Giant wind turbines risk leaving Britain blind to Russian jets

MoD says wind farm would interfere with RAF systems designed to spot enemy aircraft

A giant wind farm risks blinding radar used to track Russian jets and missiles, according to the Ministry of Defence.

Military officials are opposing net zero plans to build 23 turbines – each twice the height of the Elizabeth Tower, also known as Big Ben – in the Yorkshire countryside.

They say that they would interfere with nearby RAF air traffic control systems and an air defence radar set up to spot enemy jets.

It would prevent the RAF “from effectively performing its primary function of air defence of the United Kingdom”, according to a letter seen by The Telegraph.

The Hope Moor Wind Farm is on the fast-track planning scheme for green energy projects. The final decision on whether it will go ahead will be made by Miatta Fahnbulleh, the Energy Secretary.

Ed Miliband, the former energy secretary, changed the rules in December to ensure that onshore wind projects could be classed as nationally significant infrastructure projects and bypass the local planning system.

However, there have been clashes between the MoD and the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero over the location and size of the developments.

The MoD has said a number of trials have demonstrated the “adverse impact” that wind farms have on the UK’s air defence capability.

Turbine blades both clutter the radar and can create a signal similar to that of fast-moving aircraft, “curtailing the RAF’s ability to detect incoming, low-flying, aircraft threats”.

The MoD said: “Consider a low-flying object near a wind farm. The ability to at first detect and then track is the major objective of air surveillance. Any disruption caused by excessive clutter may adversely affect national security and/or safety.”

Fred Olsen Renewables, a Norwegian developer, said Hope Moor could generate enough renewable electricity to power around 135,000 homes and support the UK’s net zero goals.

The project has already faced opposition from local politicians and residents, who warned that its position on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales could ruin a nationally important landscape and cause ecological damage to nearby peatland.

Lord Botham, who heads the Not One Moor campaign against large-scale wind farm developments across northern England, is leading a protest against the Hope Moor site and a number of others this Sunday.

The former England cricketer said the plans showed why he did “not trust the Prime Minister with defending our nation”.

Writing for The Telegraph, Lord Botham said: “America no longer believes RAF bases are safe places for its planes. We can also all see how Andy Burnham is pushing vital increases in defence spending further into the future.

“And now we discover that his Government wants to build monster wind turbines that the Ministry of Defence warns could blind vital radars, leaving aircraft undetected. What sort of prime minister puts his green obsessions ahead of the safety of our country?”

The plan is to build 23 turbines, around 200 metres high, on open moorland south of Barnard Castle and north of Richmond in County Durham.

The MoD’s Defence Infrastructure Organisation has warned that the proposals would cause “unacceptable interference” with two RAF sites, as well as training sessions for aircraft that travel as low as 250ft.

In the letter to planning officials, the MoD pointed out that RAF Leeming was only 19 miles away from the site and had an air traffic control radar. It said that the turbines would create false radar returns and result in real aircraft “not being detected”.

The letter also warned that the turbines would cause “unacceptable interference” to air defence radar at Brizlee Wood, 67 miles away.

This would undermine its ability “to detect and deter aircraft in United Kingdom sovereign airspace, thereby preventing it from effectively performing its primary function of air defence of the United Kingdom”.

The radars scan the skies 24 hours a day and are used to intercept airborne threats, including ballistic missiles. In recent years they have spotted a number of Russian warplanes in UK airspace.

The MoD has described the system as a central part of the UK’s national security.

Angus Thompson, a councillor who is helping lead the campaign against the wind farm, said: “The MoD’s stark warning is the nail in the coffin for this scheme.

“The desecration of the landscape and the expense of the electricity were already huge concerns. Now we learn that the MoD considers that these monster turbines threaten national security and the lives of pilots. This hopeless project should be abandoned without delay.”

Fred Olsen Renewables said it would “continue to work with” the MoD to ensure that the project “mitigates any potential interaction with military operations, radar and telecommunications, and flight paths”.

Euan Hutchison, the UK development director for Fred Olsen Renewables, said: “We are at an early stage in the development of our proposals for Hope Moor Wind Farm and are engaging with key stakeholders, including the Ministry of Defence, to deliver the project safely and without disruption.

“National security is a priority for us, as at a time of rising electricity costs in an increasingly volatile energy market, Hope Moor Wind Farm could contribute to our much-needed energy security, and resilient power supply.”

A Department of Energy Security and Net Zero spokesman said: “We work closely with the Ministry of Defence. All onshore wind projects are subject to a rigorous planning process in which defence and security, the views of the local community and impacts on the environment are considered.”

They said that they could not comment further as the project was still in its planning stages.