Editing Scotland (section)

=== Military ===
{{Main|Armed forces in Scotland}}
{{see|Scots Army|Royal Scots Navy|Military history of Scotland}}
[[File:Eurofighter Typhoon, ZK312 (19451923880).jpg|thumb|left|A [[Eurofighter Typhoon|Typhoon FGR4]] in [[No. 6 Squadron RAF|No. 6 Squadron]] markings at [[RAF Lossiemouth]]]]

As one of the countries of the United Kingdom, the [[British Armed Forces]] are the armed forces of Scotland. Of the money spent on UK defence, about £3.3&nbsp;billion can be attributed to Scotland as of 2018/2019.<ref>{{cite web |title=Government Expenditure & Review 2018-19 |url=https://www.gov.scot/binaries/content/documents/govscot/publications/statistics/2019/08/government-expenditure-revenue-scotland-gers/documents/government-expenditure-revenue-scotland-2018-19/government-expenditure-revenue-scotland-2018-19/govscot%3Adocument/government-expenditure-revenue-scotland-2018-19.pdf?forceDownload=true |website=www.gov.scot |publisher=Scottish Government |access-date=7 January 2024 |archive-date=6 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240406224956/https://www.gov.scot/binaries/content/documents/govscot/publications/statistics/2019/08/government-expenditure-revenue-scotland-gers/documents/government-expenditure-revenue-scotland-2018-19/government-expenditure-revenue-scotland-2018-19/govscot%3Adocument/government-expenditure-revenue-scotland-2018-19.pdf?forceDownload=true |url-status=live }}</ref> Scotland had a long military tradition predating the [[Treaty of Union]] with England. Following the Treaty of Union in 1707, the [[Scots Army]] and [[Royal Scots Navy]] merged with their English counterparts to form the [[Royal Navy]] and the [[British Army]], which together form part of the [[British Armed Forces]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zDxnAAAAMAAJ&q=%22british+army%22+1660|title=Redcoats and courtesans: the birth of the British Army (1660–1690)|last=Williams|first=Noel T. St John|date=1 January 1994|publisher=Brassey's (UK)|pages=1–2|isbn=9781857530971|access-date=7 January 2024|archive-date=10 June 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240610012306/https://books.google.com/books?id=zDxnAAAAMAAJ&q=%22british+army%22+1660|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/historybritishs00waltgoog|title=History of the British Standing Army. A.D. 1660 to 1700|last=Walton|first=Clifford|date=1 January 1894|publisher=Harrison and Sons|page=[https://archive.org/details/historybritishs00waltgoog/page/n42 16]}}</ref> The [[Atholl Highlanders]], Europe's only remaining legal [[private army]], did not join the Scots Army or Royal Scots Navy in merging with English armed forces, remaining a private army not under the command of the British Armed Forces.<ref>{{cite web |title=Atholl Highlanders |url=https://atholl-estates.co.uk/blair-castle/atholl-highlanders/ |website=www.atholl-estates.co.uk |publisher=Atholl Estates |access-date=7 January 2024 |archive-date=7 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240107013741/https://atholl-estates.co.uk/blair-castle/atholl-highlanders/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Numerous [[Scottish regiment]]s have at various times existed in the British Army. Distinctively Scottish regiments in the British Army include the [[Scots Guards]], the [[Royal Scots Dragoon Guards]] and the [[154 (Scottish) Regiment RLC]], an [[Army Reserve (United Kingdom)|Army Reserve]] regiment of the [[Royal Logistic Corps]]. In 2006, as a result of the ''[[Delivering Security in a Changing World]]'' [[white paper]], the Scottish infantry regiments in the [[Scottish Division]] were amalgamated to form the [[Royal Regiment of Scotland]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Royal Regiment of Scotland |url=https://www.army.mod.uk/who-we-are/corps-regiments-and-units/infantry/royal-regiment-of-scotland/#:~:text=The%20Royal%20Regiment%20of%20Scotland%20was%20formed%20in%202006%20through,those%20regiments%20that%20formed%20us. |website=www.army.mod.uk |publisher=The British Army |access-date=7 January 2024 |archive-date=7 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210107194152/http://www.army.mod.uk/who-we-are/corps-regiments-and-units/infantry/royal-regiment-of-scotland/#:~:text=The%20Royal%20Regiment%20of%20Scotland%20was%20formed%20in%202006%20through,those%20regiments%20that%20formed%20us. |url-status=live }}</ref>  As a result of the [[Cameron–Clegg coalition]]'s [[Strategic Defence and Security Review 2010]], the Scottish regiments of the line in the [[British Army]] [[Infantry of the British Army|infantry]], having previously formed the Scottish Division, were reorganised into the [[Scottish, Welsh and Irish Division]] in 2017. Before the formation of the Scottish Division, the Scottish infantry was organised into a [[Lowland Brigade (United Kingdom)|Lowland Brigade]] and [[Highland Brigade (United Kingdom)|Highland Brigade]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Army to merge Scottish brigades |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1329420/Army-to-merge-Scottish-brigades.html |website=www.telegraph.co.uk |date=7 May 2001 |publisher=The Telegraph |access-date=7 January 2024 |archive-date=7 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240107013739/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1329420/Army-to-merge-Scottish-brigades.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Because of their topography and perceived remoteness, parts of Scotland have housed many sensitive defence establishments.<ref>The large number of military bases in Scotland led some to use the euphemism "Fortress Scotland". See Spaven, Malcolm (1983) ''Fortress Scotland''. London. Pluto Press in association with Scottish CND.</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=16 December 2006 |title=Pensioner, 94, in nuclear protest |work=[[BBC News Online]] |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/6186213.stm |url-status=live |access-date=17 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131215171500/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/6186213.stm |archive-date=15 December 2013}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Reprieve for RAF Lossiemouth base |work=News.bbc.co.uk |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/4083933.stm |access-date=17 September 2014 |archive-date=12 January 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090112005112/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/4083933.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> Between 1960 and 1991, the [[Holy Loch]] was a base for the US fleet of [[Polaris ballistic missile|Polaris]]-equipped [[ballistic missile submarine]]s.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dunoon and the US Navy |url=http://www.argyllonline.co.uk/places/dunoon-cowal/dunoon-and-the-us-navy |access-date=17 September 2014 |website=Argyllonline.co.uk |archive-date=2 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140902021616/http://www.argyllonline.co.uk/places/dunoon-cowal/dunoon-and-the-us-navy/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> Today, [[HMNB Clyde|His Majesty's Naval Base Clyde]], {{Convert|25|mi|km|abbr=off}} north-west of Glasgow, is the base for the four [[Trident (missile)|Trident]]-armed {{Sclass|Vanguard|submarine|0}} [[ballistic missile submarine]]s that comprise the Britain's [[nuclear deterrent]].[[File:Challenger2-Bergen-Hohne-Training-Area-2.jpg|thumb|right|A [[Challenger 2]] [[main battle tank]] of the [[Royal Scots Dragoon Guards]]]]

Scotland's [[Scapa Flow]] was the main base for the [[Royal Navy]] in the 20th century.<ref>Angus Konstam, ''Scapa Flow: The Defences of Britain's Great Fleet Anchorage 1914–45'' (2009).</ref> As the [[Cold War]] intensified in 1961, the United States deployed [[Polaris ballistic missile]]s, and submarines, in the [[Firth of Clyde]]'s [[Holy Loch]]. Public protests from [[CND]] campaigners proved futile. The Royal Navy successfully convinced the government to allow the base because it wanted its own Polaris submarines, and it obtained them in 1963. The RN's nuclear submarine base opened with four {{Sclass|Resolution|submarine|0}} Polaris submarines at the expanded [[HMNB Clyde|Faslane Naval Base]] on the [[Gare Loch]]. The first patrol of a [[Trident missile|Trident]]-armed submarine occurred in 1994, although the US base was closed at the end of the Cold War.<ref>Andrew Marr, ''A History of Modern Britain'' (2009), p. 211.</ref>

A single front-line [[Royal Air Force]] base is located in Scotland. [[RAF Lossiemouth]], located in [[Moray]], is the most northerly [[Anti-aircraft warfare|air defence]] [[fighter aircraft|fighter]] base in the United Kingdom and is home to four [[Eurofighter Typhoon]] combat aircraft squadrons, three [[Poseidon MRA1]] squadrons, and a full–time, permanently based RAF Regiment squadron.<ref>{{cite web |title=RAF Lossiemouth |url=https://www.raf.mod.uk/our-organisation/stations/raf-lossiemouth/#:~:text=RAF%20Lossiemouth%20in%20Moray%2C%20north,and%20an%20RAF%20Regiment%20squadron. |website=www.raf.mod.uk |publisher=Royal Air Force |access-date=7 January 2024 |archive-date=6 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240106232247/https://www.raf.mod.uk/our-organisation/stations/raf-lossiemouth/#:~:text=RAF%20Lossiemouth%20in%20Moray%2C%20north,and%20an%20RAF%20Regiment%20squadron. |url-status=live }}</ref> An additional four RAF Reserve Squadrons are based in Scotland – 612 Squadron, 2622 (Highland) Squadron and 602 Squadron in Glasgow, and 603 Squadron in Edinburgh.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Royal Air Force in Scotland |url=https://www.deliveringforscotland.gov.uk/security/the-royal-air-force-in-scotland/ |website=Delivering for Scotland |access-date=13 February 2025}}</ref>