SCOTLAND after independence will not be "a scaled-down version of the UK", the SNP’s defence spokesman at Westminster has suggested.

Stewart McDonald said Scotland is "surrounded by small states of similar populations which provide a number of tested models" for what it could look like after indyref2.

“An independent Scotland will not simply be a scaled-down version of the United Kingdom. Thankfully, we are surrounded by small states of similar populations which provide a number of tested models for an independent Scotland," he wrote in the most recent issue of the UK Defence Journal.

McDonald also pointed to the fact that Scotland's waters account for 60% of the UK’s waters and that under independence it would have the fourth largest core waters of any European state. He added that the size of its maritime defence force should reflect this geographical feature.

“It is most important to understand from the outset that an independent Scotland will be no ‘Little Britain’ – this is as true for the Armed Forces as it is for everything else,” he said.

“We have spent a lot of time since 2014 getting to know these better, along with undertaking a detailed risk assessment that will provide a clear logic flow in support of the optimum solution for Scotland."

He added: “While I’m not going to give anything away on that front, it seems uncontroversial to say that Scotland is – and will long be – a maritime nation.

“With a sea area of around 470,000km² and around 60% of current UK waters, Scotland has a longer coastline than France and would have the fourth largest core waters of any European state.

“It makes sense for our Armed Forces to reflect this and be structured in a way that protects our external borders, our natural assets and our sovereignty.”

Giving his views to the same journal Christopher McEleny, a former deputy leadership candidate, who has worked in the defence industry, said the size and format of Scottish defence forces would be dependent on what are the outcomes an independent government wish it to achieve.

He said the aims of Scotland’s defence forces would be protection of Scottish maritime waters as well as aerial protection of fleet, land forces, Scottish territorial waters and land borders. It would also support international peace-keeping and Nato operations.

Both politicians agreed that an independent Scotland would use a timetable to remove nuclear weapons from the Clyde.

The discussion comes as polling suggests 55% of Scots currently support independence – reversing the result from the 2014 referendum.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has announced plans for a second independence vote, saying a draft bill setting out the timetable for the vote and the question to be posed would be published in the current parliamentary term which ends next March.

SNP members who are CND activists called last month for the party to set a timetable of three to four years for Trident to be removed following a Yes vote.