Deep space radar site in Wales to go ahead to protect UK from ‘space warfare’

Plans for a network of radars tracking deep space activity to help protect the UK from “space warfare” are to go ahead in Pembrokeshire, despite the opposition of local campaigners.

The 27 radar dishes planned for the St Davids peninsula, which will be 20 metres high and can track objects as small as a football, are part of a network planned around the globe.

The Deep Space Advanced Radar Capability (Darc) will be developed at Cawdor barracks in south-west Wales by the Ministry of Defence. Ministers have said the plans are crucial as long-term defence against the possibility of threats in deep space.

The plans to redevelop the barracks, which were previously set to close, are part of the Aukus defence partnership between the UK, US and Australia. They will involve a network of ground-based radars in all three countries designed to monitor, track and identify objects up to 22,000 miles (36,000km) away from Earth.

John Healey, the defence secretary, said there would be local consultation on the plans but said they would secure jobs and were crucial for future defence. “Space plays a crucial role in our daily lives – used by everything from our mobile phones to banking services,” he said. “It is also used by UK defence to conduct vital tasks such as supporting military operations, navigating forces and gathering intelligence.

“This new radar programme will not only enhance our awareness of deep space, but also help protect our space assets alongside our closest partners.”

Space is an emerging frontier for warfare in a world that is increasingly dependent on satellite technology.

“This is a big deal in the sense that we don’t have enough space domain awareness,” said Dr Mark Hilborne, who leads the space security research group at King’s College London. “There is a concern about increasing military activity and increasing belligerence in space. We need more eyes on the sky.”

Darc’s reach matches the distance of geostationary orbit, rather than being “deep space” in the traditional sense. It is designed to provide more detailed intelligence about the nature and activity of satellites, which are projected to increase in number from about 9,000 this year to 60,000 by 2030 with applications including telecommunications, GPS, weather forecasting and military surveillance.

“You can’t hide behind a mountain in space, we can see what’s there, but you don’t always know what’s onboard a satellite or what its operators’ intentions are and whether they are malevolent or worrying,” said Hilborne.

Earlier this year, the US accused Russia of launching a “counter-space weapon” that was seen stalking a US government satellite. In another instance, a so-called “Russian doll” satellite released a second smaller satellite, which launched a projectile, in a presumed demonstration of anti-satellite capabilities.

And there have been increasing instances of GPS and internet satellites being electronically jammed and the use of lasers to temporarily “dazzle” satellites’ optical sensors. “Those kinds of subthreshold activities are happening all the time,” said Hilborne.

The radar system is expected to be operational by 2030 and work can start redeveloping the site once safety requirements and environmental impact assessments are submitted.

Cawdor barracks is home to a British army signals regiment, which is due to relocate from 2028 and the MoD said plans to redevelop the site for the radar station would secure at least 100 jobs. Local campaigners, however, launched a campaign in May to stop the plans called Parc Against Darc, calling it “one of the most health-hazardous, tourism-ruining, skyline-blighting military installations ever proposed anywhere in the UK”.

The campaign was originally set up as the Pembrokeshire Against Radar Campaign in 1990, when a similar radar installation on the Dewisland peninsula was planned, but rallies against the plans drew such attention that Margaret Thatcher cancelled the proposal.

A spokesperson for the campaign when it was launched said it would “build on the strong history of the previously victorious campaign and echo all of its strengths and successes”.