can reach speeds of up to 405 kilometres per hour. They are eleven metres long, with a wingspan of around 20 metres and a height of 3.6 metres.
This is one of the most significant military engineering projects in the recent history of the Balearics, whose strategic location in the western Mediterranean, in addition to the space available to the Air Force at Son Sant Joan, make the Palma base a place of great logistical value, always within the security parameters set by the Ministry of Defence. An access road for heavy vehicles, a loading area and an additional security system for personnel traffic will enable the facility to act autonomously in the event of any contingency, responding immediately to any type of emergency that may arise.
According to the aforementioned media outlet, the Defence Ministry’s idea is to create a “7-bar resistant igloo” model, guaranteeing the integrity and safety of its own personnel and taking into account the proximity of a civil aerodrome with high passenger traffic throughout the year. The usable area of this striking warehouse would be approximately 27 metres long by 9 metres wide, with an interior height of 4.5 metres, giving a total volume of 1,000 cubic metres.
To ensure the reliability of the structure, the side walls and the outer face would be constructed of reinforced concrete up to 40 centimetres wide or thick. For its part, the front area would feature a wall of vertical beams and a lintel with a 1.2-metre edge, designed to withstand the impact of explosions or overpressure. The roof would be made of a concrete slab between 40 and 50 centimetres thick, topped with a layer of vegetation just over half a metre thick, which would act as a natural barrier against a possible shock wave, as well as serving as scaffolding and integrating the infrastructure into the landscape.
A double steel door would seal off the main entrance to the large warehouse, leaving an access 5 metres wide by 3 metres high. Each of these leaves would be made of 10-millimetre steel sheets, reinforced for safety and with hinges that could withstand up to almost six tonnes of load, allowing the door to resist an internal explosion or internal overpressure, while preventing displacement or projections that could jeopardise the safety of that space and its perimeter.
The interior of the warehouse would be open-plan, equipped with explosion-proof electrical systems to prevent accidental sparks or discharges, as well as armoured lighting and cabling suitable for these potentially explosive spaces. In addition, there would be a waterproofing and drainage system, while the exterior would have a network of hydrants and fire surveillance and control points.
As reported by infodefensa.com, the technical storage limit would be 75,000 kilos of explosive material, although the distance from the airport would reduce this number, setting a practical amount of between 1,200 and 2,900 kilos, depending on the materials or the volume of material stored.
The same media outlet reports that load studies estimate that this warehouse could house combinations of between 20 and 32 missiles, in addition to guided bombs or light air-to-ground missiles. The igloo-shaped design provides greater protection in the event of serious incidents, with its semi-underground location improving climate control and making it less noticeable within the unique environment of Son Sant Joan and the air base. as well as making it more inconspicuous within the unique environment of Son Sant Joan and the air base.
The news reported by infodefensa.com comes at a time of high international tension, with Mallorca at the epicentre of events such as the presence of the US aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford in the Bay of Palma, within a turbulent context, with large-scale conflicts such as the Gaza conflict and the war between Russia and Ukraine.
The AGM-114 Hellfire is an American missile developed for anti-armour use, later developed for precision drone strikes against other target types, especially high-value targets. It was originally developed under the name “Heliborne laser, fire-and-forget missile”, which led to the colloquial name “Hellfire” ultimately becoming the missile’s formal name.
It has a multi-mission, multi-target precision-strike ability and can be launched from multiple air, sea, and ground platforms, including the MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper. The Hellfire missile is the primary 100-pound (45 kg) class air-to-ground precision weapon for the armed forces of the United States and many other countries. It has also been fielded on surface platforms in the surface-to-surface and surface-to-air roles.