One Scottish battalion will be disbanded

The re-organisation has been announced by Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon as part of the UK defence spending review.

The Armed Forces Minister, Adam Ingram, maintained that no final decision had been taken on which battalion would go.

The RAF and the Navy in Scotland also face cuts after Mr Hoon's announcement. MPs and local politicians have expressed deep concern at the plans.

The fleet of Nimrods based at RAF Kinloss in Moray will be reduced from 21 to 16.

In addition, the Ministry of Defence has indicated that it intends to put out to private contract the helicopter maintenance work at RAF Lossiemouth.

There will also be a study into the number of airfields "with a view to making substantial reductions".

The Nimrod fleet at RAF Kinloss is set to be slimmed down

That could affect all three large bases in the north of Scotland, including RAF Leuchars.

The defence secretary also confirmed that the number of Type 45 destroyers needed by the Royal Navy is to be cut from 12 to eight.

Some of the ships are already being built on the Clyde.

In 2002, the MOD ordered six, splitting the contracts between a number of yards, but had intended to order another six.

The reduction could have an impact on the Govan and Scotstoun yards.

A nuclear-power hunter-killer submarine based at Faslane on the Clyde is to be decommissioned, and the three minesweepers which form the Northern Ireland patrol will be phased out over a period.

Changes specific to Scotland Loss of one Scottish infantry battalion (from six to five) Eight Type 45 Destroyers to be built instead of 12 Reduction in the RAF Nimrod fleet based at RAF Kinloss from 21 aircraft to 16 RAF Leuchars is designated as the second operating base for Typhoon (Eurofighter) Loss of three Northern Ireland patrol ships based at Faslane Loss of one mine countermeasures ship at Faslane Reduction in SSN (submarines) from 10 to eight. Four SSNs are based at Faslane

The Royal Navy axe will also fall on both HMS Glasgow and the Faslane-based minesweeper HMS Inverness, which is due to be granted the Freedom of Inverness on its next visit to the city.

Glasgow, a Type 42 destroyer, will be paid off by the end of 2005 and HMS Inverness by April 2005.

In a personal message to the army from the chief of the general staff, General Sir Michael Jackson, said that the spending review had been "very challenging".

He confirmed that the Scottish Division would restructure from its present six single-battalion regiments into a new organisation of one or two large regiments.

"I am conscious that some of the changes may appear counter-intuitive to an army which is under sustained operational pressure and which may - at least in part - see these changes as a threat as much as an opportunity," he said.

"But it is imperative that we think ahead and get it right for the future."