MINISTRY OF Defence officials are dealing with the unintended release of an email revealing a plan to make ammunition in Argyll.
The blunder uncovers the Finnart oil terminal on Loch Long is being considered as a new arms factory.
It came out following a Freedom of Information request by The Ferret news site. It had called on the MoD to furnish information about a secretive programme codenamed Project Nobel to boost UK production of explosives used in guns and artillery. It is believed the project is named after the dynamite inventor Alfred Nobel.
Loch Long was inadvertently identified because the redacted text released by the Ministry could actually be revealed by simply copying and pasting it all into another document.
At least 13 sites across the UK, including the former Grangemouth oil refinery near Falkirk, have been identified for new factories to make munitions and military explosives, with Defence Secretary John Healey expecting the arms industry to break ground atthefirstplantnextyear.
The UK Government is committed to building at least six new munitions and energetics factories before the next election, creating at least 1,000 jobs.
The revelation comes as a report by the Commons Defence Committee said the UK “lacks a plan for defending the homeland and overseas territories” as it urged the government to launch a “co-ordinated effort to communicate with the public on the level of threat we face”.
Mr Healey said he acknowledges the dangers facing the UK, adding the country is in what he described as “a new era of threat” that “demands a new era for defence”.
The Loch Long factory plan is unfolding as a Russian spy ship is currently on the edge of UK waters, the defence secretary announced.
Mr Healey said it was the second time the ship, the Yantar, had been deployed to UK waters.
Giving a news conference in Downing Street, he said: “A Russian spy ship, the Yantar, is on the edge of UK waters north of Scotland, having entered the UK’s wider waters over the last few weeks.
“This is a vessel designed for gathering intelligence and mapping our undersea cables. We deployed a Royal Navy frigate and RAF planes to monitor and track this vessel’s every move, during which the Yantar directed lasers at our pilots.
“That Russian action is deeplydangerousandthis is the second time this year that this ship, the Yantar,
has deployed to UK waters.” Mr Healey added: “So my message to Russia and to Putin is this: we see you, weknowwhatyou’redoing, and if the Yantar travels south this week, we are ready.”
The Ministry of Defence has apologised for inadvertently revealing Loch Long among other places as potential armament sites, saying no final decision has been made. The Scottish Government said it was unaware of any MoD development programme at Loch Long or Grangemouth.
