THE LAST RAF Typhoon is likely to leave Leuchars by September 2014, with the Fife base handed over to the army by January 2015.
A source said a meeting took place yesterday on the base between the deputy station commander and several RAF personnel and civil servants regarding the future of Leuchars as an air base. Trade union officials were also present.
Staff were told aircraft will be gone by September 2014. The army is expected to take over by the following January, with two infantry battalions, an HQ and a Royal Military Police unit posted in.
Civil service redundancies and early retirement packages were also likely, the source said, while lodger and reserve force units would likely remain at Leuchars.
Last night no one from the Ministry of Defence could be contacted for comment.
However, after 18 months of speculation about its ongoing basing review, and uncertainty over troop numbers returning from Germany, the MoD confirmed last month that its plans for a “major army presence” at Leuchars still stood, with a formal announcement to be made this year.
