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Radar Base, Brawdy

Volume 170: debated on Friday 30 March 1990

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To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he has any plans to make any financial contribution to the proposed building of a radar base at Brawdy for the United States navy.

A decision in principle has been taken to embark, in collaboration with the United States, on a two-year joint trial of a United States navy over the horizon radar (OTHR) in the United Kingdom. This equipment is a high-frequency radar which uses the ionosphere to refract beyond the normal radar horizon. It can therefore supplement the coverage obtained by conventional microwave radars and enhance the effectiveness of airborne early warning and air defence resources.The trial is planned to start in 1993, and the information obtained from it will be fully shared between ourselves and the United States. The United States Government will supply the radar; the United Kingdom Government will provide and prepare the operational sites; and the running costs of the trial will be shared. Once the results of the trial have been fully assessed, further consideration will be given whether to retain the OTHR as a permanent operational facility.To be effective, the system needs separate transmitter and receiver sites. After extensive studies and assessment of possible locations, we have concluded that the most suitable site for the transmitter is St. David's airfield, Pembrokeshire, and that that for the receiver is Blakehill radio station, near Cricklade, Wiltshire. Both sites are MOD owned. We will shortly be submitting formal notices of proposed development to the appropriate planning authorities in accordance with normal planning procedures. These will be supported by full environmental impact assessments. No construction work will be carried out at either site before the necessary approvals have been obtained.

When installing the transmitter, we will ensure that there is no danger of any radio frequency or other environmental hazard to any member of the public outside the MOD boundary of the site. The receiver site will present no environmental hazard.