Red Arrows air base to be sold off by Ministry of Defence as part of budget cuts

The airfield which houses the Red Arrows will be sold off by the Ministry of Defence as part of budget costs.

RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire was opened in 1916 and is also famous for being the base from which the Dambusters raid was launched during the Second World War.

Offloading the base is part of the ministry’s efforts to shrink its estate by around one third and save £3bn by 2040.

Downing Street defended the plans, insisting the move will save taxpayers £140 million and help provide more “modern and efficient” military bases.

The Red Arrows, which have been at the base for over 20 years, will be relocated to another airbase.

Scampton employs around 600 people and is also the headquarters of 1 Air control Centre, which protects the UK’s airspace from hostile aircraft.

The sale is expected to be completed by 2022 and work is ongoing to find a new site for the aerobatics team, authorities said.

Another base, RAF Linton-on-Ouse, in North Yorkshire, where fast-jet pilots are taught, and where Prince William underwent training, will be closed in 2020.

Fast-jet training will now take place at RAF Valley, Anglesey, Wales, from 2019.

In a written statement on Tuesday, Tobias Ellwood, under secretary of state at the MoD, said: “The MoD will close RAF Scampton (Lincolnshire) in 2022, relocating the RAF Aerobatics Team (RAFAT) and others to locations more fit for purpose.

“The disposal of the site would offer better value for money and, crucially, better military capability by relocating the units based there.

“The MoD can also confirm the intention to cease RAF use of RAF Linton-on-Ouse (North Yorkshire) in 2020... the site will no longer be needed.”

Scampton and Linton-on-Ouse come on top of 91 military sites the MoD has previously said it planned to dispose of by 2040 in a bid to save £3bn in running costs and provide land for tens of thousands of homes.

In a 2016 report titled A Better Defence Estate said the estate, which costs around £2.5bn per year to maintain, will be reduced by 30 per cent by 2040.

The Red Arrows aerobatic team is world-famous for its stunts and daredevil displays.

Earlier this year, an RAF engineer died after one of their distinctive Hawk jets crashed in North Wales.

The MoD is expected to make £1.7bn in savings in the next 10 years, prompting concerns the defence budget is under too much strain.

Last month, the Commons Defence Committee called on the government to increase defence spending from 2 per cent to 3 per cent of GDP, a boost of around £20bn a year.

Committee chairman Julian Lewis said the hike was necessary “to place our defence policy on a sustainable basis to meet new threats and fill existing financial ‘black holes”’.