QinetiQ BUTEC base

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BUTEC, the British Underwater Test and Evaluation Centre is a small range used to evaluate the sensors and aural emissions of British submarines. It is operated on behalf of the Royal Navy and the Ministry of Defence by QinetiQ. During the 1970s the range was used to test torpedoes and other equipment designed for submarine operational use.

BUTEC is located in Inner Sound between the island of Raasay and the Applecross peninsula on the west coast of the Scottish mainland. The range consists of a noise range to the east of the isle of South Rona, and a torpedo testing range located in the centre of the Inner Sound between the isle of Raasay and Applecross on the mainland. The noise range is about a mile long and divided into blocks 50 yards wide (A-Z) within which is a large array of sensors. A submarine is expected to move through the middle of the range (blocks M or N) repeatedly as the shore-based scientific team on Rona analyse the sound of the submarine. If the boat does not achieve its expected aural signature, it is not permitted to start active patrols.

The main logistics/administrative centre (Shore Support Base) is located here at Kyle of Lochalsh and there are outlying installations on the island of Rona for the noise range and a Range Terminal Building near Applecross.The torpedo testing range is covered by a Statutory Instrument which bans any underwater activity by fishermen within the range area and trawling activities are also banned within the whole of the Inner Sound area.

There was controversy when a high-powered sonar device was tested on the range in 2002, which had been blamed for the deaths of whales and dolphins and that had been banned in the USA.Such systems are used by the Royal Navy and US Navy to locate submerged submarines by bouncing high intensity sound waves from their hulls. Environmentalists claim evidence collected since the mid 1990s shows that use of this equipment results in mass stranding of whales, and that the beaching of and entire whale pod during an American sonar exercise in the Bahamas provided conclusive evidence of the effect. The Royal Navy has stated that it has developed "a range of mitigation measures to minimise the impact of sonar fitted to surface warships", which includes the avoidance of known breeding areas, and discontinuing operation of the 2087 sonar in the presence of whales, dolphins, and other cetaceans
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