UK officials not briefed as US pulls B-1 bombers from RAF Fairford

Rubio calls redeployment routine; MoD declines comment on residents

Downing Street insisted on Monday that RAF Fairford is safe, a day after the US air force suddenly withdrew 12 B-1 bombers that had been stationed at the Gloucestershire base. The prime minister’s official spokesperson answered “yes” when asked during a scheduled briefing whether the military site was secure, then pointed to “tried and tested approaches to defend our bases around the country and throughout the world,” highlighting recent comments by Defence Secretary Wes Streeting.

But UK officials told the Guardian they had not been briefed on American thinking behind the rapid redeployment. The Ministry of Defence and Gloucestershire police declined to comment when asked whether residents near the base faced any additional threat. Downing Street’s comments were the first made by British authorities in the wake of the US withdrawal.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking on Monday, said military deployments were normal and sought to downplay any discrepancies with the UK. “With the Brits, we’ve worked very closely a long time, including on this investigation, and they couldn’t be more cooperative,” Rubio said, adding that the US was confident in the security of all its bases.

The Sunday redeployment had been swift. Aircraft trackers reported that an entire squadron of 12 B-1 bombers had left Fairford for the United States, a movement the Pentagon confirmed that evening. US officials told the New York Times that commanders had received new threats about an Iran-backed plot against the site. Some of the bombers departed so quickly that refuelling aircraft had to be scrambled to support their transatlantic flights, according to the Guardian.

RAF Fairford has been on high alert for several weeks amid heightened American concern that Tehran could try to instigate an attack on the base, which had been used for US air force bombing runs against Iran earlier in 2026. In July, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said the base was a legitimate military target. The Guardian reported that it remains unclear what level of threat Iran could pose to a military base in the heart of the UK: missiles fired from Iran may be able to reach it but would likely be shot down first, while a drone attack would be a high-risk operation close to the base. The newspaper noted that Iran has destroyed US planes on the tarmac during fighting earlier this year.

UK developments have not so far matched the apparent level of the US warnings. At the end of September, counter-terror police arrested five men from London driving white vans to Whelford, a village by the base, in the small hours on suspicion of carrying explosives. No explosive devices were found in the search, though a barrel of petrol was recovered. All five were released on police bail a day later, raising questions about what they had been doing.

US President Donald Trump said he was “surprised” the five men had been released. “We know everything about them, we would not have released them,” Trump said. The Guardian reported that Andy Burnham, whom it identified as “the prime minister,” has been more muted, noting that he said last week there were “strong indications that Iran played a part” in the incident. Developments in the British investigation, led by counter-terror police, have been limited.

A sixth man, a dual UK-Iranian national, was arrested in Westminster, London, on Thursday on suspicion of preparing acts of terrorism and was also released on police bail on Saturday. Counter-terror police said investigations into the circumstances surrounding the events in Gloucestershire were continuing.