Downing Street has said RAF Fairford remains secure after the United States removed all of its bombers from the base.
The Pentagon said on Sunday that roughly a dozen B-1 bombers had been returned to their home bases in the United States.
US media reported that the withdrawal was prompted by a fresh threat assessment, following a separate security incident on 27 September when police were called to three suspicious vehicles near the airfield.
A No 10 spokesperson said he would not comment on another country’s military operations, but reassured that the base was safe and referenced President Donald Trump’s comments last week praising the work of UK police, defence and security services.
He also cited Defence Secretary Wes Streeting’s remark that the UK has “tried and tested approaches to defend our bases around the country and throughout the world”.
RAF Fairford, in the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, is the focus of a counter-terror investigation.
Five men were initially arrested on suspicion of terrorism offences and later released on bail. A sixth, a British-Iranian national, was subsequently arrested and released on bail.
Whitehall sources did not deny that Washington’s decision was linked to the Gloucestershire incident.
The BBC was also told the decision was made at a military, operational level rather than at a political one, and was communicated by US forces to their British counterparts.
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