Published: Thursday, 28 February 2002, 09:50 AM
New role for 'spy' base?

By Hugh Lawrence

THE Americans have updated a satellite "spy" base in North Yorkshire in a way which could ultimately be linked with the "Son of Star Wars" missile defence system, it has been revealed.

The UK Government has already given the go-ahead and the new capability has been installed at Menwith Hill, near Harrogate.

Ministry of Defence officials stressed the operation – part of the Space-Based Infra-Red System (SBIRS) – is separate from United States missile defence plans.

But Brian Hawtin, Defence Ministry director of international security policy, told MPs that under President Bill Clinton's administration, "there was certainly a suggestion that they might wish to integrate SBIRS with missile defence in some way and that as a consequence they might have requested the use of Menwith Hill as part of the missile defence arrangement".

Existing satellites which detect missile launches and trigger early warning systems are being improved in the SBIRS system.

Mr Hawtin told the cross-Party Commons defence committee: "The Americans are in the process of updating, upgrading that constellation of satellites with SBIRS, a new set of satellites, the information from which in due course – and they are not yet operational – would be downloaded into Menwith Hill.

"That programme is being handled by the Americans as entirely separate from missile defence."

Paul Roper, Defence Ministry strategic technologies director, repeated that SBIRS was separate from missile defence, but he added: "Clearly that would be of immense value if the US were developing a missile defence system."