Curlews and skylarks, huge grey buildings, advanced and expensive technology, military personnel and vehicles, fence-construction and acts of peaceful witness. In some of the most beautiful
and remote parts of these British islands are some of the most hideous
goings on. This leaflet just gives a
snapshot of some of these northern sites and their associate
activities. Others may be near you. Faslane & Coulport, home of UK nuclear weapons HM Naval Base Clyde, at
Faslane, on Gareloch, 25 miles from Glasgow, is the only operating base
for the UK's nuclear forces. It is home to four Trident ballistic
missile submarines. Huge developments in 1980s and 1990s have
left Faslane with, amongst many other features, a floating jetty and a
massive ship lift - the height of an eleven-storey building. It
is also used as the main base for other naval vessels, including
nuclear-powered submarines. Faslane and Coulport together lie at the heart of the UK's nuclear weapons structure. The combined force of the nuclear warheads in the UK's Trident submarine fleet is reckoned to be the equivalent of over 1,000 Hiroshima bombs. Fylingdales, Menwith Hill & US Missile Defence Fylingdales on the North Yorkshire Moors National Park has been the home of a US Ballistic Missile Early Warning System (BMEWS) since the Cold War days of the 1960s. The RAF runs the base for the US and it is one of three stations in a chain linked across the North Atlantic. Fylingdales is a significant command, control, communications and intelligence installation. Information gathered by the radar installation is fed directly to the North American Aerospace Defense Command. The US Missile Defence system under development will need to deploy new high-resolution phased-array X-band radars which would include additional X-band radars at the current BMEWS sites (including Fylingdales). The UK government does not deny that RAF Fylingdales would play an important role in MD. However, despite repeated questioning by the press and in the Commons, it will not pronounce on what its decision would be should the US ask permission for the changes to be made. Also in North Yorkshire is Menwith Hill. The US Air Force and British War Office signed an initial agreement for the use of the land at Menwith Hill in 1951 and the station became operational in 1959. In 1966 the US National Security Agency (NSA) took it over and the interception of satellite communications began as early as 1974. In 1997 the Government announced that Menwith Hill was due to become the European Ground Relay Station for the Space Based Infra Red System which would play a key role in US missile defence plans. If the US wanted to use data relayed through Menwith Hill for NMD, it would need to ask for UK consent. The first two satellite dishes for the relay system are now in place. Why does this matter? Our concern is not simply that
sites such as these deface a beautiful landscape - although that in
itself is deeply offensive. The UK government has stated that it is committed to total global nuclear disarmament. We applaud this, but wonder how many years we will have to wait before the fences around Faslane and Coulport can be pulled down as being unnecessary. The US Missile Defence system is being developed explicitly to be part of that country’s new ‘Triad’, with a well-tuned nuclear-weapons industrial complex as one of its other legs. As has been pointed out, it is easier to consider attacking someone if you have a good shield. (Although many doubt this shield will work). It also, quite simply, ups the ante, making it more likely that other countries will develop weapons to get past the shield. Resources for action Campaigning organisations,
also good sources for information:
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