Leuchars Scottish Gaelic: Luachar meaning rushes) is a small town near the north-east coast of Fife in Scotland.
The town is nearly 2 miles (3 km) to the north of the village of Guardbridge, which lies on the north bank of the River Eden where it widens to the Edenmouth estuary before joining the North Sea at St Andrews Bay. Leuchars is 71⁄2 miles (12 km) north-east of Cupar and 6 miles (9.7 km) north-west from the university town of St Andrews. The city of Dundee is 7 miles (11 km) to the north, across the rail and road bridges that span the Firth of Tay.
The town is now best known for the adjoining Royal Air Force base, RAF Leuchars, which was established in 1920, and is home to the Eurofighter Typhoon.
The surrounding area was improved by drainage in the 18th century. In the 19th century, a railway station on the line from Edinburgh to Aberdeen brought increased prosperity to the town. When the branch line to St Andrews was closed in the late 1960s, Leuchars became the closest place to get the train. Since then, Leuchars railway station has been used by many University of St Andrews students.
RAF Leuchars (IATA: ADX, ICAO: EGQL) is the most northerly air defence station in the United Kingdom. It is located in Leuchars, Fife, on the east coast of Scotland, near to the university town of St Andrews.
RAF Leuchars is commanded by an Air Commodore instead of a Group Captain who would usually be given command of a station. This is because the base commander here also undertakes the role of Air Officer Scotland. The present base commander is Air Commodore R J Atkinson who succeeded Air Commodore Clive Bairsto.
A third Panavia Tornado F3 Squadron, No. 56 (Reserve) Squadron, was disbanded in April 2008 in preparation for the arrival of the Eurofighter Typhoon, in 2010. Members of No 56 Squadron had temporarily joined No. 43 Squadron until it too was disbanded in July 2009. 6 Squadron was reformed at Leuchars in September 2010, equipped with the Eurofighter Typhoon. The RAF Leuchars structure as of February 2011 is as follows:
No 125 Expeditionary Air Wing
No 6 Force Protection Wing
Air Combat 1 Group
