Armed forces in Scotland



This is a list of active military units, bases and barracks of the British Armed Forces in Scotland since the Treaty of Union 1707, when the Kingdom of Scotland relinquished its independence and formed a union with the Kingdom of England to the create the Kingdom of Great Britain. As a result, Scottish armed forces were merged, together with the English armed forces, into the British Army.

The armed forces in Scotland include military bases and units based in Scotland or associated with Scotland, from all three services; The British Army (regular and Army Reserve), the RAF and the Navy. These consist primarily of servicemen and women from Scotland.

History
Prior to the Treaty of Union 1707, the Kingdom of Scotland's army was the Scots Army and their navy was the Royal Scots Navy. Today, the Royal Regiment of Scotland – the most senior and only Scottish regiment line infantry of the British Army – consists of several infantry battalions, namely, the Royal Highland Fusiliers (2 SCOTS), the Black Watch (3 SCOTS), the Highlanders (Seaforth, Gordons and Camerons) (4 SCOTS), and the Balaklava Company, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (5 SCOTS). The reserve battalions include the 52nd Lowland Volunteers, 6th Battalion (6 SCOTS), the 51st Highland Volunteers, 7th Battalion (7 SCOTS), the Band of the Royal Regiment of Scotland and the Lowland Band of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. The Royal Scots Borderers (1 SCOTS) was disbanded in 2021, with its personnel forming the 1st Battalion of the newly formed Ranger Regiment (1 RANGERS).

The Scots Guards is one of the five Foot Guards regiments of the British Army. Its origins are as the personal bodyguard of King Charles I of England and Scotland.

Presence
The military presence in Scotland as of 2021 consisted of the following:

As of April 2021, the Regular Armed Forces in Scotland included; 3,790 in the Army, 4,270 in the Navy and 2,060 in the Air Force.
 * 10,440 Regular Armed Forces personnel
 * 5,320 Reserve Personnel
 * 4,030 Civilian Personnel

UK government policy
Defence and national security are reserved matters which are the responsibility of the UK parliament and reserved matters are set out in schedule 5 of the Scotland Act 1998. The UK Government claims that Scotland’s geography, and military capabilities is important for the UK and NATO’s defence and security in the North Atlantic and the High North. The UK government identified the following factors that may influence priorities in these regions;

The UK Government made a pledge of 12,500 regular armed forces by 2020 which not been meet and has thus been criticised by the Scottish government. The Scottish government argues that Westminster's commitment to nuclear weapons has led to other aspects of Scottish defence weakened and that Trident renewal will reduce funding for conventional equipment and the number service personnel. They also claim that "cost overruns are endemic and major projects have been significantly delayed" and uses the example of two aircraft carriers built before availability of aircraft for them.
 * Increasing Russian hostilities
 * Chinese interest in Arctic politics
 * New sea routes & traffic (including new routes opened by retreating ice)
 * Resource competition
 * Vulnerability of offshore and subsea infrastructure e.g 2022 Nord Stream pipeline sabotage

Scottish Government policy


Whilst deference and security remains a reserved matter to the UK Government under the terms of the Scotland Act 1998, the Scottish Government does have a role to play in terms of supporting Scotland's military personnel and veterans. The Scottish Government advocates that it "aims to put the needs of the armed forces and veterans community at the forefront of policy thinking, development and delivery" as it "recognises the sacrifice of the armed forces, veterans and their families". A junior ministerial post was created in the Scottish Government under First Minister Humza Yousaf. The Minister for Veterans provides an update to the Scottish Parliament annually on the governments work relating to community support for Scotland's personnel and veterans. The Minister for Veterans is responsible for ensuring Scottish Government support is in place for veterans and currently serving personnel.

The main objectives of the Scottish Government through its policy approach to supporting Scottish military personnel and veterans is:


 * to ensure no individual faces disadvantage if they are either current service personnel or veterans, and their families in Scotland are able to access public services and support
 * that Scotland is viewed as a ‘destination of choice’ for service leavers and their families
 * to provide substantial and visible Scottish Government support and services for the armed forces community

Expenditure
The following table lists the annual public expenditure allocated to Scotland from 2013/14 to 2021/22 according to the Office for National Statistics and below is the Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom) expenditure in Scotland itself:

Policy
The UK government views the UK's defence as being "stronger and safer" with cooperative Scottish participation in the combined defence and security of the UK. The UK government claims for 2021/22 that defence spending per capita was £370 in Scotland and £310 for the whole of the UK.

In 2023, then First Minister Humza Yousaf said that an independent Scotland would aim to maintain 2% GDP defence spending to meet the NATO target.

Army
The centre of Army operations in Scotland is Leuchars Station in Fife, the base for the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, which also houses Royal Engineers, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, and Royal Military Police units. Robin Lindsay is the Military Secretary and General Officer Scotland.

Policy
In 2021, UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace made a committment that the number of battalions stationed in Scotland would increase from six to seven units and that the Army in Scotland would be a "greater proportion of the Army than today". He also said that Kinloss and Leuchars bases would be expanded.

Redford Barracks is set to close in 2029 and Fort George is set to close in 2032 as part of the UK government's Future Soldier plan.

The Black Watch battalion will relocate from Fort George barracks to Leuchars (both in Scotland) in 2029. This would mean closure of Fort George in 2029 rather than 2032 as originally planned and the return of the Black Watch to the traditional recruiting area of Tayside.

Units based in Scotland



 * Headquarters, 51st Infantry Brigade and Headquarters Scotland
 * Royal Scots Dragoon Guards
 * Scottish and North Irish Yeomanry
 * Royal Regiment of Scotland: (Highland Fusiliers, Black Watch, Highlanders, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, 52nd Lowland Volunteers, 51st Highland Volunteers)
 * 105th Regiment Royal Artillery
 * 32 Signal Regiment
 * 154 (Scottish) Regiment RLC
 * 71 Engineer Regiment (United Kingdom)

Units based in England

 * Scots Guards
 * 19th Regiment Royal Artillery

Barracks

 * Edinburgh Castle - the army is responsible for the Barrack Block, GOC/Officers Mess, Royal Scots Headquarters, Royal Scots Museum, Royal Scots Dragoon Guards Museum, The Gunners house, Army Education Centre, Guardroom (part-shared with Historic Scotland).
 * Kinloss Barracks
 * Glencorse Barracks
 * Dreghorn Barracks
 * Cameron Barracks
 * Leuchars Station
 * Fort George, Highland (set to close in 2032)
 * Redford Barracks (set to close in 2029)

Army Reserve centres

 * Queen's Barracks

English units based in Scotland

 * 3rd Battalion, The Rifles


 * A Company, 4th Battalion, the Parachute Regiment


 * 5 Military Intelligence Battalion


 * Army Personnel Centre, Glasgow

Operations and policy
The Clyde naval base (Faslane) houses the nuclear-armed Vanguard 15 class submarines that form the "At-Sea Nuclear Deterrent". The base also houses the Astute Class of attack submarines and a frigate acting as a Towed Array Patrol ship operates that protect Trident-equipped submarines and perform anti-submarine activities.

Due to retreat of arctic ice, it is possible that maritime activity in the High North will increase with a further emphasis on RN activities from Scotland. This is made more likely by Russian emphasis on arctic naval activity.

Trident
The Scottish government and a cross-party majority in the Scottish Parliament is opposed to having nuclear weapons in Scotland. In the event of Scottish independence, which is supported by the Scottish government, the nuclear programme will be moved out of Scotland "at pace". The SNP have claimed that Scotland spends £180m annually on Trident alone, and so £180m would be saved each year with the removal of Trident and independence.

In the event of Scottish independence, the MOD of the UK's preferred option would be to move the at-sea nuclear deterrent base to Devonport naval base in Plymouth. The UK government has no plans to move Trident otherwise.

Bases & establishments

 * HMNB Clyde (Faslane) including RNAD Coulport
 * RM Condor
 * HMS Dalriada
 * British Underwater Test and Evaluation Centre (BUTEC)
 * HMS Caledonia & HMS Scotia
 * University Royal Naval Unit East Scotland
 * University Royal Naval Unit Glasgow
 * RAF Tain

Operations and policy
RAF assets in Scotland operate in defence of the North Atlantic and the High North via; surveillance, anti-submarine warfare and Quick Reaction Alert jets from Lossiemouth base, which is the primary air base in Scotland. The Air Officer Scotland is Air-Vice Marshall Ross Paterson.

GIUK gap
Surveillance of the Greenland-Iceland-UK Gap (GIUK gap) also occurs from Lossiemouth which contributes to Iceland's policing. The P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft is used in the GIUK gap and for anti-submarine warfare. Norwegian P-8As also use facilities at Lossiemouth, and the RAF also uses Norwegian bases. The Norwegian Ambassador says this provides cost savings and operational flexibility.

Stations

 * RAF Kirknewton
 * RAF Lossiemouth including: No. 1 Squadron RAF, No. 2 Squadron RAF, No. 6 Squadron RAF, No. 8 Squadron RAF, No. 9 Squadron RAF, No. 51 Squadron RAF, No. 120 Squadron RAF, No. 201 Squadron RAF, No. 2622 Squadron RAuxAF Regiment, 4 RAF Police Royal Air Force Mountain Rescue Service, Tain Air Weapons Range

Bases

 * RRH Benbecula
 * RRH Buchan
 * RAF Saxa Vord
 * Leuchars Diversion Airfield
 * RAF Lossiemouth
 * RAF Prestwick

Exercises
Twice a year Exercise Joint Warrior utilises the Royal Navy, Royal Marines, Royal Air Force and British Army, in cooperation with forces from 13 other countries in order to test NATO’s ‘Very High Readiness’ forces.

Veterans
As of 2017, there were around 230,000 veterans living in Scotland.

Policy
The Scottish government's policy on supporting veterans has included:


 * The appointment of the first-ever Scottish Veterans Commissioner in 2014
 * A Scottish Government Armed Forces Advocate, and expansion of the Scottish Armed Forces and Veterans Champions network
 * Over £1 million in direct support for projects and organisations that support veterans