US Aircraft Withdrawn from Bases in Britain Due to Iran Threat

The US military has relocated aircraft from an air base in Britain for the second time in a month due to a threat from Iran.

Two refueling aircraft were directed from the RAF Mildenhall base, located 70 miles northeast of London, to Germany on Monday, while numerous other aircraft moved to Germany and other locations based on flight tracking data and information provided by an official familiar with the matter. US officials were reportedly trying to determine whether the threat to the base was imminent or of a more general nature.

While a US Air Force spokesperson declined to comment on the movements of military assets, they confirmed only that there are various reasons for US aircraft to rotate between different bases and operating locations. CNN used flight tracking data to track 10 US Air Force KC-135 tankers departing Mildenhall on Monday; at least four of these aircraft landed at Spangdahlem Air Base in western Germany, one at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, four at Morón Air Base in southern Spain, and one at Prestwick Airport in Scotland.

This development coincided with the US raising the security threat level for Mildenhall and nearby RAF Lakenheath to FPCON Charlie. A US official familiar with the matter stated that this level means a form of terrorist incident is likely. On October 3, the Pentagon had also withdrawn all US bombers from the RAF Fairford base in Britain, which was used to carry out missions during the ongoing war with Iran, sending them back to their main bases in the US; President Donald Trump stated that there were "threats" against the base behind this decision.