Scotland - 2019/2020

[boff180]

Starting Summer 2019 the runway at RAF Lossiemouth will receive major refurbishment works lasting until late 2020.

For a 6 week period, the Northern QRA will relocate to RAF Leuchars.

All other Typhoon operations will relocate to RAF Kinloss for the duration of the works.

In addition the first few P-8, scheduled for delivery in early 2020, will operate from RAF Kinloss until works are complete at RAF Lossiemouth.

Andy

(Source:- Letter from the MoD sent to an MSP who has subsequently published it)

[Spiny Norman]

Starting Summer 2019 the runway at RAF Lossiemouth will receive major refurbishment works lasting until late 2020.

For a 6 week period, the Northern QRA will relocate to RAF Leuchars.

All other Typhoon operations will relocate to RAF Kinloss for the duration of the works.

In addition the first few P-8, scheduled for delivery in early 2020, will operate from RAF Kinloss until works are complete at RAF Lossiemouth.

Andy

(Source:- Letter from the MoD sent to an MSP who has subsequently published it)

That's interesting. It was genius of the Long Term Planning Department at the MOD to close two RAF bases, hand them over to the army and then realise they need them back as air bases, to which they had been for the majority of their existence.

Kinloss should have been retained as a maritime base and Leuchars a fighter base. Politics and sensible defence decisions rarely coincide...

[Skyflash]

Pleased to see the return of any kind of RAF fast-jet involvement at Leuchars although if it's just QRA, with the majority of the fleet up the road at Kinloss, presumably it will be pretty quiet most of the time.

I agree with Spiny though, neither base should have been closed/re-purposed in the first place. Awful decisions.

[Unknown74]

Fantastic Spiny Norman, I agree with you 100%. A series of ludicrous decisions made by an incompetent Defence Minister as part of his big plan to save the country money and bring the Army back from Germany.

Come to think of it how come we can afford to refurbish a runway, that costs money doesn't it? Money we apparently don't have.

[vandal]

Fantastic Spiny Norman, I agree with you 100%. A series of ludicrous decisions made by an incompetent Defence Minister as part of his big plan to save the country money and bring the Army back from Germany.

Come to think of it how come we can afford to refurbish a runway, that costs money doesn't it? Money we apparently don't have.

Maybe came from the same place they were to get the £130 million that was to be spent over 5 years, 2010-2015 preparing Leuchars for Typhoon, only to then move them to Lossie. £3 million spent in a seven month period alone, and at a time when it was known the base was threatened with closure.


https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland- ... e-13959770

https://www.scotsman.com/news/mod-to-sa ... f-1-834986

[Unknown74]

The fact that the normal Typhoon Operations are using Kinloss must be a bonus for visitors to Morayvia.

Feel a little disappointed Leuchars is only operating QRA North for a short period of time.

[toom317]

The fact that the normal Typhoon Operations are using Kinloss must be a bonus for visitors to Morayvia.

Feel a little disappointed Leuchars is only operating QRA North for a short period of time.

I would think it has to do with accomodation. Personnel will still be based at Lossie and transported over to Kinloss for work, and maybe use the messes there. It would be a major pain trying to accommodate most of Lossie's personnel at Leuchars. Then there's travel, separation, and god knows what other types of financial allowances would kick in, if folk were away from their normal base/families for any length of time.

Also, it is quite worrying that Lossie is getting work done on it. That's usually a sign that an airfield is to close in the near future.