RAF Kinloss set to close

RAF Kinloss, Scotland, looks set to close after prime minister David Cameron announced he was cutting the programme for the MRA4 replacement Nimrod aircraft and stated that the base "would no longer be required" as a result.The predecessor Nimrod MR2 aircraft was retired earlier this year and it was widely anticipated that the new aircraft would be arriving soon.The MoD have spent billions of pounds in preparing the base for the new aircraft with new infra-structure and the development of the new plane.

There are 1500 personnel currently employed at RAF Kinloss – approximately 1275 are servicemen and women, with around 250 civilians and contractors. They have been told that the process for any redundancies will start in April next year.

The strategic defence review has also posed more questions than answers with an indication by the prime minister, that the RAF base could be used in the future to house Army troops returning from Germany. There is no timescale or other information for this.