Updated by Faith Barbara N Ruhinda at 1349 EAT on Monday 5 October 2026
A Pentagon official confirmed on Sunday that the United States had withdrawn its bombers—believed to be about a dozen B-1 aircraft—from RAF Fairford and returned them to their home bases in the US.
US media reported that a new security threat prompted the withdrawal. The move follows an incident on September 27, when police were alerted to three “suspicious vehicles” near the airbase.
Five men were initially arrested on suspicion of terrorism offences but were later released on bail. A sixth man, a UK-Iranian national, was also arrested and subsequently released on bail.
Whitehall sources have not disputed reports that the US decision was made in response to the incident at the Gloucestershire airbase.
The BBC was also told that the decision was military rather than political, having been made at an operational level and communicated by the US military to its British counterparts.
The UK Ministry of Defence has not commented on the withdrawal.
Flight-tracking websites showed B-1 bombers leaving RAF Fairford on Sunday.
The New York Times reported that US commanders had received new intelligence about an alleged Iran-backed plot targeting RAF Fairford, citing two US officials.
The newspaper said the information was linked to threat warnings issued three weeks earlier, but that officials acted quickly after receiving more specific details within the previous 24 hours.
The bombers reportedly took off as aerial refuelling aircraft were being deployed to support their flights back to the United States.
Days after the incident at RAF Fairford, Prime Minister Andy Burnham said there were “strong indications” that Iran had played a role, but did not provide further details. Tehran has strongly denied any involvement.
Initially, five men aged between 23 and 25 were arrested in the early hours after police received reports of vehicles travelling towards the US Air Force (USAF) base.
All five were British nationals from London. They were initially arrested on suspicion of explosives offences and later on suspicion of preparing a terrorist act.
Police subsequently released the men on bail, describing the decision as an “investigative decision” based on “experience and strategy”.
A sixth man, aged 25, was arrested in London on Thursday on suspicion of preparing terrorist acts. Counter Terrorism Policing confirmed on Saturday that he had also been released on bail.
The withdrawal of the bombers comes as the US seeks to recover from damage inflicted on its aircraft by Iranian precision strikes.
The US can technically conduct precision strikes directly from its territory without relying on a UK base, as demonstrated during Operation Midnight Hammer last year.
However, removing the bombers from RAF Fairford means the US will lose an operational foothold outside continental Europe.
Ezra Cohen, who served as a defence official during Donald Trump’s first administration, described the decision to withdraw the aircraft from RAF Fairford as a “prudent decision”.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Cohen said the B-1 bomber is a strategic asset and that the US has a limited number of the aircraft because they are no longer being produced.
“These are very, very unique platforms that aren’t being produced any more, and we have a limited number of them,” he said.
“The B-1 bomber is a strategic asset, and we’re going to take steps to protect it, from all sorts of threats.”
Cohen added that the decision “raises the cost of striking Iran” because US military aircraft would now have to fly from the United States or another base in Europe.
In July, Iran warned that “any base used for aggression against Iranian territory constitutes a legitimate target for our forces”.
Days after the incident, and before the sixth man was arrested, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Fox News that it “clearly involved the hands of a foreign actor”.
Rubio did not provide further details, saying he was limited in what he could disclose publicly.
US President Donald Trump separately said he was “surprised” that the five men had been released on bail.
“We know everything about them, we would not have released them,” Trump said, adding that the UK had worked “very closely” with the US on the matter.
Many of the B-1 bombers deployed from the UK were armed with precision-guided “bunker-busting” bombs, designed with reinforced casings to penetrate hardened or buried targets such as weapons storage facilities.
The aircraft also carried air-to-surface missiles capable of striking more heavily defended targets deeper inside Iran.
Depending on the location of the target, each bombing mission would likely have taken between 12 and 15 hours for the round trip, with aerial refuelling required in both directions.
The Pentagon has stressed that its bomber aircraft remain capable of conducting missions “anywhere, anytime”, including operations that launch and recover from the continental United States.
RAF Fairford was used by the US Air Force Strategic Air Command during the Cold War and later supported US operations during the 1991 Gulf War.
The base remains owned by the UK Ministry of Defence but is operated by the US Air Force (USAF) under agreements between the UK and US governments.
RAF Fairford regularly hosts deployments of long-range US aircraft, including B-52 bombers and U-2 reconnaissance aircraft. It has also played a role in recent military operations linked to rising tensions in the Middle East.
B-52 bombers were most recently deployed in March after former UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer allowed the US to use UK bases, including RAF Fairford, for “defensive” strikes against Iranian capabilities.
The wider conflict in the Middle East began after the US and Israel launched extensive strikes on Iran on February 28.
BBC
Iran responded with attacks on Israel and US-allied states in the Gulf.
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