Army Corps seeks a team to build an estimated $1.8 billion JBER weapons complex

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Alaska District opened a search Tuesday for a design-build team to construct a new Weapons Generation Complex and Northern Flightline at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. The solicitation puts total estimated funding at $1.8 billion and says the work should be done by the end of fiscal year 2032.

The project covers about 16 new facilities: hangars, operations buildings and munitions storage magazines. The new complex must be operational before the existing one is decommissioned, which the Corps says ensures "zero operational downtime."

The Corps, acting for the Air Force Civil Engineer Center, plans an other transaction agreement, a binding deal that is not a standard contract and is not subject to federal acquisition rules. Construction comes only if the government authorizes it, at a price negotiated later.

White papers, the first of two selection steps, are due Nov. 24, with a selection expected Feb. 25 and first-phase awards June 21, according to the estimated schedule. An Aug. 6 market research notice had given a target budget of $1.1 billion to $1.8 billion.

The project is part of the Fighter Town Recapitalization Program. In August, the Anchorage Assembly weighed a resolution backing the buildout, committing to plan for up to 1,050 more personnel on a base whose family housing was 98% full.

An Air Force notice of intent said the complex would modernize and expand the 3d Munitions Squadron's Hillside Munitions Area to make munitions processing safer and more efficient. The Air Force expects its environmental analysis by January 2027.