Armed forces in Scotland
The British Armed Forces presence in Scotland include military bases and units based in or associated with the country from all three services; The British Army (regular and Army Reserve), the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Royal Navy.Roughly there are 11,100 Scottish soldiers part of the Regular Armed Forces, 4,000 Ministry of Defence civilian personnel, 2,200 Volunteer Reserves.
By 2020, Scotland's Regular Armed Forces personnel was expected to rise to 12,500, whilst the number of Trained Volunteer Reserves was projected to increase to 4,250.
Military bases in Scotland, including RAF Lossiemouth and HMNB Clyde are significant to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) northward defence.
The country is home to 113 military establishments, including the United Kingdom's Trident nuclear power programme, Cape Wrath which is the only naval gunfire and firing range in the UK, the Benbecula live fire range for the Multiple Launch Rocket System and a NATO exercise area in Galloway Forest.
[3] In 1262, the Kingdom of Scotland invaded Norway beginning a war which lasted until 1266 and resulted in the Treaty of Perth.
Under the terms of the Treaty of Perth, Norway acknowledged Scottish sovereignty over territory it had disputed with Scotland.
The King of England, Edward III, invaded Scotland in 1333 and besieged the important trading town of Berwick.
A large Scottish army attempted to relieve it but was heavily defeated at the Battle of Halidon Hill.
At the Restoration in 1660 the Privy Council of Scotland established a force of several infantry regiments and a few troops of horse to act as a standing army.
The standing army was mainly employed in the suppression of Covenanter rebellions and the guerrilla war undertaken by the Cameronians in the East.
[10] In addition a "Foote Company of Highland Men" was raised[9] and three troops of Scots Dragoons in 1678.
[11] On the eve of the Glorious Revolution the standing army in Scotland was about 3,000 men in various regiments and another 268 veterans in the major garrison towns, at an annual cost of about £80,000.
[24] In 2024, the Scottish Government's Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs and Culture, Angus Robertson, confirmed that an independent Scotland would only involve itself in international overseas operations that "were lawful" and if any military action was supported by both the cabinet of the government and the Scottish Parliament.
[29] In 2023, then First Minister Humza Yousaf said that an independent Scotland would aim to maintain 2% GDP defence spending to meet the NATO target.
This would mean closure of Fort George in 2029 rather than 2032 as originally planned and the return of the Black Watch to the traditional recruiting area of Tayside.
[36] His Majesty's Naval Base, Clyde, commonly known as Faslane, houses the nuclear-armed Vanguard 15 class submarines that form the "At-Sea Nuclear Deterrent".
[54] RAF assets in Scotland operate in defence of the North Atlantic and the High North via; surveillance, anti-submarine warfare and Quick Reaction Alert jets from Lossiemouth base, which is the primary air base in Scotland.
