RAF Lossiemouth’s fifth member of its new P-8 Poseidon fleet landed at the base for the first time today.
Eventually nine of the submarine-hunting spy planes will operate from Moray while tasked with maintaining a watchful eye on the North Atlantic.
Fulmar was the first of the Poseidons to make trip from Boeing’s factory in Seattle to Lossiemouth directly with the crew completing the flight in just over eight hours.
The aircraft takes its name from when the military base was named HMS Fulmar when it was operated by the Navy between 1946 and 1972.
It joins Pride of Moray, City of Elgin, Terence Bulloch and Spirit of Reykjavik as part of CXX Squadron.
RAF Lossiemouth says Fulmar’s arrival coincides with “unprecedented submarine activity” close to UK waters.
The Poseidon fleet’s mission is to monitor the seas around the country for potential intruders and defend the Navy’s own submarines.
A £470million upgrade of RAF Lossiemouth has been commission in order to get the base ready for running the nine-strong fleet of spy planes.
The work has included a new hangar with offices to plan missions and a resurfaced and strengthened runway to accommodate the larger planes.
RAF Lossiemouth is the air force’s only operational base in Scotland. It is also home to four frontline Typhoon squadrons, which are ready to scramble to any potential threat approaching UK airspace.
