The U.S. military moved nine Stratotanker refueling planes from a base in England to facilities in Germany and Spain on Monday, and The Wall Street Journal cited sources who said they had been repositioned because of a threat from Iran. It is unclear whether the threat was imminent or general, sources told the newspaper. CBS News Confirmed found public aircraft tracking data showing that 10 KC-135 Stratotankers were moved from Royal Air Force Base Mildenhall in southeast England to other locations. One landed at Glasgow Prestwick Airport in Scotland, while four headed to Spangdahlem Air Base in Germany, and one landed at Ramstein Air Base, headquarters of the United States European Forces, also in Germany. Four more Stratotankers left Mildenhall and arrived at Morón Air Base in southern Spain on Monday. A U.S. Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft takes off from RAF Mildenhall, England, as part of exercise Combat Archer UK 2026, July 14, 2026. Ben Birchall/Getty “We are taking proactive steps to ensure our aircraft, our people and our facilities remain safe and secure,” a U.S. official told CBS News on Tuesday, without commenting on specific aircraft movements. Three U.S. Osprey tiltrotor transport planes also departed RAF Mildenhall and arrived Tuesday at RAF Lakenheath, another base used by the United States in England. It is unclear whether all the moves were related to the reported threat from Iran. A US Air Force spokesperson told CBS News that aircraft routinely “rotate between installations and operating locations for a variety of reasons including training and real-world requirements.” The spokesperson added that “U.S. military aircraft are hosted in accordance with access, basing and overflight agreements with our allies and partners. Due to the security of operations, we will not provide further information on the movement of assets.” The US Air Force’s 100th Air Refueling Wing, which has been based at RAF Mildenhall for years, did not immediately respond to CBS News’ request for comment on the aircraft movements. The 100th Air Wing is the only permanent American refueling wing in Europe. The plane’s relocation comes just over a month after the US Air Force decided to withdraw all of its long-range bombers from RAF Fairford, another air base in England that had been used to launch attacks against Iran, following a security incident there. On September 27, five British men were arrested on suspicion of explosives and terrorism offenses near the Fairford base. The suspects were later released on bail. A month later, two men were charged with security-related offenses in connection with the incident. The main gate of RAF Fairford is seen Sept. 27, 2026 in Fairford, England, as police declared a major incident after evacuating residents from their homes in Whelford, a village about a mile from the base that housed U.S. Air Force bombers involved in the Iran conflict. David Bown/Getty Mohmed Abdulkarim, 24, was charged with “assisting a foreign intelligence service” and “engaging in conduct likely to materially assist a foreign intelligence service in carrying out activities related to the United Kingdom.” Nouman Essghir, also 24, was charged with a national security offense after he “approached or was in the vicinity of a prohibited place and his conduct was for a purpose which he knew, or having regard to other matters which he knew, which he reasonably should have known, was detrimental to the security or interests of the United Kingdom”. UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham said at the time that Iran was believed to have “played a role” in the September incident, although he did not provide any details. “There are indications that Iran played a role in what occurred over the weekend at RAF Fairford, but of course it remains a serious, complex and ongoing police investigation, and of course we are working closely with our colleagues in the United States of America,” Burnham told the BBC in October. UK counter-terrorism police said no explosives were found in extensive searches of the three vehicles operated by the men arrested near RAF Fairford, just some fuel and a number of large, mostly empty plastic drums. Steve Berriman and Joanne Stocker contributed to this report. Go deeper with The Free Press on:
