The Welsh Government has appointed a planning inspector to handle the application for the proposed deep space radar at Cawdor Barracks, and the department will continue to engage with the process with a view to reaching a positive decision swiftly, according to an answer given in Parliament.
Ben Obese-Jecty, the Conservative member for Huntingdon, asked what discussions the Secretary of State has held with the Welsh Government on the timely determination of the planning application for the proposed Deep Space Advanced Radar Capability site, following an answer given on 11 September.
Luke Pollard, the Minister of State for Defence, said: “The Ministry of Defence has engaged with the Welsh Government at official and Ministerial level. We are pleased the Welsh Government has appointed a planning inspector and will continue to engage with the process with a view of reaching a positive decision swiftly.”
The Deep Space Advanced Radar Capability is a three-nation programme run with the United States and Australia, placing ground-based radars at sites spaced around the globe so that objects in geosynchronous orbit can be tracked continuously instead of being picked up in the gaps between passes. Each site carries an array of dish antennas able to detect and characterise objects more than twenty thousand miles up, which is where most military communications and early warning satellites sit.
Cawdor Barracks near Brawdy in Pembrokeshire was selected as the British site, giving a long-term use to an installation the Army had been due to vacate, and this publication reported that construction is expected to begin in 2027. The Australian site is in Western Australia and the American one in Texas.
Space surveillance has moved up the defence agenda as the number of satellites and the number of manoeuvring objects has grown, with the Defence Investment Plan and the new space strategy together committing billions to the domain.
