Tain Air Weapons Range

Tain Air Weapons Range is a Ministry of Defence air weapons range located on the Dornoch Firth near Tain in Scotland. It is owned by the Ministry of Defence and operated by the Defence Infrastructure Organisation. The site was established in 1930 and became a weapons range in 1954, now serving as the largest live weapons range in the Defence Training Estates. Royal Air Force aircrews from RAF Lossiemouth, along with NATO aircrew, utilize the range for air weaponry training.

Historically, the site was known as Royal Air Force Tain and Royal Naval Air Station Tain. An airfield was opened on the site in September 1941 under the command of RAF Fighter Command during the Second World War, and was particularly active in anti-U-boat operations in summer 1944. This airfield closed in spring 1946 and is no longer operational, though its remnants still exist within the range boundaries. During WWII, numerous squadrons were stationed at RAF Tain, including No. 17 Squadron RAF, No. 86 Squadron RAF, No. 144 Squadron RAF, No. 311 Squadron RAF, and various naval air squadrons like 801 Naval Air Squadron. Training and development units were also present. On 1 April 2006, control of RAF Tain transferred from the RAF to Defence Training Estates, leading to its current designation as Tain Air Weapons Range.