Commander Says Kinloss Has A Future

[GOOSE]

From hmforces.co.uk -

THE commander of RAF Kinloss says he is confident of a long-term future for the base, despite doubts over whether it will survive.

Concern for the Moray base arose after this week’s announcement that its fleet of 11 MR2 Nimrods will be taken out of service a year earlier than planned and the nine replacement MRA4 aircraft will be phased in a year later to save money.

About 250 service personnel were due to be redeployed from Kinloss as part of the switch, but many are now expected to go earlier than planned. It will also affect about 100 civilian contractors.

Group Captain Robbie Noel, station commander, said: “There were a lot of fears and most of them have been assuaged as far as the base being given a clean bill of health with a long-term future as the base for MRA4s.”

The MR2 planes will go out of service by 31 March next year and the first of the new aircraft will arrive in February, although they will not be operational for many months.

There had been speculation that Kinloss might close altogether, and it still faces uncertainty with a forthcoming Strategic Defence Review.

But Gp Capt Noel said staff were now “generally optimistic” about the future.

He said there would be a “gap in capability” between the existing Nimrods being withdrawn and their replacements becoming operational.


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[Sheff]

You have to wonder why he even bothered saying anything. It's not as if anyone believes a word of it - including himself probably!

[RichC]

The Commander of Cottesmore said that, and St Mawgan, and Lyneham, and ....

[Pen Pusher]

The Commander of Cottesmore said that, and St Mawgan, and Lyneham, and ....

...Finningley

Brian