Updated: 20 August 2025
See also:
The second DARC site is located at the UK Ministry of Defence Cawdor Barracks, near St Davids in Pembrokeshire, Wales. On 23 August 2024 the U.S. Defense Department awarded Northrop Grumman Systems a US$200,250,000 cost-plus-incentive-fee for ‘the the design, integration, and testing’ of the DARC Site 2 facility.
Cawdor Barracks, St Davids, Wales – Google Earth map
 DARC Site 2, Cawdor Barracks, Pembrokeshire, Wales |
Gynigiad ar gyfer DARC ym Marics Cawdor/ DARC Proposal at Cawdor Barracks, UK Ministry of Defence, [n.d.]
The Cawdor proposal has faced serious criticism, both locally and in Wakes and the United Kingdom more generally.
Jessica Elgot and Hannah Devlin, ‘Deep space radar site in Wales to go ahead to protect UK from “space warfare”‘, The Guardian, 8 August 2024
Aled Scourfield, ‘Space radar plan near national park “unacceptable”‘, BBC News, 12 June 2024
David Grundy, ‘Radar plans may allow Trump to dominate space from Wales’, BBC News,
5 March 2025
The Academi Heddwch Cymru or Welsh Peace Academy published The Deep-Space Advanced Radar Capability [DARC] Programme: Questions for Pembrokeshire and Wales, Academi Heddwch Cymru, October 2024, with questions and discussion focussing on five sections:
- the strategic context
- potential health impacts
- environmental impact
- economic potential
- implications for the Governance of Wales
Question 1: Is DARC compliant with international law and current norms concerning the non-militarisation of space?
Question 2: To what extent does DARC risk Wales’ stated aim of being a globally responsible nation?
Question 3: What will be the legal relationship between the UK and its allies at the base? What assurances are available that local and national regulations will be complied with? Who will own and use the information?
Question 4: Will an independent assessment be made of the potential health risks involved during both the construction and operation phases, including the presence of buried unexploded ordnance, radioactive materials and asbestos contamination?
Question 5: When will the environmental impact assessment be undertaken, by whom, what will be the process, who will be consulted, and how will this be sequenced with the MoD’s timeframe for construction?
Question 6: Will a full, independent economic assessment be undertaken which includes
consideration of the past performance of such projects in terms of economic growth and
employment? And will an assessment be made of the extent to which this will contribute to the militarisation of the Welsh economy?
Question 7: Will an economic assessment be made of potential alternative uses for the site, given the precedent of the Brawdy Business Park which has experienced high demand, helping to strengthen the local economy?
Question 8: Under what circumstances would the Welsh Government consider a debate in the Senedd to discuss DARC?
Question 9: Will the decision to grant planning approval reside solely in Wales or might another process – such as Permitted Development Rights – be used by the UK Government if planning approval is denied?
Question 10: Does the MoD intend to present a more detailed case for public scrutiny, and does it intend to be available subsequently for questioning on remaining issues of concern to local communities and the Welsh government?
Question 11: How does the MoD plan to engage further with local communities to build trust?
Question 12: How will the MoD engage with the Future Generations Commissioner and how does it propose to comply with the Well-being Goals?
See also: ‘Wales as a Nation of Peace‘, Academi Heddwch Cymru, 19 February 2025
PARC Against DARC is a longstanding and vigorous local group derived from an earlier campaign against a plan to build a U.S. X-band radar in the vicinity of St Davids: Pembrokeshire Against the Radar [PARC].
- ‘PARC‘, Wikipedia, [accessed 15 August 2025]