US evacuates military aircraft from second British base following Iranian threat

Following intelligence suggesting Iran may be plotting an attack, US military relocates multiple aircraft from British base, while raising security levels at two facilities in the UK.

By World Israel News Staff

The US military has evacuated a number of aircraft from a British air base following intelligence indicating a possible threat from Iran, marking the second American withdrawal from a military installation in the United Kingdom in little more than a month.

The aircraft were moved from RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk on Monday, November 9, according to a Wall Street Journal report citing officials familiar with the matter.

Two American aerial refueling tankers were initially diverted to Germany on Monday morning, followed by several additional aircraft transferred to bases in Germany and elsewhere in Europe.

Flight-tracking data reviewed by Sky News indicated that nine KC-135 Stratotanker refueling aircraft and three CV-22 Osprey aircraft departed Mildenhall during the afternoon and evening.

Most of the tankers were relocated to bases in Germany and Spain, with another landing at RAF Prestwick in Scotland. The three Ospreys were transferred to RAF Lakenheath, another American-operated military installation in Suffolk.

The precise nature of the Iranian threat remains unclear, with American officials reportedly assessing whether it represents an imminent danger or a more general security concern.

The US military has also raised security levels at RAF Mildenhall and RAF Lakenheath to Force Protection Condition Charlie, the second-highest alert level in the Pentagon’s force-protection system.

The designation is used when intelligence indicates that a terrorist attack is likely or when a security incident has occurred.

A US official confirmed to military news outlet The War Zone that enhanced security measures had been implemented at both installations.

“We constantly assess a variety of factors that determine what measures we institute or modify,” the official said, referring to the protection of military personnel and their families.

An American Air Force spokesperson declined to discuss the aircraft movements in detail, noting that planes routinely move between military installations for operational reasons.

Britain’s Ministry of Defence similarly declined to elaborate.

“We do not routinely comment on the activity of other nations,” a ministry spokesperson said.

The latest withdrawals follow an earlier security emergency at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, where the United States removed approximately a dozen B-1 bombers in early October following intelligence warnings of a suspected Iranian-directed drone attack.

The bombers had been deployed to Fairford for operations against Iran.

British authorities arrested five men near the installation on September 27 after suspicious vehicles were discovered in the vicinity of the base. Subsequent investigations led to additional arrests and criminal charges against two men under Britain’s National Security Act.

On October 27, British counterterrorism police announced that Mohmed Ahmad Abdulkarim, 24, had been charged with assisting a foreign intelligence service, while Nouman Essghir, also 24, was charged with activity involving a prohibited military site.

Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor, the head of Britain’s Counter Terrorism Policing, said investigators believed the activities had been conducted on behalf of a foreign intelligence service.

“In this case, we believe that country to be Iran,” Taylor said.

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham previously stated that the suspected Fairford operation was highly likely to have been coordinated in Iran and directed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Tehran has denied involvement in the alleged plot.

The Revolutionary Guards have nevertheless warned that British military installations used to support American attacks on Iran could be considered legitimate targets for retaliation.

RAF Mildenhall is home to the US Air Force’s 100th Air Refueling Wing, whose KC-135 aircraft support American and NATO operations across Europe, Africa and the Middle East.