US transfers B-1 bombers from RAF Fairford after security threat
- The United States military has urgently transferred all 12 of its long-range B-1 bombers away from Royal Air Force Fairford in southern England back to their home base...
- The rapid removal of the strategic aircraft stands out as an exceptionally unusual maneuver for a peacetime allied base thousands of miles away from a combat zone, cnnbrasil.com.br...
- bombers that were deployed to RAF Fairford have returned to their home bases in the United States, the command stated, as cited by cnnbrasil.com.br and www1.folha.uol.com.br.
The United States military has urgently transferred all 12 of its long-range B-1 bombers away from Royal Air Force Fairford in southern England back to their home base in South Dakota, according to reporting by cnnbrasil.com.br. Pentagon officials confirmed the sudden departure following an unspecified security threat, which a source familiar with the matter described as a real incident. The evacuation occurred as British and American authorities investigated a suspected Iranian plot targeting the facility, according to coverage from oglobo.globo.com and gazetadopovo.com.br.
Bombardiers Evacuated From RAF Fairford in Sudden U.S. Military Move
The rapid removal of the strategic aircraft stands out as an exceptionally unusual maneuver for a peacetime allied base thousands of miles away from a combat zone, cnnbrasil.com.br reported. According to oglobo.globo.com, the urgency was so pronounced that some aircraft and flight crews departed while aerial refueling tankers were still being scrambled to support the transatlantic flight back to the United States. Three of the B-1 bombers had already touched down in South Dakota by Sunday, as confirmed by www1.folha.uol.com.br.
We can confirm now that all U.S. bombers that were deployed to RAF Fairford have returned to their home bases in the United States, the command stated, as cited by cnnbrasil.com.br and www1.folha.uol.com.br. U.S. and military officials declined to provide specific details about the nature of the alert, though an official speaking to www1.folha.uol.com.br noted that the underlying information stemmed from threat alerts received three weeks prior. Specific details and a heightened perception of urgency escalated during the 24 hours preceding the evacuation, alarming commanders.
British Counterterrorism Arrests and Prior Iranian Warnings Target the Base
The redeployment follows a series of security incidents and arrests across the United Kingdom connected to suspected Iranian plots. According to gazetadopovo.com.br, British counterterrorism police arrested a 27-year-old British-Iranian dual citizen in the Westminster district of London on Thursday, on suspicion of preparing terrorist acts. That arrest followed an earlier sweep on Sunday, when five British men in their 20s were detained near RAF Fairford after being spotted in white vans close to the perimeter. Those five men were released on bail the following day after searches involving bomb-disposal robots found no explosives.
Tensions surrounding the facility intensified in July, when Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps issued a public warning declaring that allowing the United States to use the base makes London responsible for American actions. Any base used to launch attacks on Iranian territory is a legitimate target for our forces,
the Revolutionary Guard stated, according to oglobo.globo.com. In September, Western intelligence agencies warned military commanders that RAF Fairford faced a risk of an Iran-backed attack, prompting wider European concerns that extended to U.S. installations in Germany such as Spangdahlem and Ramstein, as reported by www1.folha.uol.com.br.
U.S. Administration Weighs Response as Investigations Continue
United States President Donald Trump stated on Wednesday, that his administration was actively evaluating a potential response against the Iranian regime following the security links uncovered by British authorities, according to gazetadopovo.com.br. We are looking at it very closely. We will make a decision very quickly,
Trump told reporters. Meanwhile, the Iranian government has denied any involvement, dismissing the accusations as baseless, as noted by gazetadopovo.com.br.
American defense officials have not specified what triggered the final evacuation order or whether the B-1 bombers will return to Europe once the current threat assessment concludes. British police investigations into the detained individuals and wider network operations remain ongoing.