UK assets ‘boost’ importance of Scottish bases to NATO

The strategic significance of Scotland’s geographical location, in combination with the United Kingdom’s formidable defence capabilities, is instrumental not only to Scotland and the UK’s security but to the broader security of Europe, asserted Rt Hon James Heappey MP, Minister of State (Minister for Armed Forces), Ministry of Defence.

In a recent Scottish Affairs Committee meeting, Sally-Ann Hart MP questioned the Minister about the Ministry of Defence’s ability to manage the demands of securing the Arctic north and the North Atlantic while maintaining other defence priorities in the Baltic and Indo-Pacific regions.

Heappey asserted that the Euro-Atlantic area was non-negotiable in terms of the UK’s defence commitment, indicating that any expansion into the Indo-Pacific would be in addition to, and not at the expense of, the Euro-Atlantic focus. He noted that the control of access to the North Atlantic via the Greenland-Iceland-UK gap was as vital to NATO as the ability to line up tanks along its eastern land borders, challenging a common perception of NATO’s threat profile.

Heappey further emphasised the strategic role of UK’s capabilities stationed in Scotland, stressing that their presence significantly enhanced the strategic value of Scotland’s geography to NATO’s defence strategy. He argued that it wasn’t merely the presence of facilities like the naval base at Faslane or the runway at Lossiemouth that were critical, but the UK’s specific military capabilities that are deployed there.

“United Kingdom capabilities play a strategic role from the Scottish geography. I think that is the best way of defining it. It is not just that there is the availability of a naval base at Faslane; if that naval base was open to frigates, it would be useful, but nowhere near as useful as it is as a base from which UK, US and other allied nuclear-powered, hunter-killer submarines operate from and, of course, a base from which the UK’s nuclear deterrent is also launched.

Similarly, it is not just that Lossiemouth is a really well-placed runway from which you get easy access to the Greenland-Iceland-UK gap; it is that the Royal Air Force, having all the capability that a country the size of the United Kingdom is able to base there, is able to put P-8 and other such aircraft up over the Greenland-Iceland-UK gap, working alongside the submarines that we have already discussed.”

In particular, he pointed out that Faslane’s role as a base for UK, US, and other allied nuclear-powered, hunter-killer submarines, as well as a launch site for the UK’s nuclear deterrent, elevated its strategic importance. Similarly, the Minister highlighted that the Royal Air Force’s ability to station P-8 and other such aircraft at Lossiemouth for rapid deployment over the Greenland-Iceland-UK gap added a significant layer to NATO’s defence capabilities.

“It is not just that the Scottish geography is strategically really important; it becomes really crucial to NATO when you put the UK’s nuclear and anti-submarine warfare capabilities into that geography, with the proximity that it gives to get up into the Greenland-Iceland-UK gap quickly,” said Heappey.

This statement underscored the critical role that UK’s capabilities, stationed in Scotland, play in fortifying NATO’s defence strategy in the Euro-Atlantic region. It serves to highlight the interconnected nature of the UK’s defence network and the essential role it plays in safeguarding Scotland, the UK, and the wider European region. The Minister’s comments offer a profound insight into the significance of the interplay between geography and military capabilities in the larger context of regional and global security.