A GIANT Antonov AN-124 cargo aircraft touched down at Glasgow Prestwick Airport with a new Operational Flight Trainer (OFT) bound for RAF Lossiemouth.

The simulator is one of two that will be installed in the new £100 million strategic facility built by Boeing Defence UK. From Autumn 2020, RAF Lossiemouth will be the headquarters of the UK’s submarine-hunting Poseidon MRA Mk1 Maritime Patrol Aircraft fleet.

The first simulator was offloaded from the specially chartered Antonov - which took off from Orlando, Florida on Monday - and was transported by road to RAF Lossiemouth, where it arrived in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

The simulators and new facility managed by Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) are part of a £470m UK Government investment in the coastal RAF base in Moray, north-east Scotland.

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£100M facility handed over

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