Cape Wrath Ranges Control Centre | naval base

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Faraid Head : Range Control Centre

The most north-westerly point on the British mainland is also an 8,400 acre Ministry of Defence weapons range and army exercise area. Cape Wrath was first used as a weapons range in the 1930s but the Ministry of Defence only bought the ranges in 2001. Norse for 'turning point', Cape Wrath has the highest sea-cliffs on mainland Britain which acted as a land-mark for sailors navigating around the coast of Scotland.The Cape Wrath Training Centre (CWTC), which covers some 59 sq km of peaty moorland in NW Sutherland, was established about 1933 as a naval gunnery and bombing range, but since 2005 it has served as a multi-services Training Centre for sea-based, airborne and terrestrial exercises. The use of the area primarily as a remote gunnery and bombing range has meant that there has been very little requirement for permanent military structures within the range.

There are four main ranges in the Cape Wrath vicinity:

There is a Naval Gunfire Support Range of around 3,400 hectares, covering the whole Cape Wrath area used for ship-to-shore bombardment. Royal Navy and other NATO vessels use the range for the practice firing of their 4.5 inch and 5 inch guns. The cliffs, which are an important nesting ground for birds, rise to almost 1,000ft vertically are used as ranging marks for the guns. The naval range is usually used between four and eight times a year.

The naval gunfire support range is used three times a year by the navies from many NATO members and plays a central part in the Joint Maritime Course (JMC),. Joint Maritime Courses are one of the largest military exercises to occur regularly in the Northern Hemisphere. Taking place three times a year, all three military services, air-force, navy and army, are involved jointly (hence 'Joint' Maritime Course.)

The final JMC of 2003 involved 27 naval vessels from 13 different countries including Germany, France, Spain, Turkey, Portugal, the UK and the US. The first JMC of 2004 took place between February 23rd and March 4th.

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