Offshore wind farms ‘could blind Britain’s radar to enemy missile attacks’ 

Defence experts are working on radical solutions to prevent offshore wind farms blocking radar systems amid fears they could leave the UK vulnerable to missile attacks.

Fears have been raised that plans to massively increase the number of turbines in the seas around Britain could leave the Islands open to a surprise attack.

Scientists are now working on measures to lessen the impact of the proposed quadrupling of offshore wind power by 2030.

They include making turbines from stealth materials and equipping masts with tech to spot missiles themselves and open up a blind spot.

It comes amid concerns that the UK is already vulnerable to missile attack due to a lack of radar and counter-missile defences.

In November Sweden rejected applications to build 13 offshore wind farms off its east coast in the Baltic Sea – between the Scandinavian state and Russia – due to defence concerns.

Defence Minister Pal Jonson told a press conference that wind farms could halve the time Sweden had to react to a missile attack to just one minute. Sweden’s capital is just 311 miles (500km) from the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.

BAE Systems analyst Philip Clark, who works at the Cowes radar research centre, told the Times: ‘The RAF stops wind farm developments in places like the North Sea, because they’ll say, ”If somebody launches an attack against us that comes from behind the wind farm, we won’t be able to see it”.’

Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened to strike the UK with a new ballistic missile after using the weapon to hit a target in Ukraine in November.

Downing Street condemned Mr Putin for further escalating the conflict by using a ballistic missile with a range of ‘several thousand kilometres’ against the city of Dnipro.

Mr Putin suggested the missile could be used to hit Kyiv’s allies who have given Ukraine permission to use Western-supplied weapons to hit targets within Russia.

The UK is believed to have allowed its Storm Shadow missiles to be used by Ukrainian forces within the Kursk region of Russia, while the US has given permission for its ATACMS weapons to be fired at targets in Mr Putin’s country.

Mr Putin confirmed Russia has tested a new intermediate-range weapon, saying it came in response to Ukrainian strikes on the Russian territory with US and British missiles earlier this week.

The UK has a strong air defence strategy, however there are fears the country lacks land-based systems to defend London or its nuclear plants.

Britain’s main form of air defence are the Royal Navy’s six Type 45 destroyers, touted as the world’s best air defence warship, and the British Army’s advanced Sky Sabre missile system.

On the ground, the UK is rapidly investing in laser defences, which can be used to shoot drones and, potentially, missiles out of the sky. But these are not yet in service.

Labour MP Luke Akehurst told MailOnline: ‘The war in Ukraine has shown the threat posed by attacks by missiles and drones.

‘The UK lacks ground-based air defences against such attacks on targets here in Britain.

‘Addressing this capability gap needs to be an urgent political, funding and industrial priority for Government.’