© Marc Hoscheid
Luxembourg has inaugurated a new military hangar at the Warehouse Service Agency site in Sanem as part of a major expansion to boost NATO readiness, with further infrastructure planned to support joint operations, including a bi-national battalion with Belgium.
The largest US Air Force storage site in Europe is located in Luxembourg, at the Warehouse Service Agency (WSA) in Sanem. On Tuesday, officials unveiled a new hangar on the military site, marking another stage in its expansion.
The Luxembourg government invested around €10 million into the project, aiming not only to boost the readiness and response time of US forces in Europe but also to strengthen NATO's collective defence capabilities. This investment also raises the strategic value of the Luxembourg site going forward.
With the inauguration of the WSA's 18th hangar, Luxembourg is now offering additional capacity for the maintenance of the more than 1,000 US Air Force vehicles stored on-site. WSA Director Laurent Bodson explained that when the Americans first announced plans to send more equipment to the WSA, an internal review quickly revealed that the existing facilities would not be able to handle the increased volume.
"They were talking only about storage", he recalled, "but we realised that storage alone wasn't enough – what's the point of more material if we can't maintain or work on it?"
The new hangar includes an open-space work area, kitchen, showers, and a fitness room for employees. At its core is a specialised maintenance zone where, for example, bombs can be mounted onto combat aircraft.
The WSA currently employs around 300 people, 260 of whom work directly for the US Air Force. As the site's operations grow in complexity, it's becoming harder to find staff with the necessary qualifications.
As Bodson explained, fully trained mechanics with the exact expertise they need are rare: "Finding someone ready to work on all our equipment straight away, that’s unrealistic." He explained further that they usually hire general mechatronics technicians with basic experience, and then train them on-site.
New hangars planned
The WSA has been operating in Luxembourg since 1979, and after a previous site between Bettembourg and Dudelange closed in 2006, all operations remained in Sanem. Spanning 38 hectares, the site has long played a key strategic role in supplying equipment to its main client, the US Air Force.
And the expansion is not stopping – three more hangars are currently under construction, according to Bodson. One will be a massive facility for storing containers, while another two-level building will offer ventilated storage for refuelling lorries, he explained.
The goal is to enhance both reaction capacity and security on the European continent.
Defence Minister Yuriko Backes highlighted that the United States is also investing significantly – up to $100 million – in additional storage infrastructure now being completed. She noted that this financial commitment clearly shows that the Americans are not just engaged but intend to remain so.
In parallel, Luxembourg is also preparing to play a key role in its joint Luxembourg–Belgium battalion by investing €2.6 billion in new armoured vehicles. A maintenance hall and a new multi-modal logistics hub, known as the M3H, are being planned for that purpose.
Although no construction start date has been confirmed for the M3H – also set to be built in Sanem – officials say there is still ample space on the site to accommodate future expansions.
