US removes all Air Force bombers from UK base following new threat

By Piper Hudspeth Blackburn, Zachary Cohen, CNN

(CNN) — The United States has moved long-range bombers back to their American home stations after an unspecified new threat, according to a person familiar, days after the British government arrested a number of individuals in connection with an alleged Iranian plot to target the UK airbase where the planes had been stationed.

“We can acknowledge now that all U.S. bombers that were deployed to RAF Fairford have re-deployed to their home stations in the United States,” a US official told CNN. The statement did not include details on why the planes were moved.

The source familiar called the latest threat a “real world incident.”

The Royal Air Force base at Fairford has been used to deploy US B-1 bombers involved in the war against Iran and is a forward operating location for US Global Strike Command, which is tasked with managing long-distance strikes.

This story is breaking and will be updated with additional details.

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