At least 10 U.S. Air Force refuelling tankers left RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk, England, on Monday, with reports pointing to an undisclosed threat from Iran as the reason for the departure.
The move follows a similar withdrawal weeks earlier, when the U.S. pulled bombers from RAF Fairford over a suspected Iran-linked security concern.
Flight tracking data reviewed by BBC Verify shows the aircraft that left Mildenhall landed at other American bases in Europe as well as Prestwick Airport in Ayrshire, Scotland.
The Wall Street Journal reported the departures were a response to a threat from Iran, though sources told the paper it was unclear whether the threat was considered imminent or more general in nature. The Journal separately reported that two refuelling tankers stationed at Mildenhall were diverted to Germany, with several other assets moved to Germany and other locations later the same day.
According to the BBC’s tracking of the flights, two aircraft that left initially flew to U.S. bases in Germany and Italy. One KC-135 later returned to Mildenhall before flying east to land at Spangdahlem airbase in Germany. The other aircraft flew circuits over Aviano airbase in Italy before also landing at Spangdahlem.
Three U.S. Osprey tiltrotor transport planes also left Mildenhall and arrived Tuesday at RAF Lakenheath, another U.S.-used base in England, CBS News reported.
Asked about Monday’s flights, a Ministry of Defence spokesperson told the BBC: “We do not routinely comment on the activity of other nations. Aircraft and other assets move regularly according to operational requirements.”
Lord Ricketts, a former UK National Security Adviser, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that the base’s layout makes it an easy target. “We are talking about an airbase which houses these large tanker aircraft. Of course, they are large targets, an airbase has a long perimeter, so they are inevitably vulnerable,” he said.
He added that the full picture behind the move remains unclear. “Nobody knows at this stage what this information was. I suspect part of it is an abundance of caution,” Ricketts said.
