U.S. media outlets including The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times reported on Oct. 6 local time, citing U.S. and British officials, that the U.S. military had urgently returned all of the Air Force's B-1 "Lancer" strategic bombers stationed at Fairford Air Base in Gloucestershire, England, to the United States. The reports drew global attention.
According to the reports, the United States hurriedly withdrew 12 B-1 strategic bombers from the British air base over concerns about a possible Iranian drone attack. The U.S. Department of Defense declined to confirm specific details of the movement for operational security reasons but acknowledged that bombers previously deployed at Fairford had returned to their home bases. The department added that U.S. bombers are prepared to carry out strikes from the mainland as well.
Six B-52s had already been fully withdrawn from Fairford in July, leaving only the 12 B-1s until recently, and the B-1 contingent has now left entirely. The base hosts the U.S. Air Force's 501st Combat Support Wing and has been used for operations directed at Iran. It is a key rear base where multiple strategic bombers, including the B-52 Stratofortress and the B-1 Lancer, have been deployed.
Behind the large-scale return of the strategic bombers to the U.S. mainland was intelligence indicating that Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was preparing a terrorist attack targeting Fairford. The U.S. Air Force pulled out the advanced bombers immediately after intelligence circulated that Iran was planning a drone strike, according to the reports.
Fairford is one of the key bases in Europe used by the U.S. Air Force for military operations against Iran. For that reason, U.S. government authorities concluded that the IRGC had sought to carry out a multi-pronged attack plan — striking military aircraft at the base with drones and killing personnel including U.S. pilots, the outlets reported.
The New York Times reported that the attack plan appeared to be modeled on a Ukrainian operation last year in which drones were smuggled deep into Russia and launched from trucks to strike Russian strategic bombers capable of carrying nuclear weapons. The Journal reported that the IRGC had recruited British nationals and had devised a multi-stage plan that included operations to divert attention in nearby areas.
British police arrested five British suspects in September as they were heading toward Fairford. "There are strong indications that Iran played a role in the Fairford case," British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said. "We will disclose more at an appropriate time, but the British government assesses that Iran played a role in this case." The five were released on bail, however, and have not yet been charged.
President Donald Trump said those arrested had already been under investigation and expressed displeasure at Britain's decision to release the five on bail, saying he would not have let them go. U.S. intelligence agencies had also obtained information before the incident that major European bases including Fairford could face attacks using vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices as well as drones, according to the reports.
The British government maintains that circumstantial evidence points to Iran but has not disclosed specifics. The Iranian Embassy in London dismissed the allegations, saying it firmly rejects and condemns what it called baseless and malicious speculation by some figures and media outlets seeking to link the suspects to Iran. Iran's Foreign Ministry went further, summoning the British ambassador to Tehran to protest and demanding that London "correct its inappropriate approach toward Iran."
