A question mark has been placed over the future of a number of Scottish military bases after the Ministry of Defence unveiled plans for a wide-scale sale of its assets.

Airfields, barracks and military vehicles will all go as part of the proposals.

The move throws into doubt the future of bases like Kinloss barracks, only recently converted from an RAF base.

Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said that the fire sale would would ensure that maximum support and resources were directed to the front lines.

But the cuts will be controversial in local communities.

The MoD calculates that there are 140 military sites in Scotland.

There are already concerns that the government is struggling to achieve its plans to cut the size of the Army by 20,000 to 82,000.

Last week a former defence minister claimed that officials were considering further cuts to 60,000 soldiers, a move David Cameron said he would block.

The ex-minister Lib Dem MP Nick Harvey also claimed if the MoD was facing a financial reckoning it would be wrong for the multi-billion Trident replacement project to get a "bye".

In a speech Mr Fallon said that the Government had to keep "sweating our buildings and land" to free up resources.

He added: "With continuing demands on our resources, with the cost of manpower and equipment rising, and with competition from emerging nations increasing efficiency in defence cannot be a one-off.

"As in any big organisation, MoD must not merely be match-fit, it must be permanently fit. Every year we should be looking to take out unnecessary cost, to improve productivity, and to sweat our buildings and land so we can better support the front line."

He added: "We have got rid of old property we don't need.

"Whether it's an old barracks, a country house, some polo fields, the Old War Office or Brompton Road Tube station sold for £53 million. That approach has generated sales of nearly £380 million.

"We've taken the same tack with equipment, selling 123 surplus armoured vehicles to the Latvian army and bringing in almost £40 million and strengthening friendship with a critical Nato ally."

He added: "How many airfields do we need, how many cars and vehicles do we need, and how do we go further in rationalising our defence estate?"

Shadow defence secretary Vernon Coaker said that having already issued redundancies to service personnel while withdrawing key equipment capabilities "the public will rightly question why it has taken the Government so long to give this area the proper attention it deserves."

The SNP have also accused the MoD after a "shambles" after it emerged that there are problems with a long-delayed collision warning system finally fitted to a handful of aircraft.