The United States has evacuated all its bombers from Royal Air Force base Fairford in Britain, the Pentagon confirmed Sunday night. The decision to return the aircraft—roughly 12 B-1 bombers—to their home bases in America comes amid American media reports of a new threat that prompted the evacuation. London, meanwhile, insists the base is completely secure.
The evacuation follows a serious incident that occurred on September 27, when police were called to three “suspicious vehicles” near the air base. Five men were initially arrested on suspicion of terrorism offenses and released on bail, and a sixth man, a British-Iranian citizen, was later arrested and also released on bail. The incident is being investigated by a counterterrorism unit.
A spokesman for the British Prime Minister’s office declined to comment on “military operations of foreign nations,” but stressed that the base is secure. He also cited remarks by President Donald Trump last week, who “praised our police, defense and security services” in the context of the base. He added that Defense Secretary Wes Streeting said last week, “We have proven approaches to defend our bases across the country and around the world.”
Sources in Whitehall did not deny that Washington’s decision to remove the bombers was a direct response to the security incident at the Gloucestershire air base. The BBC was told it was a distinctly military decision, not a political one, made at the highest operational level and communicated directly from the U.S. military to its British counterparts—underscoring the severity of the situation and the security concern.