page_title: RAF Machrihanish
section_title: Military draw-down
hierarchical_section_title: RAF Machrihanish / History / Military draw-down
caption_attribution_description: English: Machrihanish Airfield, Mull of Kintyre. Locheed C130C Hercules taxing down the main runway during the Mull of Kintyre Airshow Weekend 22nd-23rd July 2006
context_page_description: Royal Air Force Machrihanish or RAF Machrihanish is a former Royal Air Force station located near the town of Machrihanish and 3.5 miles west of Campbeltown, at the tip of the Kintyre peninsula, Argyll and Bute, in Scotland.
  Two airfields known as Machrihanish have existed, the first was operational during the First World War and was used by the Royal Naval Air Service and RAF, before closing at the end of the Second World War. A second airfield, which was constructed during the Second World War, was used extensively by the Fleet Air Arm during the war. During the 1960s it was redeveloped and became an RAF station and was made available to the US Navy as a nuclear weapons store and base for components of the US Navy SEALs Naval Special Warfare Group 2.
  The draw-down of US military forces in Europe after the end of the Cold War resulted in the US Navy leaving Machrihanish and handing back their facilities to the Ministry of Defence on 30 June 1995, after which the station became MOD Machrihanish and was retained on a care and maintenance basis.
  In May 2012, the station was sold to the Machrihanish Airbase Community Company under community right-to-buy legislation.
context_section_description: The draw-down of US military forces in Europe after the end of the Cold War resulted in the US Navy leaving Machrihanish and handing back their facilities to the Ministry of Defence on 30 June 1995.
  After the departure of the US Navy, the station became known as Ministry of Defence (MOD) Machrihanish and was placed under a care and maintenance regime, meaning that although no longer in active use, it would be kept in a condition whereby it could be reactivated within a reasonable time-scale. The airfield continued to be used for occasional military ground and air exercises.
  In March 1996, Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd. (HIAL) were granted an aerodrome licence by the Civil Aviation Authority, which allowed commercial flights to operate from the airfield. In this capacity it became known as Campbeltown Airport.
  In 2005 the MOD were still reported to be considering reactivating the airfield.
caption: An RAF Lockheed Martin C-130J Hercules taxiing at Machrihanish during July 2006.
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