U.S. Air Force abruptly withdraws B-1 bomber fleet from military base in England

A U.S. B-1 bomber leaving RAF Fairford air base in England.

The U.S. Air Force hastily removed B-1 bombers from Royal Air Force Fairford air base in England over the weekend amid continuing concerns of an Iran-backed terror attack against the installation, a week after six arrests were made after an apparent terror plot against the base was foiled. 

According to The Wall Street Journal, the U.S. pulled all 12 of the B-1 bombers kept at RAF Fairford for operations during the Iran war over the weekend and flew them back to the U.S. The decision to remove the warplanes was so abrupt, The New York Times reported, that some of the planes took off as refueling jets were still being prepared to meet them in the air during the long journey back to the U.S.

Flight trackers noticed the B-1 bombers begin flying out of RAF Fairford over the weekend with aviation enthusiasts capturing videos of the planes lifting off from the base, which is situated northwest of London. 

“While operational security precluded us from confirming the movement of our assets and forces in real-time, we can acknowledge now that all U.S. bombers that were deployed to RAF Fairford have redeployed to their home stations in the United States,” the Pentagon said in a statement, emphasizing that the aircraft will still be ready for any attacks against Iran that Trump may order. Officials didn't elaborate at all on any threats that promtped the abrupt removal.

Using the base at RAF Fairford had significantly shortened the distance pilots needed to fly the jets to strike targets in the Middle East. Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps threatened the U.K. over the summer for allowing U.S. forces to fly missions from its bases, saying it "makes London responsible" for U.S. actions. 

Meanwhile, a former CIA operations analyst told ABC News that a strike by Iran against an adversary on soil in a third country would be highly rare, risky and could be something that Iran's leadership could point to as a short-term success, but that would not help its overall objective.

"Success at the end of the day is going to be on who capitulates in the end," he said, "and I think the Iranians are eventually going to have to capitulate." Watch the video below for more on the story.