US withdraws B-1 bombers from RAF Fairford after terror arrests

No 10 insists Gloucestershire base secure despite bomber withdrawal

The Pentagon confirmed on Sunday it had removed all of its bombers from RAF Fairford, a move Downing Street addressed on Monday by insisting the Gloucestershire airbase remains safe. A No 10 spokesperson declined to comment on the US military’s operations but said the base was secure, pointing to US President Donald Trump’s recent comments praising British police, defence and security services in relation to the site.

Whitehall sources have not disputed that Washington’s decision was made in response to the 27 September incident at the base. The BBC has also been told the withdrawal was a military rather than political decision, taken at an operational level and communicated from the US military to its British counterparts. The bombers, thought to number about a dozen B-1s, have been returned to their home stations in the United States.

The New York Times reported earlier on Monday that US commanders had received new threats about an Iran-backed plot against RAF Fairford, according to two US officials. The newspaper said the new information was part of the same threat warnings issued three weeks ago, but that officials acted after specific details emerged in the past 24 hours.

The 27 September incident that preceded the withdrawal began when police were alerted to three “suspicious vehicles” near the airbase. Five men were initially arrested on suspicion of terror offences and subsequently released on bail. A sixth man, a UK-Iranian national, was later arrested and also released on bail. Counter-terror police are investigating the episode.

Defence Secretary Wes Streeting said last week that “we have tried and tested approaches to defend our bases around the country and throughout the world,” language the No 10 spokesperson echoed on Monday. The spokesperson also cited Trump’s earlier remarks, in which the US president “praised our police, defence and security services” in connection with the base.

Days after the incident, Prime Minister Andy Burnham said there were “strong indications” that Iran had played a part in the episode but did not provide further details. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Fox News that the plot “clearly involve[d] the hands of a foreign actor,” without elaborating. Tehran has strongly denied any involvement.

In July, Iran said that “any base used for aggression against Iranian territory constitutes a legitimate target for our forces.” RAF Fairford, near the village of Whelford in the Cotswolds, has been used as a forward operating location by the USAF for decades.

In recent months, the US has flown B-1 and B-52 bombers from the base for the Middle East, after the UK approved a US request to use it for defensive strikes on Iran. Residents close to the airbase told the BBC of their relief at the departure of the bombers. One local said she was “thrilled,” citing the noise and feeling “increasingly vulnerable” in recent weeks. Another villager, who said he has seen bombs being loaded aboard aircraft from his back garden, said he knew something was happening when he saw planes leaving “one, after another, after another” on Sunday.

Ezra Cohen, who served as a defence official under Trump’s first administration, called the US decision to remove the bombers “prudent.” He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that the B-1 is no longer in production and that “we have a limited number of them. The B-1 bomber is a strategic asset, and we’re going to take steps to protect it from all sorts of threats.”

Liberal Democrat defence spokesperson James MacCleary called the withdrawal “deeply concerning” and called for the government to set out a plan to ensure the country’s military bases are “fit for purpose.”