Arabic version: سحب قاذفات بي-1 الأميركية يحد من القدرة على شن ضربات سريعة ضد إيران

According to Al Jazeera, the United States has withdrawn about a dozen B-1 bombers from RAF Fairford in the United Kingdom after security concerns following an alleged threat to the base. The aircraft had been stationed at Fairford and used to strike Iran during the ongoing war. A British bomb disposal robot was deployed near the base last week and 85 homes were evacuated. Five suspects and a separate British-Iranian suspect were released without charges. Tehran denied any connection to the alleged plot.

Analysts said RAF Fairford had provided Washington with a convenient location for rapidly launching and sustaining strikes on Iran. Dania Thafer of the Gulf International Forum said the United States had lost “a convenient launchpad”, but not its underlying ability to strike. Christoph Bergs of the Royal United Services Institute said the withdrawal reduced the capacity to quickly increase sorties against Iran, while not ending US military options.

The B-1’s principal advantage is its conventional weapons payload, Arun Dawson of King’s College London’s Freeman Air and Space Institute told Al Jazeera. He said the aircraft carries at least 34 tonnes of ordnance and can deliver large volumes of precision-guided weapons against multiple targets during a prolonged air campaign. Its removal could require greater reliance on longer-range missions from the United States or other distant bases, increasing flight times, crew fatigue and aerial-refuelling needs.

David Des Roches, a former Pentagon official and professor at the Thayer Marshall Institute, said the Fairford security incident exposed a vulnerability because the aircraft were in the open and near public viewing areas. Analysts identified Diego Garcia or US bases in the Gulf as possible redeployment options. Diego Garcia could offer greater protection but longer flight distances, while Gulf basing could shorten transit times but would require negotiations over risk mitigation. The expected arrival of the Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group and the Makin Island Marine Expeditionary Force by November will add carrier-based air power in the region, Dawson said.