WPAFB, Ohio -- Officials at Wright Patterson Air Force Base broke ground Monday afternoon for the Assured Aerospace Fuels Research Facility.

The Air Force Research Laboratory project will construct a 4,000 square-feet facility capable of producing 15 to 25 gallons of alternative aviation fuel per day to support research by the Lab’s Propulsion Directorate.

The new facility will provide a test bed for collaborative efforts between the Government, Industry and Academia that will foster collaborative research required to reduce dependence upon foreign energy sources.

The state-of-the-art equipment will be capable of generating research quantities of Air Force specification and near-specification aviation turbine fuel using the Fischer-Tropsch process and other alternative fuel technologies. This unique, world class research facility will play an essential role in helping attain clean, sustainable, domestically-produced aviation fuels for the Air Force and the Nation.

The $2.5 million contract was awarded to Rhecors General Contractors of Dayton. Construction is scheduled to be complete in September 2010.