Three US Bomber Aircraft Land in Britain to Attack Iran

Three United States bomber aircraft have landed at a British air base as the Pentagon prepares to escalate its latest operations against Iran.

One B-1 Lancer bomber aircraft, according to Middle East Eye, landed at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, southern England, on Friday 6 March local time. Two additional bomber aircraft subsequently arrived at the same base on Saturday 7 March morning local time.

The air base in Gloucestershire is expected to receive additional US military aircraft within the coming week.

The B-1 Lancer bomber is valued at up to US$2 billion (approximately £1.6 billion) per unit and is capable of carrying 24 cruise missiles simultaneously. This capability allows the aircraft to conduct long-range missions without detection.

According to the US Air Force, this type of bomber can “rapidly deliver large quantities of precision and non-precision weapons against any adversary, anywhere in the world, at any time”.

Separately, a US C-5 Galaxy cargo aircraft, the largest in the US military fleet, also arrived at the British base on Friday 6 March.

US to Escalate Operations

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth stated on Thursday 5 March that the US will use British military bases to “dramatically” increase its operations against Iran.

“When we say there will be more, that means more fighter squadrons, more capability, more defensive capability, and more frequent bomber strikes,” he stated.

The use of British bases for US operations against Iran follows criticism directed at British Prime Minister Keir Starmer by President Donald Trump for being “unhelpful”.

Starmer had initially blocked the US from using the shared British-US military base at Diego Garcia, Chagos Islands, to strike Iran.

However, on Sunday 8 March local time, Starmer announced that the US would be permitted to use British military bases to target Iranian missile sites.