US removes all Air Force bombers from UK base following new threat

The United States has moved long-range bombers back to their American home stations after an unspecified new threat, according to a US official, days after the British government arrested a number of individuals in connection with an alleged Iranian plot to target the UK airbase where the planes had been stationed, CNN reports.

“We can acknowledge now that all U.S. bombers that were deployed to RAF Fairford have re-deployed to their home stations in the United States,” the official told CNN.

He noticed that it is unusual that the US military would move the bombers back to their home stations instead of deploying them to another base in the region.

The UK Ministry of Defense declined to comment.

The Royal Air Force base at Fairford has been used to deploy US B-1 bombers involved in the war against Iran and is an operating location for US Global Strike Command, which is tasked with managing long-distance strikes.

CNN national security analyst Alex Plitsas said it was likely several dozen bombers were stationed at Fairford, adding that it was unusual to move all the aircraft.

“It speaks to the credibility and the seriousness of the threat overall to the base that we’re talking about,” he told Ben Hunte on CNN Newsroom.