United States Moves 10 Refueling Aircraft Out of RAF Mildenhall on November 9 After a Threat From Iran: Four to Spangdahlem in Germany and Four to Moron in Spain, Force Protection Raised to Second-Highest Level
London — The United States has evacuated American military aircraft from a military base in England on Monday, November 9, following a threat from Iran, according to the Wall Street Journal, which cited sources familiar with the matter.
The exact threat to Royal Air Force base Mildenhall remains under discussion by U.S. officials, the Journal reported.
Flight tracking data analyzed by CNN shows that 10 U.S. refueling aircraft were relocated away from RAF Mildenhall on Monday. Four of those KC-135 Stratotankers went to Germany's Spangdahlem Air Base, one to Germany's Ramstein Air Base, four to Spain's Moron Air Base and one to Scotland's Glasgow Prestwick airport.
The United States also upgraded the security threat level at RAF Mildenhall and another airbase, RAF Lakenheath, to FPCON Charlie, according to the Journal and the defense industry publication The War Zone, citing a U.S. official on Monday. That threat level is the second-highest level in the Pentagon's force protection system and indicates that some form of terrorist action or targeting action is likely.
A U.S. official told CNN that they take proactive measures to ensure their aircraft, people and installations remain safe and secure. Another American official, from U.S. European Command, said that U.S. Air Force aircraft rotate between installations and operating locations for a variety of reasons including training and real world requirements, and said that due to operations security, they will not provide further information on movement of assets.
A UK Ministry of Defense spokesperson said that they do not routinely comment on the activity of other nations, and added that aircraft and other assets move regularly according to operational requirements.
The movement of the planes comes after another Iran-linked threat last month to another military base in England, RAF Fairford. RAF Fairford had been used by U.S. B-1 bombers to carry out strikes on Iran, but they were withdrawn on security grounds shortly after five men were arrested outside the base in the early hours of September 27. British prosecutors charged two British nationals under the National Security Act in relation to the incident outside RAF Fairford airbase, with police saying the two were suspected of assisting Iran.
Source: CNN
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: Wikipedia/Wikimedia Commons 词条主图：1969 RAF Mildenhall C-130 theft
