North Wiltshire MP, James Gray has said that rumours about a new 2020 closing date for RAF Lyneham are unsubstantiated.
Last year the Ministry of Defence announced that the Wiltshire base would close in 2012 with the 50-strong Hercules transport plane fleet moving to RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire.
But recent rumours have suggested that the base's closure could be pushed back to 2020, because of an update to the older C-130K version of the Hercules giving it longer life.
Mr Gray said: "I have heard many rumours about a 2020 closure but that appears to have come from a question I posed to the MoD earlier this year about upgrades to the Hercules fleet. We cannot be sure at this early stage, but the aircraft's replacement, the European A400M has not got off the drawing board."
Mr Gray is chairing an action group to find a suitable replacement use for the land, post-2012.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article