The Pentagon said B-1 bombers had left RAF Fairford for US bases after an incident under counter-terror investigation. President Trump later cited threats to the Gloucestershire base.
The United States has removed its B-1 Lancer bombers from RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire and returned them to bases in the United States, a Pentagon official confirmed to the BBC. Tracking sites showed the aircraft leaving on Sunday. The BBC reported the departing force was thought to number about a dozen B-1s.
The Gloucestershire base had been at the centre of an incident being investigated by counter-terror police. British officials did not dispute that Washington’s decision followed that incident, the BBC said, and were told the move was taken at an operational level and passed from the US military to British counterparts. The UK Ministry of Defence did not comment in the BBC report.
Vice-President JD Vance later described the withdrawal as an abundance of caution and said Washington believed Iran was engaging in terrorism. President Donald Trump said the aircraft were moved because of threats to the base and that the United States had shifted them rather than tempting an adversary. The New York Times, cited by the BBC, reported that US commanders had received new threats about an Iran-linked plot, according to two US officials.
The bombers had been operating from Fairford during months of US strikes on Iranian missile sites, the BBC’s security correspondent reported. Iran had previously warned that countries hosting such facilities could be treated as targets. Ezra Cohen, a former US defence official, told BBC Radio 4 that protecting the limited B-1 fleet was prudent.
Facts around the precise threat and any arrests remain under investigation. The BBC said it had not been told of a political decision in London to request the departure.
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- JD Vance called the move an abundance of caution.
- Donald Trump said the bombers were moved because of threats.
- Ezra Cohen described protecting the B-1 fleet as prudent.