US wants son of Star Wars base in Britain

But it would not protect the UK and could make the country a prime target for a "first strike" nuclear attack.

The system is made up of a battery of radar-controlled ground-to-air missiles and is designed to protect the US Eastern seaboard, including New York and Washington, from a nuclear strike from Iran or another Middle Eastern rogue state.

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Any move to site the system in Britain would be deeply opposed by anti-nuclear campaigners and backbench Labour MPs who have already voiced concerns over the decision to allow a US early-warning radar station to be built in Yorkshire.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice meets her opposite number in Russia next Friday in a final attempt to persuade Moscow to allow the interceptor system to be built in neighbouring Poland and the Czech Republic.

But with President Putin likely to block any deal as a threat to Russian security, the Pentagon is now looking for somewhere else to put the missiles and the top-secret X-band radar base that controls them.

X-band works alongside broader-band radar systems such as the one now in place at RAF Fylingdales in Yorkshire.

This is used to spot a missile launch and give the general flight path of an incoming missile, then the X-band radar – having been told where to look – can lock on to the missile and track it with enormous accuracy.

Information from the X-band radar is then used to guide an interceptor.

The Mail on Sunday has learned that the Government has opened talks to allow the US to put both the missiles and the radar station on British soil.

The system could be installed on ships around the British coastline, probably in the North Sea, or secret US-controlled installations such as the Menwith Hill spy station near Harrogate.

New British Ambassador to Washington Sir Nigel Sheinwald, Tony Blair's former foreign policy adviser, has been put in charge of the delicate negotiations.

And even if the Russians relent and allow the bases to be built on their borders, Britain is still likely to be used for a back-up X-radar station and missile battery.

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The system was successfully tested for the first time ten days ago and the Pentagon is planning to spend £24billion installing it over the next five years.

Missile expert Philip Coyle, of the Washington-based Center for Defense Information, said the US military boasts that X-band radar can "see a golf ball at 3,000 miles".

However, he added, it had a narrow focus and it was like "looking at the world through a straw".

Dr Coyle said that the Bush administration wanted a "layered" system of missile defence and that "it would not be inconsistent" to put X-band radar or interceptors in Britain as well as in Poland and the Czech Republic to act as a back-up system.

He said the original idea had been to put an X-band radar as the second layer of missile defence on Baffin Island but Canada had rejected the idea.

Dr Coyle added: "The US military is now rummaging around for another site for X-band radar and it wouldn't be surprising if that ended up in Britain."

A senior diplomatic source confirmed Britain was negotiating a key role in the missile-defence project and that plans for both an X-band radar-tracking station and interceptor missiles on British soil had not been ruled out.

"Everything is still on the table," he said. Meanwhile, a Foreign Office spokesman confirmed missile defence was one of the key topics on the agenda for Sir Nigel when he takes up his Washington post.

The spokesman added: "Britain is giving its full support to US plans to site its missile-defence system in Europe. Britain has regular discussions over our possible role but talks are at an early stage."

Last week General Henry Obering, director of the US Missile Defense Agency, confirmed the successful interceptor tests.

He said the impetus was now to find a host nation "so that we can move ahead with construction".

Asked what happened if the Czech Republic decided against allowing a radar site, he said: "There are other countries that could host the radar or the interceptor as well."