Pure speculation by the Courier, absolutely no chance of re-opening Leuchars now the Army has just gone in. IMO there are only three locations in the frame, Waddington as a home base (pretty much a no brainer as the defacto ISTAR home) with Dets at either Lossie or Kinloss. A mix and match of P8s and Typhoon in the circuit at Lossie in the present day probably negates Lossiemouth, even though Shacks and Buccs seemed to get on OK in days past. My money is on some sort of re-opening of Kinloss, maybe not a full opening as such but probably for some sort of FOB with maybe even the Sim located in that brand newish empty ex MRA4 Sim Sqn building.
One other point not often mentioned, if it is going to be Waddington, where would they house the significant influx of Aircrew and Groundcrew, from what I gather MQs and Barrack Block accommodation at Waddington is very much in short supply just now. Whereas at Kinloss with rumours flying around that the Army boys have been given their marching orders "heads up" there is plenty of accommodation for singlies and married people loads of quarters on northside, and of course plenty of unused new buildings for everyone to use as operating facilities.
My only concern about Kinloss how does "Call me Dave" slither out of explaining he has authorised re-opening a base he shut.
You suggest re-opening Kinloss but not Leuchars because the Army have just moved in?
Further, u-turns are always easily explained away, always have been, this time Mr Cameron has some genuine answers to hand; revival of economy, re-surgence of Russian military hegemony, all inside the last five years.
FB
PS: The Scotsman states that the runway at Kinloss needs re-surfacing?