The United States said all B-1 bombers deployed to RAF Fairford have returned to home stations, a week after arrests near the Gloucestershire base in a suspected terror investigation.
The United States has removed its B-1 bombers from RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, a Pentagon official said on Sunday, 4 October 2026. Reuters reported that a dozen B-1 bombers had been stationed at the base northwest of London and had been used for US strikes on Iran.
A Pentagon spokesman said operational security had prevented real-time confirmation, but that all US bombers deployed to RAF Fairford had re-deployed to home stations in the United States. The BBC reported a US department official confirmed the same withdrawal on Sunday.
The move comes a week after a security incident at the base. The BBC said police were alerted on 27 September to three suspicious vehicles near the airfield. Five men aged 23 to 25, all UK nationals from London, were arrested on suspicion of explosives offences and later on suspicion of preparing a terrorist act, then released on police bail. A sixth man, a UK-Iranian national, was also arrested and released on bail.
Britain has said it has strong indications that Iran was involved in a suspected plot targeting the base, Prime Minister Andy Burnham said on Wednesday, Reuters reported. Iran has called accusations linking Tehran to the alleged plan baseless and summoned the British ambassador.
The BBC said Whitehall sources have not disputed that Washington's decision responded to the Fairford incident, and that it was described as a military rather than political decision taken at operational level. The Wall Street Journal first reported the aircraft had been removed amid security concerns, Reuters said.
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- Iran rejected accusations linking Tehran to the alleged plot and summoned the British ambassador.
- British police described the bail decisions as an investigative step grounded in experience and strategy.