Britain’s defence minister Gavin Williamson said a new radar off Scotland’s Shetland Islands would help tackle the “severe and real” threat from Russia.
In a return to the cold war days when the islands hosted an early warning radar, the new Royal Air Force facility is being built to track unidentified military or civilian aircraft.
“We will always protect our skies from Russian aggression,” Williamson said on Friday, describing the radar as vital to British defences.
“Russia’s actions are not limited to Europe’s eastern borders – the threat to British livelihoods is severe and real,” he insisted.
The £10 million (US$14.1 million) radar on Unst, Britain’s most northerly inhabited island, is due to be fully operational soon, the Ministry of Defence said.
Once launched it will feed into the country’s quick reaction alert system, which in the past has been used to scramble RAF jets to intercept Russian aircraft.