The US Air Force has pulled all of its bombers out of RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, England, just days after counter-terror police arrested six people over a suspected terror plot targeting the base. Downing Street insists the air base is safe — but the sudden weekend withdrawal of B-1, B-2 and B-52 bombers has raised sharp questions on both sides of the Atlantic.
The Pentagon confirms: all bombers gone
On Sunday, October 4, 2026, the Pentagon confirmed that "all US bombers that were deployed to RAF Fairford have re-deployed to their home stations in the United States," according to a statement reported by Reuters and the BBC. The base had been hosting roughly a dozen B-1B Lancers alongside B-2 and B-52 bombers on a routine deployment.
The move was urgent. Two unnamed US officials told the New York Times that fresh, more specific threat details had emerged in the 24 hours before the pullout — threat intelligence linked to warnings first received about three weeks earlier. Some bombers and their crews reportedly scrambled before aerial refuelling aircraft were even in position; at least three of the aircraft landed in South Dakota by Sunday.
The Fairford terror plot and the Iran angle
The withdrawal followed a major counter-terror operation that began in the early hours of Sunday, September 27, when police were alerted to three suspicious vehicles near the base. Five UK nationals in their mid-20s, from London, were arrested on suspicion of explosives offences and later of preparing a terrorist act, and have since been released on police bail. A sixth man — a 25-year-old dual UK-Iranian national arrested in central London on October 1 on suspicion of preparing terrorist acts — has also been bailed.
On September 30, UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham said there were "strong indications" that Iran was behind the suspected plot — a claim Tehran denied, summoning the British ambassador in the process. Whitehall sources have not disputed that the bomber withdrawal was a response to the incident, and the BBC was told the decision was taken at a military, operational level rather than as a political move. A NATO source added that Iran is still believed to pose an acute threat to US assets in the UK.
"I wouldn't directly tie that to the move"
US officials are playing down any connection. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking on October 5, said: "I wouldn't directly tie that to the move that was made," describing rotations of aircraft as routine — "new planes coming in, old planes going out" — while stressing that Washington retains "full confidence in the security of all its bases" and that British officials "couldn't be more cooperative."
At Westminster, the Prime Minister's spokesman answered a single word — "Yes" — when asked whether RAF Fairford remains safe. He declined to comment on "other countries' military decisions" or on whether Burnham had spoken to President Trump about the decision, but said the government is "investing £470m into securing defence bases around the UK." Defence Secretary Wes Streeting has pointed to "tried and tested approaches to defend our bases around the country and throughout the world." Whether the bombers will ever return to Fairford is, No 10 said, "up to the US authorities."
What this means
RAF Fairford is one of America's most important forward bomber bases in Europe — and stripping it of bombers within 72 hours of a terror scare is a statement in itself, whatever Washington says about routine rotations. With the US and Iran locked in open confrontation and counter-terror police still investigating, the empty flightline in Gloucestershire tells a story neither government wants to say out loud.
Watch: BBC News at Ten reports on the US withdrawal of bombers from RAF Fairford after the suspected terror plot. 🎵 Music in our video: Kevin MacLeod – "Long Road Ahead B" (incompetech.com), licensed under CC BY 3.0