All U.S. bombers deployed to RAF Fairford have been returned to their home stations in the United States, a Pentagon spokesperson confirmed to CBS News.
Page A2From§Eachthe midnight edition — 6 October 2026
Rubio voices confidence in US bases hours after the last bomber left this one over Iran threats.
As it ran on the front
Today we are making a military withdrawal that insists on being called something else, which is not a dish you get over here in quite this cut. You will need twelve B-1 bombers, one air base in Gloucestershire, a threat the government will only call "some threats," and Downing Street saying the word "safe" into a kitchen with every bomber already pulled off the heat.
Begin five days before the bombers moved. On September 30th the Washington Examiner carried British Prime Minister Andy Burnham saying there were "indications" Iran "played a part" in a terrorism scare near the base — five British nationals, ages 23 to 25, arrested that Sunday — and defending their release on bail anyway.…
Clive Indications. My verse has had indications for months, and the Americans still haven't grounded a single bomber for it.
Gary Grounded. The only thing grounded in this house is the toaster, and that's because you trod on the flex.
By the weekend the indications had become a schedule. On October 5th a Pentagon spokesperson told CBS News that all the bombers at RAF Fairford had returned to their home stations; the New York Times put the number at twelve the next day, withdrawn over the risk of a drone attack US and British officials said was ordered by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. JD Vance called it "an abundance of caution." Trump, asked why, told RTÉ there were "some threats."
Rob Question for the table: who's showing caution about the boiler, because it's made the same noise since March and it hasn't flown anywhere.
Keith That's not getting answered today, Rob. I can have "abundance of caution" trademarked by the weekend, and you can thank me out of the kitty.
You will be looking for the order that grounded them for good. There is no such order: Marco Rubio told CBS News the administration still has confidence in all international bases — said after every bomber at this one had already gone home.
The BBC, which is what they have here, has it as "Trump says 'threat' led US to pull bombers from RAF Fairford." At home, in the quote RTÉ carried from his own mouth, it was "some threats" — the number sliding between the British headline and the American who gave it.
Gary Confidence. That's what Keith called the boiler in March, right before it broke completely and we lost the hot water for a fortnight.
The same day, the Guardian carried Downing Street's answer. A dozen B-1s had already redeployed over the possible Iranian threat, and the prime minister's spokesperson, at a scheduled briefing, said "yes" when asked if the military site was safe.
This one serves the base itself, left holding everything it was built for flown home, and Downing Street, who must keep saying "safe" until Washington says anything else. The bill for finishing that sentence hasn't been sent to anyone yet.
Rob If the Americans can call an empty base secure, I'm calling this kitchen catered.
“They pull the bombers off a NATO ally's base over a threat they won't even name, then go on television saying they've got confidence in bases just like it — that's not reassurance, that's the moving van backing out before the landlord posts the notice. If Fairford wasn't safe enough to park a plane, it wasn't safe enough for the people stationed around it either.”
“Look, moving the bombers out before anything happens, that's just prudent planning, that's — that's an abundance of caution, that's good stewardship of military assets. Sure the threat's unconfirmed, but you don't wait for a confirmed drone strike to move expensive hardware — wait, did I just admit there's a threat? No, there's no threat, it's just caution, the planes are fine, that's the whole story.”
Earlier in this story
- All US bombers leave British base Downing Street still calls safe. By Mitch · the early evening edition, 5 October 2026
- Pentagon blacklists Anthropic for refusing to drop safety guardrails; its own contracts list Anthropic as a partner anyway. By Ruth · the early evening edition, 5 October 2026
- Farmer tipped police to five terror suspects; all five, then a sixth, walked free on bail. By Mitch · the breakfast edition, 4 October 2026
- Sixth Fairford suspect freed on bail as UK charges two Iranian men in Manchester plot, U.S. expels diplomats By Mitch · the wee small hours edition, 4 October 2026
The receipts
The U.S. Air Force has removed all of its bombers from a U.K. air base following a security incident there last month.
The U.S. said it moved all of its heavy bombers out of RAF Fairford.
According to U.S. and British officials, 12 B-1 Air Force bombers from R.A.F. Fairford air base were withdrawn because of the risk of a drone attack ordered by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
A dozen B-1s stationed at Gloucestershire base redeployed over concerns about possible threat from Iran Downing Street has insisted RAF Fairford is secure a day after the US air force suddenly withdrew a dozen B-1 bombers from the Gloucestershire base over security concerns about a possible threat from Iran. The prime minister’s…
Donald Trump has said there were "some threats" that led the United States to pull bombers from a UK base.
The Pentagon confirmed on Sunday it had removed the B1 bombers from the base in England back to their home stations in America.
The U.S. military removed all of its B-1 bombers from a British air base over the weekend, out of concern for potential attacks linked to Iran. Charlie D'Agata has more details.
· Andy Burnham says ‘indications’ show Iran ‘played a part’ in Fairford air base terrorism scare and defends suspects’ release on bail from the morgue, 30 Sep 2026
This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front. The byline is a pen name for a column drafted by a machine and checked by the editor: how this is made.