The U.S. military has withdrawn all B-1B Lancer bombers from RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire and returned them to home stations in the United States. The redeployment removes the last American bombers from the Royal Air Force base, a key forward operating location for long-range strike aircraft in Europe.
Pentagon and U.S. European Command officials confirmed that all U.S. bombers deployed to Fairford had left, while stressing that bomber crews remain ready for global strike missions, including sorties launched from the continental United States. The move follows a security incident and suspected terror plot investigation near the base at the end of September, although the specific intelligence behind the redeployment has not been disclosed publicly.
RAF Fairford has long served as the main European staging base for U.S. heavy bombers, including B-1s and B-52s used for operations connected to the Iran conflict and wider Middle East posture. Roughly a dozen B-1s had been based there before the aircraft began departing on 4 October, with some already back in the United States by the following day. The withdrawal is a notable change in U.S. bomber posture in Britain, even though the aircraft can still deploy globally from their home bases.