Brawdy (Hansard, 3 April 1990)

§ Mr. Boyes
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if the proposed relocatable over-the-horizon radar at Brawdy, Wales, will be assigned to NATO.

§ Mr. Boyes
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what links are proposed between the projected relocatable over-the-horizon radar at Brawdy and the United Kingdom regional air operations centre.

§ Mr. Boyes
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what links are proposed between the relocatable602W over-the-horizon radar at Brawdy and the United Kingdom national joint ocean surveillance information centre.

§ Mr. Alan Clark
It would be premature to consider the possible operational assignment of an over-the-horizon radar in the United Kingdom before the results of its planned two-year trial have been fully assessed.

§ Mr. Boyes
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on what date agreement was reached with the United States authorities on the sharing of costs for construction of a relocatable over-the-horizon radar at Brawdy, Wales; what is the agreed apportionment of costs; and what will be the total cost to the United Kingdom defence budget of the construction of the facility.

§ Mr. Alan Clark
The arrangements agreed with the United States authorities to cover the two-year trial of an over-the-horizon radar in the United Kingdom are that 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. These arrangements are encapsulated in a memorandum of understanding to be signed shortly. The total cost to the United Kingdom defence budget of the installation of the radar and the running costs of the trial will be about £15.5 million over the entire period.

§ Mr. Boyes
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on what date the decision was taken to select Brawdy as the site for the United States Navy relocatable over-the-horizon radar.

§ Mr. Alan Clark
The locations selected for the two-year trial of an over-the-horizon radar in the United Kingdom are St. David's airfield, Pembrokeshire, as the transmitter site, and Blakehill radio station, Wiltshire, as the receiver site. A formal decision to select these two locations for the trial was taken recently, following a survey of possible sites which began in 1987.

§ Mr. Boyes
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what are his plans for conducting an environmental impact assessment on the proposed construction of an over-the-horizon radar facility in Wales.

§ Mr. Alan Clark
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Gower (Mr. Wardell) on 30 March 1990 at column328-29.

§ Mr. Boyes
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the proposed location of(a) the transmitter facility, (b) the receiver facility and (c) the operations control centre for the relocatable over-the-horizon radar proposed for construction in Wales; what is the total land area required for each site; and what proportion of the required land is already owned or leased by his Department.

§ Mr. Alan Clark
The locations selected for the two-year trial of an over-the-horizon radar in the United Kingdom are St. David's airfield, Pembrokeshire, as the transmitter site, and Blakehill radio station, Wiltshire, as the receiver site. The trial operations will be conducted from Blakehill. Both sites are owned by the Ministry of Defence. St. David's airfield is more than sufficiently large for the installation of the transmitter; at Blakehill, we will need to acquire some additional land adjacent to the present MOD boundary to accommodate the receiver.