By Debbie Gregory.

In preparation for the arrival of U.S. F-35A Lightning II stealth jets, the British government has awarded a $205 million contract for construction work at Royal Air Force (RAF) Lakenheath to build the the military jet. Although the base is an RAF station, it hosts United States Air Force units and personnel.

The contract, a joint venture with Kier-VolkerFitzpatrick, is part of a larger program to support Air Force operations in the U.K., with a further $1 billion expected to be in invested in the U.K. over the next seven to 10 years.

The Suffolk County airbase will be the first permanent international site for US Air Force F-35s in Europe and continues the base’s long history of supporting U.S. Air Force capability in the UK.

“For more than one hundred years now our armed forces have fought in defense of our common values and interests,” said Defense Minister Tobias Ellwood. “Our two countries have developed the deepest, broadest and most advanced relationship of any two nations.”

The contract includes the construction of a flight simulator facility, a maintenance unit, new hangars and storage facilities. Engineers will modify the base’s current infrastructure and build new squadron parking aprons, two new hangars, a new dual-squadron operations/aircraft maintenance facility, and a flight simulator.

The flight simulator will have the capacity to link to other simulators used by U.K. pilots across the U.K. and beyond, allowing expertise to be shared and pilots from the U.K. and U.S. to train together on a regular basis.

About 700 contractors are expected on base at the height of construction. Once complete, it will welcome an additional 1,200 U.S. airmen and 48 aircraft.

“This is an exciting milestone for the 48th Fighter Wing and for all our partners. We’re transforming RAF Lakenheath together, and the work we do today is critical to the future security of the United States, the United Kingdom and the NATO Alliance,” Col. Will Marshall, 48th Fighter Wing commander, said in a statement.

The Royal Air Force currently has nine F-35s in its inventory, stationed nearby at RAF Marham.

Work on the base will begin summer, 2019. The first F-35s are scheduled to arrive in 2021.