British Ministry of Defence says aircraft moves follow operational requirements

A US official reports FPCON Charlie at RAF Mildenhall and RAF Lakenheath

A British Ministry of Defence spokesperson said the ministry does not routinely comment on the activity of other nations. “Aircraft and other assets move regularly according to operational requirements,” the spokesperson said. The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, reported that the US military had evacuated aircraft from a second airbase in Britain on Monday after a threat from Iran, weeks after Washington withdrew its bombers from RAF Fairford over a suspected Iran-linked security incident.

That report said the US upgraded the security posture at RAF Mildenhall and RAF Lakenheath, citing a US official familiar with the matter, and that the posture was raised to Force Protection Condition Charlie, known as FPCON Charlie. Charlie is the second-highest defensive threat level in the US Department of Defense’s security system, and it occurs when intelligence indicates that a form of terrorist action is likely.

A US Air Force spokesperson declined to provide the Wall Street Journal with details about the movement of assets but said US aircraft rotate between installations and operating locations for a variety of reasons. Reuters could not immediately reach the US Air Force, while the White House, the Pentagon and US European Command did not immediately respond to requests for comment sent outside regular business hours.

The movements themselves were described in the Wall Street Journal’s account: two US refuelling tankers that had been using RAF Mildenhall diverted to Germany earlier on Monday, while several other tankers at the base were moved to Germany and other locations later in the day. The report said the precise nature of the threat to RAF Mildenhall remained under discussion among US officials.

Five men were arrested outside RAF Fairford airbase in south-west England in September over a security incident, and two others were arrested later on suspicion of assisting Iranian intelligence. The circumstances of that incident remain largely unexplained.

The incident attracted international attention, The Guardian reported, at a time of heightened concern about the security implications for western states of the war between the US and Iran. It prompted the US to remove its B-1 bombers from the Fairford airbase on security grounds, and RAF Fairford had been used by US bombers to carry out strikes on Iran.

British prime minister Andy Burnham said last month that the activity at RAF Fairford was likely to have been coordinated in Iran. Tehran’s ambassador to Britain has denied accusations that Iran was involved in any plot against the airbase.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said in July that the Fairford base and any other base used to launch attacks against Iran are legitimate targets.

No official response described the reported threat itself, which remained under discussion among US officials even as the reported security posture at RAF Mildenhall and RAF Lakenheath had risen to FPCON Charlie.