With a £3billion price tag, the RAF’s new P-8A Poseidon maritime surveillance jets headed to Lossiemouth are the jewel in the crown of the air fleet.
But the Royal Air Force’s superplanes will not be able to take off from their new permanent Scottish base until 2021 because they won't have a runway.
Despite the planes being scheduled to arrive in Moray in February, a contract to design an upgrade to RAF Lossiemouth’s runway was only awarded in October.
The Ministry of Defence has insisted that while the project has been delayed, a temporary home for the aircraft at nearby Kinloss was the plan all along.
Work to upgrade the runway there as a short-term measure – the cost of which the MoD has refused to reveal – is not expected to be completed until next month.
The delayed Lossiemouth upgrade has been criticised on an online military aviation forum.
One member said: “Strange timing?
“One would have thought this should have been done and completed in time for the first one’s arrival, not just starting when it is nearly on its way, or am I missing something?”
Another added: “They have also spent the last few weeks resurfacing the runway at Kinloss at great expense.
“This is to allow the P-8A to operate out of there for a few weeks early next year. Great planning.”
The MoD has admitted that the completion date for the Lossiemouth work has been pushed back from 2020 to 2021.
A spokesman said: “Essential runway refurbishment is planned at RAF Lossiemouth to accommodate the P-8As and an additional Typhoon Squadron.
“During the programme’s assessment phase it was identified that the P-8A parking area also required some remedial work.
“The refurbishment timing has therefore been adjusted to combine the upgrades and ensure it remains affordable.
“The plan has always been for these aircraft to operate from Kinloss during the refurbishment.”
The RAF took delivery of the first of nine P-8As at an unveiling ceremony in Seattle in October.
The aircraft is designated for extended surveillance missions and is equipped with sensors that use high-resolution area mapping to find surface and sub-surface threats.
It has a strengthened fuselage for low-altitude operations, as well as having a surface search radar.
The aircraft will also be armed with Harpoon anti-surface ship missiles and Mk54 torpedoes.
The decision to commission the jets was taken in 2015.
RAF personnel have been embedded with aircrew in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the USA to train on its systems.
Speaking at an unveiling event in October, Air Chief Marshal Mike Wigston, said: “Poseidon is a game-changing maritime patrol aircraft, able to detect, track and, if necessary, destroy the most advanced submarines in the world today.”
