Tri-Service

RAF Touted For Return To Kinloss Or Leuchars

There's growing speculation that the RAF could soon return to either the Kinloss or Leuchars military bases.

The Ministry of Defence is understood to be considering the purchase of eight or nine Boeing P-8 Poseidon surveillance aircraft with next month's Strategic Defence and Security Review expected to recommend the return of maritime patrol aircraft.

Following the decision to scrap the RAF's Nimrods the UK has been forced to seek help from NATO partners in order to patrol and protect Britain's coastal waters from among others an increased Russian military presence.

A New Maritime Patrol Aircraft For The UK?

As the headquarters for the Royal Air Force's intelligence and surveillance operations RAF Waddington is a likely contender to host the return of any such MPA fleet. But there's increasing calls for Kinloss or Leuchars to be reopened as air bases.

Speaking to Aberdeen's Press and Journal the Moray MP Angus Robertson said: "We require MPA as a priority, which should be stationed in Scotland, given the geographic proximity to their tasks.

“Kinloss has been home to MPA for decades and could easily operate the joint air force and Army facility. The UK is the only northern European nation with armed forces without MPA. This is totally ludicrous, not least because of the ongoing security situation in the world and concerns over submarine incursions into our waters.”

RAF Kinloss, now home to the 39 Engineer Regiment, closed as an airfield in 2012 and would require its runways to be resurfaced.

Meanwhile in a report in the Scotsman the former Dunfermline and West Fife MP Thomas Docherty says Leuchars "would make sense" with the runway infrastructure still intact.

The MoD however say "The Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 is considering the current and likely future national security risks and in turn the capabilities the armed services will need to address these risks in the future.