Refurbished Chilcomb Ranges improves soldiers’ training experience
Soldiers in the South East of the country are benefitting from recently completed refurbishment work at Chilcomb Ranges near Winchester.
Soldier from 1 Regt RLC firing on new SARTS range at Chilcomb Ranges. Photo via MOD. Crown Copyright 2016.
The half-a-million-pound improvement and modernisation project, which included fitting the latest target system technology, improving some outdated structures and replacing old wiring and cabling, will enable more efficient short range firing activity for training troops.
Nestled in a rural setting just south of the village of Chilcomb, the range is located close to the Army Training Regiment at Winchester and is used extensively by units in the Portsmouth area.
Major Jonathan Craig, Training Safety Officer for the South East said:
DIO is committed to improving the service it provides to its armed forces and this work demonstrates how we are doing this.
These improvement works will make the user experience better and more efficient and will also reduce travelling times for those troops coming to train from the local area.
Working with Landmarc Support Services and Earlcoate Construction, the DIO completed the modernisation programme in 3 months.
Talking about the modernisation work, Bill Willmott, Senior Project Manager from Landmarc said:
Landmarc works in partnership with DIO to provide services that support the vital training needed to prepare Britain’s armed forces for operational success.
This project required close liaison between Landmarc, the SD Training team in the South East and the Technical Advisory Section to ensure the improvement works complied with all of the required safety standards. Work included installing new roller shutter doors on the range console to improve security, replacing and upgrading all wiring and cabling to accommodate the latest Small Arms Range Targetry System (SARTS), a new mantlet, improvements to the markers gallery and security shutters over the targetry.
The combination of the existing Close Quarter Marksmanship range and SARTS now means that Chilcomb range will be able to host and provide the shooting practices required of the tri-service operational shooting policy, all at one location.