During the First World War the site was a base for naval airships, known as RNAS Luce Bay.

After 1956 the MRT at RAF Leuchars assumed responsibility for the area covered by West Freugh.

In September 2005 it was announced that the earth station at West Freugh was the first outside Canada to be certified to provide imagery from the Canadian RADARSAT commercial satellite.

West Freugh, operated by QinetiQ since 2001,[4] is used as a test range for bombs and Air-to-Ground missiles.

A subsequent radiological survey of beach, sand and seawater by staff from the Atomic Weapons Establishment concluded that there was no detectable contamination.