Overview
- The Ministry of Defence completed the purchase of the Finnart oil terminal on Loch Long on Tuesday to add onshore fuel storage capacity close to HMNB Clyde and support the Clyde Transformation Programme.
- The government announced a ten‑year, £26 billion programme to modernise the Royal Navy’s three main bases with roughly £15.1 billion earmarked for HMNB Clyde (Faslane) to ready the base for future war‑fighting roles.
- Planned upgrades include modernised waterfronts, new docking and out‑of‑water engineering facilities, refreshed living and training accommodation, and expanded research and development capability at the bases.
- Separate awards confirmed more than £240 million in RAF sustainment contracts for P‑8 Poseidon and E‑7 Wedgetail aircraft, plus a £20 million investment in Inchgreen Marine Park, measures the MoD says will protect skilled jobs and local supply chains.
- Finnart is a deep‑water terminal built in World War II that once fed the Grangemouth refinery; the MoD says owning the site improves short‑term fuel resilience but it does not replace the wider loss of UK refining capacity, and it brings sensitive coastal land under tighter defence control.