President Donald Trump has said the US moved its bombers out of RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire because of threats to the base. The Pentagon confirmed on Sunday that the aircraft, thought to be about a dozen B-1s, had been sent back to their home stations in the US.
Asked by reporters outside the White House on Monday whether a specific threat was behind the move, Trump agreed and said the planes “didn’t fly out by accident”. He said Washington knew who was responsible but did not say who. His remarks appear to back US media reports linking the decision to an incident on 27 September, when police were alerted to three suspicious vehicles near the airbase. Earlier on Monday, a Downing Street spokesperson had insisted the base was safe.
Counter-terror police are investigating the incident. Five men arrested on suspicion of terror offences have been released on bail, and a sixth man, a UK-Iranian national, was later arrested and also bailed. Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said there were strong indications that Iran played a part, and US officials have suggested the same. Tehran has strongly denied any involvement.
Washington has not spoken with one voice. Vice President JD Vance said the bombers were moved out of an abundance of caution, while Secretary of State Marco Rubio declined to tie the withdrawal directly to the incident, noting that military assets are routinely rotated around the world. Rubio said the US had full confidence in the security of all its bases and that British authorities had been very co-operative.
RAF Fairford has been a forward operating location for the US air force for decades, and in recent months B-1 and B-52 bombers have flown from it to the Middle East after the UK approved its use for defensive strikes on Iran. Christoph Bergs, a research analyst at the Royal United Services Institute, told Reuters that the move would reduce America’s ability to quickly surge sorties against Iran, although the UK’s defensive-only condition had already limited the base’s role. He said the aircraft could be sent to Diego Garcia or to Gulf bases, depending on capacity, talks with allies and security.
