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"A dummy torpedo used for training submarine crews sparked an emergency in a Highland village it emerged.
Guards at a defence contractor's site at the Kyle of Lochalsh raised the alarm after smoke was seen rising from the drone target on Tuesday (24th April 2012).
Highlands and Islands Fire Service said the incident was dealt with professionally by localretained crew and the contractors staff.
Defence firm QinetiQ said a fault had with the devises battery was to blame.
A spokesman said the incident was dealt with within 30mins.
QinetiQ has launched an investigationinto the incident.
The MoD initially denied it and it only came to light because a local went to the papers.
Originally posted by geobro
i live in the highlands near inverness .when i was younger i worked in one in inverness it was huge . i know of one near dingwall in the hills you see chinooks quite often .ive been to skye many times & if you fart at one side of the island everybody knows quickly .theres a lot hidden underground up here
Originally posted by OtherSideOfTheCoin
reply to post by woodwytch
RAF Machrininish
edit on 9-6-2012 by OtherSideOfTheCoin because: (no reason given)
You know that word “lull”?
That’s four letters, three of them are L’s, f*ck! That’s too many L’s in one word!
The word lull is just one letter away from FOUR F*CKING L's
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An answer to the House of Commons in 2004 reveals that the base was handed over by the United States Navy back to Ministry of Defence control on June 30, 1995.
At 3,049 m (10,003 ft), the original runway 11/29 at Campbeltown Airport is the longest of any public airport in Scotland. The base is now on what is termed "care and maintenance" — this allows the airfield to be used by civilian airlines, which may conduct scheduled and charter flights from the aerodrome.
The MoD are responsible for the upkeep of the aerodrome, which may sometimes be used by military detachments whilst on exercise. During times of conflict or national emergency, the aerodrome could revert to its intended military use.
In 2005 the MoD was still reported to be considering reactivating the base.
On 14 May 2009, it was announced that the base would be made available for sale, and in 2012 was sold for £1 to a local consortium who hope to develop the site for the benefit of the local community.
A few days after the war games finished and normality returned to the island one of the old crofters received a letter from the MOD the envelope also contained a cheque and the letter explained that it was to reimburse him for the food eaten and inconvinience that may have been caused by the SAS soldier that had been living in his roof during the war games ... the old crofter hadn't known a thing. Comforting to know they are so good at what they do ... but also scary that they are so good at what they do.
Originally posted by VoidHawk
A dummy torpedo would still need power. The battery's used today are a little dangerous sometimes, thats why we heard all the stories about laptops etc catching fire.
Great post by the way, waiting for part two
Originally posted by woodwytch
Yes apparently two less than bright local lads had decided to steel the BT cable that apparently runs beneath the the sea-loch (lake) ... at low tide. Allegedly the attempted theft was of a length of fibre optic subsea cable that BT (British Telecom) said " the thieves had mistakenly thought the cable contained copper,
Click the link below to read the full article ...
www.bbc.co.uk...
BBC News - Highlands & Islands (attempted cable theft) 7th June 2012
Bit of a flimsy cover story in it's own right but what makes it even less believable is the fact that my friend was speaking to a lady who lives on the edge of the loch where this cable was allegedly cut / damaged and there is not a single BT van engineer to be seen !edit on 10-6-2012 by woodwytch because: (no reason given)
Originally posted by Motorhead
First Event Back in April of this year the military held some massive war games on Skye and part of the Scottish Highlands. Between the royal airforce / royal navy / and British Army (inc the SAS) there was something in the region of 8,000 participants ... How could so many soldiers remain undetected in such a small place ? One answer could be something my friend and I have theorized before and that is that there is an underground facility beneath Skye ... it's the only logical explanation ...
Firstly, we need to know exactly how you reached the figure of 8000 participants, because if you can't say with some degree of informed accuracy there were "in the region of 8000 participants", an underground base is NOT not the only logical explanation. In fact, it's probably one of the least logical.
Where did you get the number of 8000 from? Have you seen official records? Did you count the troops as they arrived? Because if not, you don't know how many were there. And if you don't know how many were there, you can't make assumptions about what's most logical when it comes to their dispersal, can you?
edit on 10-6-2012 by Motorhead because: (no reason given)edit on 10-6-2012 by Motorhead because: (no reason given)
Originally posted by woodwytch
Ok ... judging by the main consensus it seems there is nothing untowards going on and all is as it should be ... as I said in the OP I was unsure whether to post or not as I certainly do not know enough about the military / MoD to make any solid claims ... I simply wanted to get some feedback from people who probably know more about such things than I ever will.
Originally posted by woodwytch
I would also like to hear from anyone that can confirm that damage to a BT fibre optic subsea cable could shutdown ATM's as well as phones and internet and most mobile networks ?
I still can't understand why the MoD would claim responsibility for the damage initially only to retract that statement and say it is cable theft ... also it isn't just the absence of BT engineers at the claimed location ... it is the absence of any engineers / technicians of any description ... and how could the school / hospital computers still be operational when everything else was dead.
Originally posted by AndyMayhew
Operation Joint Warrior takes place every year - many of the 8,000 partcipiants are Navy or Airforce. This year, it would appear that around 1,600 troops were involved, mostly in Galloway.
www.dailyrecord.co.uk...
To the best of my knowledge, Skye is not used for such land exercises. In the past, they have been known to 'attack and defend' bothies in Galloway! Quite fun if you're staying in one at the time ....
The submarine testing site has been there for decades. As has the drone and missile testing site in Benbecula.
I really fail to see that anything unusual has happened?
Edit: oh,and by the way, the OP's picture of the BUTEC/QinetiQ facility is actually an ariel view of the popular tourist village of Kyleedit on 10-6-2012 by AndyMayhew because: (no reason given)
Originally posted by stumason
reply to post by woodwytch
Dude, Joint Warrior was primarily a naval/airforce exercise. The only troops involved were aboard HMS Illustrious and their part was focussed around the use of helo's from the carrier. Hence why you (or your contacts) didn't see swarms of them everywhere, because there weren't any. Most of the 8,000 involved were naval personnel.
As for the other two parts, I am not sure what you're alluding to. There is a strategic reason why the subs are based in the West of Scotland and it stands to reason that facilities used to develop submarine equipment and skills are based in the same area.
Originally posted by OtherSideOfTheCoin
reply to post by woodwytch
I must say as much as I am enjoying reading your thread I totally disagree with your assertion that the isle of sky is being used as some kind of testing ground and the events you are talking about are not really of any real significance nor do they point to it being used as a testing ground.
The first event happens every year, the second event is not really all that suspicious when you consider that they are testing torpedo’s in that area and the third event is just something that happens. I
What you have posted is interesting; however there are some slight inaccuracies but none of it points to the isle being used as a testing ground.