Qinetiq to upgrade UK MoD Hebrides radars

The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) and Qinetiq have announced a joint invest of £16.8m for two new BAE Systems tracking radars at MoD Hebrides, Qinetiq announced on 4 July.

The new radars will be installed on St Kilda, an isolated archipelago 64km west-northwest of North Uist in the North Atlantic Ocean, part of MoD Hebrides. MoD Hebrides occupies 115,000km² of segregated airspace allowing UK MoD, industry and international customers to conduct a wide range of trials, experimentation and rehearsal.

The new radars will replace two existing radars on St Kilda which are used as a part of a tracking station. Two further radars at MoD Hebrides will also be upgraded as part of the package of work to modernise UK test and evaluation capabilities. The tracking radars will provide data and safety monitoring at the range for experimentation, evaluation, demonstration and rehearsal of military capability, with all four to be fully functional by the Spring of 2020.

The new radars are part of the £95m Air Range Modernisation programme agreed in December 2016 with the UK MoD. The modernisation of MoD Aberporth and MoD Hebrides will help reduce the overall operating costs of the ranges ensuring they remain competitive and have the capabilities required to support UK defence, defence exports and attract international customers.