The best fences couldn't keep intruders out, RAF insiders claim
Spending 'many millions' to install barbed wire-topped high fences at every base would therefore not materially improve security, they argued.
Just weeks after Palestine Action activists broke into RAF Brize Norton, Britain's largest air base, the soon-to-be proscribed group has pledged to raid others in protest against Israel's war in Gaza.
The Telegraph has found a number of the RAF's most important bases are susceptible to such attacks, with 'vulnerable' airstrips protected by hedges, wooden fences or nothing at all.
Security weaknesses included wooden fences, drystone walls, weakly defended emergency access points and unmanned gate barriers.
A mooted future home for the new nuclear-capable F35 fighter jets is kept behind a 5ft-high fence.
The Telegraph has chosen not to name the bases visited or to detail precisely where weaknesses are along their perimeters.
But the revelations prompted calls for a programme of fence-building to prevent future break-ins.
RAF insiders, however, said the best barriers could still be broken into in 'three to five minutes'.
'The bottom line to the defence estate and certainly the RAF estate is that we have big chunks of land in the middle of nowhere, and those big chunks of land have massive perimeters,' one source said.
'Now let's say we did put up – at the cost of many millions of pounds, and I have no idea how much it would cost – 12ft high fencing.
'Heathrow call it three-minute fencing because their security team estimates that a high security fence will only delay somebody with intent and with the right tools for approximately three to five minutes.
'So you can put up as much fencing as you like, but it's not a panacea.'
Sources said the Armed Forces could not afford to install 'thousands of miles' of high-security fences and instead had to focus on protecting the 'most sensitive' assets.
'We put security where we think we really need it, where our key most sensitive assets are, and we can't afford to put it everywhere,' one said. 'So let's focus on what the key things are and not on what we don't deem essential.
'Does that mean we don't want bigger fences, more fences and larger ones? No, we do.
'You could probably wander around the Army estate or the Navy estate and you'd find exactly the same things. Because again, the high-sensitive areas will have high security.'
The source added: 'So how do you do security? You choose the areas that are most sensitive and that need to be most secure, and then you focus on that.'
The Armed Forces also use intelligence, CCTV, electronic sensors, patrols and reaction forces to secure their bases, and measures have been enhanced since the Brize Norton infiltration, they added.
A review is currently underway to assess weaknesses and identify improvements, a Ministry of Defence spokesman revealed.
They added: 'We take security extremely seriously and operate a multi-layered approach to protect our sites, including fencing, patrols and CCTV monitoring.
'Following the security incident at RAF Brize Norton, we are urgently reviewing security procedures across the Defence estate and have immediately implemented a series of enhanced security measures at all sites.
'After years of hollowing out and underfunding of the Armed Forces, the Strategic Defence Review concluded that we need to invest more in this area, backed by the largest sustained increase in defence spending since the end of the Cold War.'
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