The majority of the 153 BDUK jobs will be based at RAF
Lossiemouth – the home of the Poseidon fleet – and will
provide aircraft maintenance support and personnel
alongside a comprehensive training package for aircraft
crews. The remaining 46 jobs will be spread across sites at
Bristol, Yeovil and Gosport.
Specialising in anti-submarine warfare, the Poseidon (P-8A)
is the RAF’s multi-role maritime patrol aircraft. Working
alongside the Royal Navy and close maritime allies such as
the United States and Norway, Poseidon locates, identifies
and tracks potentially hostile submarines operating around
UK waters.
Defence Secretary said:
Our new Poseidon fleet continues to grow from strength to
strength and is already defending the UK’s maritime
interests at home and abroad.
This contract with Boeing Defence UK secures our critical
submarine-hunting aircraft capabilities whilst also
creating a home-grown training enterprise and creating
over 150 British jobs.
Scottish Secretary said:
This contract award and the creation of more than 100
jobs at RAF Lossiemouth is another great example of the
benefits UK defence investment brings to Scotland.
The Moray station’s fleet of Poseidon submarine hunting
aircraft are vital to maintaining the security of the UK
and our NATO allies. And the prosperity generated by
defence employment in Scotland, alongside the UK
Government’s Plan for Jobs, will help us build back
better from the pandemic.
This latest contract builds on the £470 million investment
that the Poseidon programme has already driven to RAF
Lossiemouth and the local area, creating and sustaining
jobs and boosting the local economy.
The Poseidon fleet is operated from a new £100 million
facility at RAF Lossiemouth, opened in September 2020. Over
300 jobs were supported during the facility’s construction.
The facility has a three-bay hangar, accommodation for
squadrons, training, mission support and two state-of-the
art flight simulators.
RAF Lossiemouth has also undergone a £75 million upgrade to
the runway and other operating surfaces. It will be the
future home of the UK’s fleet of Wedgetail Airborne Early
Warning surveillance aircraft, Scotland’s crucial role in
UK and NATO defence and security.
DE&S P-8A Poseidon team leader, Malcolm French said:
I am extremely proud of the P-8A delivery team and what
is yet another example of great delivery by DE&S.
Placed to a tight timescale, and encompassing exacting
requirements, this contract helps enable the full range
of capability that Poseidon brings to be realised, sees
our modern aircraft fully supported, and our personnel
being trained from state-of-the-art facilities.
Nine Poseidon, based on the Boeing 737-800, have already
been ordered from Boeing by the UK. Five aircraft named the
‘Pride of Moray’, ‘City of Elgin’, ‘Terence Bulloch’,
‘Spirit of Reykjavik’ and ‘Fulmar’ are all now operating
out of Lossiemouth, with four more to come later this year.
The new investment in the Poseidon fleet is supported by
the £24 billion increase to defence spending over the next
four years and will ensure the aircraft can continue to
undertake its vital role in securing our seas and combating
rapidly evolving threats.
