A new facility to support the Royal Air Force’s E-7 Wedgetail fleet has been officially opened at RAF Lossiemouth, Scotland.

The state-of-the-art structure, built by Boeing supplier McLaughlin & Harvey, will provide vital maintenance support for the fleet, which is set to deliver advanced Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) capabilities for the RAF.

The facility, located alongside the existing Atlantic Building that houses the UK’s Poseidon MRA Mk1 aircraft, was officially opened on 19th September 2024 by Air Commodore Alex Hicks, Head of Capability Delivery for ISR, during a ceremony attended by key stakeholders.

Hicks highlighted the significance of collocating the Poseidon and Wedgetail engineering teams, noting that the shared space would “bring significant advantage to Defence as they operate, train, and learn from each other.”

The E-7 Wedgetail, described as the world’s most advanced AEW&C platform, will enhance the RAF’s intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance capabilities. The facility, built over 18 months, involved more than 175 people at its peak and provided opportunities for local businesses, including Moray-based Simmers Contracts, which supplied 556 tonnes of steel and 7,000 square metres of cladding for the project.

Laura McNally, DE&S’ programme lead at RAF Lossiemouth, expressed pride in the completion of the facility, saying it was “another important milestone for this programme and we now look forward to the arrival of aircraft.” The E-7 Wedgetail will commence test flights later this year and is scheduled to enter service in 2025.

Ashley Parkes, Boeing Defence UK’s fixed wing director, praised the partnership with the Ministry of Defence and local suppliers, adding, “This facility is a critical step forward in ensuring the successful service introduction of the UK’s future E-7 fleet.”

George Allison
George Allison
George has a degree in Cyber Security from Glasgow Caledonian University and has a keen interest in naval and cyber security matters and has appeared on national radio and television to discuss current events. George is on Twitter at @geoallison
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42 COMMENTS

    • Umm…er…perhaps MoD should deliberate further upon the order of additional E-7 airframes. US NTSB has just released a report re a rudder issue w/ selected 737 models. Possible manufacturing/qc issue w/ bearings. Additionally, flight manual includes recommended corrective measures which may cause loss of a/c control upon landing and/or rollout. FAA convening board to examine issue(s). Boeing 737 a/c type began ops w/ Lufthansa in Feb 68. One might assume that issues w/ basic flight controls would have been resolved after 56 yrs., but evidently not. 🙄 Can personally attest that Boeing was a competent manufacturer, w/ a first rank engineering capability, in past decades. Someone knowledgeable should write about the recent trevails of a once proud and preeminent corporation Would be quite content to read it, during next flight aboard an Airbus a/c. Rant over. 🤔😉

      • At any given moment 1,000+ 737’s are airborne. AD’s are issued all the time. Airbus has one active for the A321 due to a loss of control when the airplane is loaded within it’s originally designed CG envelope.

  2. I’d have preferred the Wedgetail went to Waddington myself.
    I’m not comfortable with putting all our remaining assets in a handful of sites to improve efficiency, no matter how bad we think Russia’s missile systems might be and what they’d need to fly through, ignoring any sub launched from the N West or West.

    And right next to Atlantic building, with no GBAD whatsoever..
    👌
    Perfect.

      • Bit of an exaggeration mate. 😉
        It’s 8.
        Plus a fee smaller stations.
        Back in the mid 2000s, the fast jet fleet alone was spread over 8 stations.

        • Thanks. I thought the ‘fighting’ Typhoons were just at Lossiemouth and Conningsby. I was not considering the OCU etc. Thought I saw it on the RAF website a few months ago. You will be right of course. Many thanks!

          • Two things, I was focusing on UK only stations and those with a fair number of aircraft.
            I wasn’t including what I termed minor stations like Northolt or Benson.
            Akrotiri and MPA are large in area but only have 3 and 6 aircraft located. ( I don’t include the privatised SAR helis)

            The 8 I considered were:

            Marham.
            Lossimouth.
            Coningsby.
            Brize Norton.
            Waddington.
            Odiham.
            Valley.
            Shawbury.

            Other stations:
            Northolt.
            Cranwell.
            Barkston Heath.
            Benson.

            The location with the greatest number of assets I’d suggest would be RNAS Yeovilton.

          • How dare you, I did my Air Experience Flying at Benson!
            The Oxford University Air Squadron is hardly “minor” is it? 😉

          • I tagged along with a navy section trip aboard HMS Queen Elizabeth.
            A tour of the ship (ops room, accomodation flight deck +Wildcat) and then a sort of Navy trade fair set up in the hangar.
            Best CCF thing I’ve done 😁

          • Should have said “down the A3”, shouldn’t I
            I meant that we drove along it, not that Portsmouth is next to the A3.
            Oh well…

          • 😆 I would still have probably got it wrong as I’d have listed all the facilities around Portsmouth and Portsdown ( lots ) and still ignored a ship.

          • Ah, MISC. I still call that place Land Based Test Site. I can raise you with a few places locally mate!
            Fort Nelson? Nah. I like current stuff.

          • I meant among the many places around Portsmouth area mate.
            Where we live and work is boring. ( I think you’re same sort of area as me )
            Very poor fayre beyond Aldershot Garrison, Farnborough, and the army places like Pirbright, Camberley and Sandhurst. Odiham a bit further away west.
            Cold War days there were a few more, like Cobbet Hill, and Lasham, all long gone.
            South, not far from the A3, you had Bordon. And there’s still the SATCOM sites around Oakhanger.
            Closed, but of great interest, would have been HMS Mercury(Leydene) and a Home Office place closer to Horsham.
            I love this stuff. 🤣

          • Think I’m between you and London.
            Brother went to Purbright recently with CCF
            I’ve been to Odiham with CCF
            Have been to the Farnborough Centrifuge on a Physics trip, but never to the airfield or airshow (saving that for after A levels)

          • Good to see the CCF is still around in schools.
            My high school in Wimbledon had a section back in the 80s, I guess it was a much bigger installation then.
            Like a Muppet, I didn’t join it.

          • Ours has got bigger.
            The C/O goes on about how it was only the Army when he joined and branched out since then.
            The MOD don’t give as many grants for trips now, though. Before I joined there was a subsidised one to Malta for scuba diving.
            Turns out the guy who does admin/uniforms for us is an ex-Marine Captain who was on HMS Ocean. Got a LOT of respect from the gate security.

      • I’d be amazed if it was listed to close considering the things that are there.
        It’s a busy station.
        One problem that doesn’t seem to be considered when the government, list, almost wildly, places to be sold off, is the cost of relocating the occupants.
        Bases listed to close years ago had the closure rescinded as either the money couldn’t be found or the space elsewhere.

    • Presumably the engineering sustainment reason only applies to P8 and E7 based on Boeing 737, and not RC135W which is based on Boeing 707 or 717 so from a different era and way of working.

      Even with a single type on site, the numbers are so small that GBAD would seem essential.
      There’s a selection of threats from air, sea and sub surface that make UK Bases vulnerable.

      Whilst dispersal to civilian airports is possible its not possible to pick from prepared public highway like it is with fighters and rotors.

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