The first Poseidon jet has landed at RAF Lossiemouth in Moray.

The plane – named the City of Elgin – parked outside a new £132 million facility which houses the pilots, engineers and personnel who will operate the high-tech submarine hunters.

Nine Poseidon MRA1 aircraft have been ordered, the first of which landed on UK soil for the first time in February 2020.

Since then, crews have been securing the seas on operational missions.

Group Captain Chris Layden, station commander of RAF Lossiemouth, said: “Today is a proud moment for Team Lossie, ushering in a new era for the station delivering combat airpower and maritime patrol operations over and around the United Kingdom.

“Yesterday I had the privilege of landing the first Typhoon on our newly resurfaced runways, and today I had the pleasure of welcoming in the first Poseidon to its permanent home in Moray.

“This is just the beginning of our expansion and modernisation as one of the RAF’s most strategically important stations in the United Kingdom.”

Poseidon MRA1 arrives at RAF Lossiemouth
Group Captain Chris Layden, station commander, in front of the Poseidon MRA1 plane, at RAF Lossiemouth, Moray (Jane Barlow/PA)

Poseidon is a submarine hunter which can locate, identify and track potentially hostile vessels as they operate close to UK waters.

Its radar is also able to detect and track ships above the waves.

The jets have a communications suite which enables the intelligence it gathers to be passed to commanders whether they are in the air, on a ship, on the ground, or back at RAF Lossiemouth.

The 54 Squadron has been training new pilots and weapons systems operators on the platform, as 400 additional military personnel will be moving to Moray to fly and operate the aircraft.

All Typhoon and Poseidon operations are to be back at their permanent home at Lossiemouth on Friday.