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RAF takes delivery of Lossiemouth's first submarine hunter

Paul Christian Gordon/Boeing P-8A PoseidonPaul Christian Gordon/Boeing
A fleet of P-8A Poseidons are to be operated from an RAF station in Scotland

The RAF has taken delivery of the first of nine new maritime patrol aircraft.

The fleet of P-8A Poseidons are to be stationed at RAF Lossiemouth on the Moray coast.

Boeing is constructing the P-8As in the US and the first of the completed planes was officially handed over to the RAF in a ceremony in Seattle.

An RAF crew will soon begin training in the use of the aircraft at Naval Air Station Jacksonville in Florida before it is flown to Lossiemouth next year.

The RAF's 120 Squadron will use the aircraft in a submarine hunter role.

A new facility for the P-8As is being built at Lossiemouth at a cost of £132m.

The UK's last dedicated maritime patrol planes flew out of RAF Kinloss, about 14 miles (22km) from Lossiemouth, in 2010.

In 2015, Canadian and French maritime patrol aircraft crews assisted the RAF and Royal Navy in searches off Scotland's north coast after reports of a Russian submarine being spotted.