BAE Systems has formally objected to the planned Mooir Vannin Offshore Wind Farm.
In a letter published on the consultation hub, BAE stated the proposed turbines, located 88.2 km from Warton, would detrimentally affect Air Traffic Control radar.
The defence giant said it would cause “unacceptable interference” to essential radar systems and potential risks to national security operations from its Warton Aerodrome site.
It said: “The BAE operations at Warton Aerodrome are at the core of these activities, and essential in maintaining national security.”
The company’s preliminary objection letter outlines that wind farms can cause “desensitisation of radar”, create false aircraft returns, and obscure real aircraft tracks.
BAE stated: “The current level, of safe separation and service available to aircraft, needs to be maintained.”
Mitigation
BAE also rejected a proposed mitigation solution mentioned in the project’s Environmental Impact Statement.
The firm argued that implementing radar blanking over the wind farm area “would be an erosion of the existing safety margins and potentially increase the risk to life in our operations”.
Further concerns were raised about the infringement of minimum safe flight altitudes by the 345m-389m tall turbines and the lack of a cumulative assessment on VHF/UHF radio communications with other planned Irish Sea wind farms.
BAE Systems has requested that the developer cover all costs associated with reviewing the project’s impacts.
The full submission and all submissions, can be found here.