A Moray military base could again host surveillance aircraft – just four years after the RAF’s fleet of Nimrods was scrapped.
A Westminster defence review – which is due to be published in the next few weeks – is widely expected to recommend the return of maritime patrol aircraft (MPA).
The decision not to replace the Nimrods and close what was RAF Kinloss and is now an Army barracks was met with widespread criticism from both the Moray community and defence experts.
The UK has since had to borrow Nato planes to scan its waters for submarines amid an increased Russian military presence around Britain’s coastlines and its airspace.
The Ministry of Defence is now understood to be pricing nine Boeing P-8 Poseidon aircraft, which could cost about £150million each.
RAF Waddington, near Lincoln, is strongly placed to accommodate any replacement for the Nimrods as it is the air force’s current intelligence and surveillance headquarters.
Kinloss is also under consideration to host a detachment of the MPA, while the former RAF base at Leuchars in Fife is also expected to be a leading contender.
Moray MP Angus Robertson rallied behind the calls for a return of MPA to Scotland and Moray.
He 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.”
Last night, a retired RAF engineer, who was formerly stationed in Moray, said: “It’s general knowledge the RAF are currently costing buying the P-8.
“We are the goalies defending the UK from all the Russian stuff coming over the Baltics and Norway and the UK has been embarrassed by having to bring in the US, French and German MPA to do surveillance for us.
“The Army have done nothing at Kinloss, compared to what they have been allowed to do to some of the old RAF bases in England.
“You have to ask why those brand new buildings are being kept there, if not for the air force to return.”
An MoD spokeswoman said last night: “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.
“No further capability decisions have been made.”