A new research headquarters for Chinese car manufacturer Chery, located near a key Ministry of Defence (MoD) testing site in Bedfordshire, has raised significant concerns among former military intelligence officials about potential espionage.
Phil Ingram, a former Colonel in the Army Intelligence Corps, told The Telegraph that the proximity of Chery's facility to the UTAC Millbrook testing grounds places Beijing in an advantageous position to gather intelligence on Britain's military advancements. "We will have a Chinese hi-tech company that produces surveillance devices in the shape of an automobile beside one of our classified military vehicle testing grounds… We need to be extremely wary of this," Ingram stated.
The UTAC Millbrook site, one of Europe's largest testing centers, is utilized by the MoD to test nearly all of its wheeled military vehicles, including the Boxer armored transporter. The facility boasts 40 miles of specialized tracks across its 700-acre expanse. Next month, it is scheduled to host Defence Vehicle Dynamics, an exhibition for the defense industry.
Chery has characterized its establishment at Millbrook as a "major expansion" for its global research and development efforts. The company will share the same testing tracks as the MoD to evaluate vehicle and chassis performance.
Concerns about Chery's vehicles and potential surveillance capabilities have surfaced previously. In Israel, the IDF's use of approximately 700 Chery vehicles, primarily Tiggo 8 Pro plug-in hybrids, by high-ranking officers led intelligence chiefs to worry about China's potential to eavesdrop on sensitive conversations.
Chery has denied any intentions of spying on MoD testing or acquiring secret military data.