However it's reckoned that 200 service jobs will be cut at Leuchars when the new generation aircraft settles in.

The Typhoon only has room for one crew member, the pilot, so squadrons will be smaller and it won't be serviced at Leuchars.

Despite that, the arrival of the Typhoon which will be split between the base and RAF Coningsby, in Lincolnshire — where all servicing will be carried out — is being flagged up as a 'good news story', securing the base as a major employer and income generator in the area for so many years to come.

In addition to the £25 million-worth of runway work completed at Leuchars last year, a massive programme of improvements, costing between £80 to £100 million, is set to kick in over the next seven or eight years.

Those will include a 'hush-house' for checking engines at full throttle without disturbing the neighbours.

In the past, engines were tested outside and there were complaints from people in St Andrews if the wind was blowing from the north.

Live-in accommodation for both singles and married couples at Leuchars is also due for an upgrade and a new replacement flight training simulator will be installed.

Station Commander and Air Officer Scotland Clive Bairsto revealed at the weekend that the Typhoon would fly out of RAF Leuchars until 2050.
The announcement means a drop of around 200, from around 1700, in the overall service population at Leuchars.

However the Air Commodore said the number of civilian jobs would remain unchanged, at around 200.

The Station Commander expects life should get quieter as the Typhoon replaces the Tornado F3. Take-off for a Typhoon is mostly achieved without using 're-heat' (when fuel is injected directed into the engine to give extra power for take-off) which creates the noise.

The Tornado F3 will start to be replaced by the Typhoon in September 2010. First to go will be the famous 'Fighting Cocks' 43 Squadron.

The first Typhoon squadron to touch down will be the re-constituted Six ('The Flying Tin-Openers).

'The Tremblers' (Treble One Squadron) will carry on flying from Leuchars until March 2011 when the third Typhoon squadron is due to arrive.

Liberal Democrat MP for north east Fife, Sir Menzies Campbell said:"It has become increasingly clear that, in deciding on the deployment of the Typhoon everything was on the table and Leuchars was not an automatic choice.

The RAF presence in north east Fife makes an enormous contribution to the local economy and has very good links with the local community. I am delighted by this outcome. "

For further details about the base go to the website, www.raf.mod.uk/rafleuchars.