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US moves tankers from UK base amid Iran threat

By · Published by Everything Blog

In short

The sudden dispersal sent two refueling aircraft directly to Germany on Monday, with several additional planes reassigned to alternative European bases throughout the day. RAF Mildenhall's 100th Refueling Wing remains critical for sustaining allied flight operations across the region. Both U.S. European Command and the British Ministry of Defense declined to detail specific protection measures, characterizing the flights as routine movements driven by operational requirements. This precautionary evacuation follows a late-September incident where suspected terror activity prompted the withdrawal of American bombers from RAF Fairford.

Key points

  • American military planners actively dispersed critical refueling capacity across Europe t…: American military planners actively dispersed critical refueling capacity across Europe to mitigate risks from an Iranian threat.
  • Both British and American defense officials cited operational security in refusing to dis…: Both British and American defense officials cited operational security in refusing to discuss specific force protection adjustments.
  • British authorities have previously charged two individuals under the National Security A…: British authorities have previously charged two individuals under the National Security Act following suspicious vehicle sightings near RAF Fairford.

Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1

LONDON: The US Air Force has evacuated air refueling tankers from their base in eastern England due to a threat from Iran, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.

Two tankers stationed at RAF Mildenhall were diverted to Germany on Monday, and several other tankers were relocated to other bases in Europe later in the day, the newspaper reported, citing people familiar with the decision. U.S. officials decided to redeploy the aircraft after being alerted about the new threat on Monday, the Journal said.

A European Command official said they were aware of the reporting when contacted by The Associated Press, saying only that the service rotates aircraft between locations "for a variety of reasons including training and real world requirements."

"U.S. military aircraft are hosted in accordance with access, basing and overflight agreements with our allies and partners,'' the official said while speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on sensitive military matters. "Due to operations security, we will not provide further information on movement of assets.

"For operational security reasons, we do not discuss…

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