Britain is a “sitting duck” for drone attacks, senior defence sources say, because Ed Miliband’s wind farms interfere with radar used by defensive domes. The Mail has the story.
Ministers have been warned the UK lacks any equivalent to Israel’s famous ‘Iron Dome’, which gives it the capability to intercept ballistic missiles at high altitude from 40 miles away.
Military chiefs have called for the Treasury to allocate the estimated £10 billion required for the system – but have so far been promised only £1 billion to scope out options.
Germany, in comparison, is spending £3.5 billion on the Arrow anti-missile system as part of an expanding pan-European air-defence network.
Part of the reason for the Government’s hesitation is said to be that such a defence system would require the scaling back of Mr Miliband’s wind farm programme, which a source suggested “presents a major obstacle for anti-missile systems because of the impact they have on the radar needed to guide them”.
The Energy Secretary has vowed to double England’s onshore wind capacity to 29 gigawatts by 2030, and has dedicated £1.1 billion a year for offshore wind developers as part of his aim to meet Net Zero targets.
The source added: “Wind farms are effectively giant chunks of metal that stand in the way of the tracking stations. It’s fair to say wind-farms and radar are not a great mix.
“We are really lagging behind other countries on this. Ministers keep saying, ‘We have to be mindful of the cost implications, and there’s lots of competition for resources.
“Fine. But then what’s the cost of a missile landing in the middle of London, Manchester or Birmingham? We are sitting ducks.”
The RAF has also warned that the blades on Mr Miliband’s turbines reflect electromagnetic pulses pinged out by radar equipment to detect incoming aircraft and missiles.
This creates unhelpful background noise for system operators. Each blade on a turbine can generate a false return, meaning there is potential for disruption from several sites.
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