As controversy over the decision to close RAF Leuchars continues to rage, The Courier has been handed dramatic images showing Fife crews shadowing Russian aircraft flying in the NATO air policing area.
Typhoons from Number 6 Squadron at Leuchars are still responsible for maintaining the Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) mission, designed to protect the northern half of the UK from any potential terror threats.
However, the fast jets will soon be moved to RAF Lossiemouth in Moray after the UK Government took the decision to axe the base.
The latest pictures taken just a few days ago have added yet more fuel to the fire of campaigners insisting the decision to close Leuchars represents a colossal mistake.
A spokesman for the RAF said the snaps had been taken after crews from Fife were launched to intercept two aircraft that could not be identified.
Pilots from the suspect planes identified as Russian Long Range Aviation (LRA) assets better known as ”Bears” were refusing to talk to either civilian or military air traffic control.
Meanwhile, no flight plans had been filed and no recognisable surveillance radar code was being transmitted.
Typhoons from 6 Squadron quickly caught up with the planes and ”maintained contact” until they had cleared the UK’s flight information region.
Despite the imminent move north, crews from Leuchars remain dedicated to their QRA mission, which is described as their ”top priority”.
North East Fife MP Sir Menzies Campbell a vociferous critic of plans to close RAF Leuchars insisted the new pictures represent yet more proof of the base’s critical role.
”These remarkable photographs are a graphic illustration of the sometimes daily responsibilities of aircraft from RAF Leuchars,” he told The Courier.
”No one could be in any doubt after seeing these compelling pictures that RAF Leuchars is in the right place and still doing the right job.
”These photographs provide every justification for Leuchars continuing to provide an essential component in Britain’s air defence.”
Jets from RAF Leuchars have been scrambled more than 50 times in the last five years to intercept Russian military aircraft.
Campaigners insist the frequency of such incidents remains significant and underlines the importance of maintaining the country’s air defence.
Russian crafts are entitled to fly in the Nato air policing area which includes UK airspace but are intercepted when they cannot be identified.
While such incursions may not always be particularly sinister, the ability of the Fife base to quickly intercept any airborne terrorist attacks had also been seen as key by many influential figures including some RAF chiefs who had argued for the retention of the facility.
Fast jets from Leuchars could be at ”tier one” targets such as Grangemouth oil refinery in a matter of seconds.
”The defence case for the base’s retention was overwhelming and I have yet to hear any argument to the contrary,” Sir Menzies said.
”As these pictures once again show, RAF Leuchars has executed its Quick Reaction Alert responsibilities in an exemplary manner and is uniquely located to deter and defend against terrorist threats to tier one risk installations.”