US Air Force leaves second UK airbase amid Iran threat reports

Date	Base	Aircraft type	Number moved	Destinations	Reported trigger
Early October 2026	RAF Fairford, Gloucestershire	B-1 bombers	~12	Returned to US bases	Suspected Iran-linked drone/van bomb plot; 5 arrests Sept 27
Monday, 9 November 2026	RAF Mildenhall, Suffolk	KC-135 Stratotankers	9	Spangdahlem (4), Ramstein (1), Morón (4), Prestwick (1)	Reported Iranian threat per Wall Street Journal
Monday, 9 November 2026	RAF Mildenhall, Suffolk	CV-22B Ospreys	3	RAF Lakenheath	Reported Iranian threat per Wall Street Journal

The 100th Air Refueling Wing at Mildenhall is the only permanently based US tanker wing in Europe. Its KC-135s support allied aerial refuelling and long-range strike missions across the region. The base, about 80 miles north of London, hosts roughly 3,000 military personnel and has been used as a staging area for aircraft and materiel bound for the Middle East, including during operations against Iran. Flights carrying US presidents, including Donald Trump, have often used Mildenhall; Trump transited the base in July returning from a Nato summit in Ankara. Monday's departures follow the October withdrawal of B-1 bombers from RAF Fairford after British counter-terrorism police stopped three suspicious vans near the Gloucestershire base on 27 September. Five men were arrested that day on suspicion of explosives and terrorism offences; all were later released on bail. In late October, two men — Mohmed Abdulkarim, 24, and Nouman Essghir, 24 — were charged under the National Security Act 2023. Abdulkarim was charged with assisting a foreign intelligence service and engaging in conduct likely to materially assist that service in carrying out UK-related activities. Essghir was charged with a national security offence for approaching a prohibited place for a purpose prejudicial to UK safety or interests. Prime Minister Andy Burnham said in October there were "strong indications" Iran played a part in the Fairford incident, though Tehran's ambassador to the UK has denied involvement. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said in July that Fairford and any other base used to launch attacks against Iran were "legitimate targets". On Tuesday, the Justice Department unsealed indictments against three Iranian-backed operatives accused of involvement in coordinated terrorist plots across Europe, including RAF Fairford, according to Fox News reporting. Separately, British police arrested a 41-year-old senior US Army soldier near Gloucester on Tuesday on suspicion of espionage for Russia, offences under sections 1 and 3 of the National Security Act relating to obtaining or disclosing protected information and assisting a foreign intelligence service. Police said the arrest was not linked to ongoing counter-terrorism investigations, but it occurred the day after the Mildenhall aircraft movements. FBI Director Kash Patel called the alleged espionage "of the utmost concern to the United States and our allies". Brigadier General Sean Stinchon, commanding general of US Army Counterintelligence Command, said the case was "a sobering reminder that insider threats are real and persistent". Downing Street insisted British airbases are safe and that their security is a "top priority". Education Secretary Lucy Powell told BBC Breakfast she could not comment on ongoing operational matters but added "we take the security and safety of our bases incredibly seriously" and "we will always act on security intelligence when we need to". A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: "We do not routinely comment on the activity of other nations. Aircraft and other assets move regularly according to operational requirements." US Air Force and European Command spokespersons similarly cited routine rotations and operational security, declining to confirm a threat-driven evacuation. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, asked about the moves at a G7 meeting in Paris, said Washington "routinely repositions forces around the world for a variety of reasons" and "we've addressed it by moving people away from the threat". Former UK national security adviser Lord Ricketts told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "We are talking about an airbase which houses these large tanker aircraft. Of course, they are large targets, an airbase has a long perimeter, so they are inevitably vulnerable." He added: "Nobody knows at this stage what this information was. I suspect part of it is an abundance of caution." Retired RAF Air Marshal Greg Bagwell told BBC Verify the moves could reflect an exercise, weather precautions ahead of planned deployments, a hoax as part of "nuisance hybrid warfare", or a genuine threat. He noted the dispersal to several bases "could indicate the US was spreading them around to keep them safe and the moves have been triggered by something". Liberal Democrats defence spokesperson James MacCleary wrote on X that it "seems like every other day now the security of our airfields is either compromised or under threat". The Christian Science Monitor reported that Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, at his first news conference since May, did not address the UK withdrawals as he sought to forestall impeachment proceedings in the US House. Hegseth defended his conduct of the Iran war, saying "In Operation Epic Fury, by every measure, we achieved a historic military victory" striking 13,000 targets inside Iran. Top GOP politicians have said the unpopular conflict cost Republicans control of Congress in last week's midterm elections. The "Gang of Eight" congressional leaders were briefed on Iran's threats to US interests on Monday as Congress returned to Washington, the Wall Street Journal reported. Trump told reporters on Monday that resuming strikes on Iran "doesn't seem to be a very necessary thing," citing ongoing negotiations and the preference of Middle Eastern partners like Saudi Arabia to continue blockading Iranian trade rather than full-scale war. "Should there be any change with respect to developments in the Middle East," he wrote on Truth Social, "the United States of America is 'locked and loaded' and ready to go." A Director of National Intelligence memo to Rubio on 23 October warned Iran "has substantially increased efforts to target U.S. Personnel" and "lethal plotting efforts by the Iranians against U.S. Citizens have reached advanced stages in both the Middle East and certain other countries." What to watch next

• Whether US aircraft return to Mildenhall or remain dispersed across European bases
• Progress of the National Security Act cases against Abdulkarim and Essghir linked to the Fairford incident
• Developments in the espionage case against the US Army soldier arrested near Gloucester
• Any further FPCON changes at UK bases hosting US forces
• Congressional oversight of the Iran war following midterm election results

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