RAF MARHAM SAVED

Minister of State for the Armed Forces - Nick Harvey M.P. has announced that RAF Marham is 'safe' from closure and that one of two RAF stations in Scotland will close. This has caused fury and embarrassment at the Ministry of Defence, as this should not have been revealed in this way and should have been announced to the House of Commons by the Secretary of State for Defence later in 2011.

See below the story from David Ross, Highland Correspondent of The Herald - Scotland newspaper.

28 January 2011

"Scotland’s RAF bases at Leuchars and Lossiemouth appear to be in a straight fight with each other for survival after the Government said it would be too expensive to shut a base in Norfolk.* The news the bases were fearing emerged yesterday when Armed Forces Minister Nick Harvey met representatives of the Moray Taskforce, which is fighting to save RAF Lossiemouth and minimise the impact of the closure of RAF Kinloss. Both RAF Lossiemouth and RAF Marham in Norfolk are home to Tornado squadrons, and it had been thought that one would close. However, the Government had previously said that no decision had been taken. Six members of the task force met with the minister at RAF Kinloss and emerged dejected, saying he had confirmed that RAF Marham had been saved. However, a final decision on whether Lossiemouth or RAF Leuchars in Fife will survive is not likely to be announced until the summer. Calum MacPherson, the taskforce’s spokesman, said: “We understand that RAF Marham is now safe. It is now between Leuchars and Lossiemouth. We were told it would be too expensive to relocate RAF Marham.” He said that they were also extremely disappointed that it was highly unlikely any decision would be taken before “Purdah” started in the run in to the Scottish elections. “That could mean we don’t get a decision until mid-July,” he said. If that was the case it would extend the uncertainty hanging over Moray where one-in-five jobs is supported by the two RAF bases. However, on Marham Mr Harvey said: “I think they are overstating what I said. I simply made the point that the costs of relocating the RAF out of Marham would be very high and first and foremost the purpose of this whole exercise is to try and achieve financial savings. We will await the verdict of the RAF investment appraisal, which we haven’t yet seen yet.” However, when The Herald talked to the taskforce again, all six members were adamant the minister had said it was now between Leuchars and Lossiemouth. Meanwhile, the minister also confirmed that the target date for closing the runway at RAF Kinloss was August 1. One of the first things to go will be air traffic control. Responding to criticism from six former defence chiefs that the scrapping of the Nimrod programme, which heralded the closure of Kinloss, would leave gaps in our defences, Mr Harvey said: “There is a gap. Nobody has pretended any different.” But he said the Government had to tackle the country’s deficit and that axing the Nimrod had been the most uncomfortable decision. He said: “It was one of the options and, it was decided this was an area where we were willing to take risks over the next few years. “One respects the view of the retired military chiefs but the decisions are taken by ministers now on the basis of the current military advice.” When asked if the decision would affect the UK’s ability to monitor Russian submarines, Mr Harvey said: “The Russian submarine activity in the North Sea remains quite busy. I am not going to say any more than that. The Russians have their sub-marines but the Cold War ended 20 years ago.”

Courtesy of Lowestoft Aviation Society - Suffolk's Eyes on the Skies

MoD scraps two Tornado squadrons

01 March 2011

Two Tornado squadrons are to be disbanded as part of cuts outlined in the Strategic Defence and Security Review, the Ministry of Defence has announced.
The RAF will lose XIII Squadron, currently based at RAF Marham, and 14 Squadron from RAF Lossiemouth.
The ministry said the loss of the squadrons was not an indication of the outcome of an ongoing review of basing throughout the UK.
The squadrons have been selected by the Air Force Board Standing Committee, and the seniority of each squadron was said to be a factor in each decision. The cuts will leave the RAF with five frontline Tornado squadrons and a total of 136 Tornado GR4 aircraft.
Personnel from the two squadrons will not automatically be made redundant, the RAF has said, with alternative work being found in the short term.
The RAF expects that "the majority" will be found alternative permanent roles, although not necessarily in the same location. Personnel in areas which the RAF has identified a surplus will be able to apply for, redundancy as well as exploring other options within the Service.

The squadrons will be formally stood down on 1 June.

Source: Defence Management

Marham involved in operations over Libya

19 March 2011: RAF Tornado GR4's from 9 Squadron at RAF Marham launched to attack air defence sites over Libya. All aircraft returned after a 8 hour, 3,000 miles round trip

20 March 2011: RAF Tornado GR4's repeated attacks on Libya, again all aircraft returned to RAF Marham safely. It is expected that aircraft may reposition closer to Libya over the next few days

21 March 2011: IX(B) Squadron have been moved to Gioia del Colle in southern Italy as part of the 906 Expeditionary Air Wing to perform operations over Libya under the UN Security Resolution 1973.