Marshall Aerospace and Defence Group (ADG) has installed the largest fully enclosed engine test structure in Europe at its base in Cambridge.

The company’s (www.marshalladg.com) new Ground Running Enclosure (GRE), which is the size of a football pitch, has been designed to significantly reduce the noise impact of aircraft ground testing in the immediate vicinity of Cambridge Airport, where most of its specialist applied engineering work is undertaken — on aircraft from around the world.

The multi-million-pound structure can accommodate aircraft up to the size of a Boeing 747-400.

CEO Alistair McPhee said: “This facility gives us great flexibility in terms of the breadth of aircraft it can accommodate, while at the same time ensuring that we are living up to our commitment to reduce any potential noise pollution for our neighbours.”

The new GRE is 90m wide and 20m high. Blast Deflectors Inc, a world leader in solutions for reducing aircraft noise, began construction in May last year, and the facility is now fully operational.