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For 75 years, a slice of America has operated on the outskirts of a small market town in Suffolk. RAF Mildenhall began as a British bomber base in the 1930s and World War Two before transforming into a major hub for United States operations in Europe in 1951.
What is RAF Mildenhall?
Situated about 80 miles north of London, the base belongs to the UK Ministry of Defence but is operated by the US Air Force, housing approximately 3,000 military personnel. Other US installations in the UK include RAF Lakenheath, home to F-15 and F-35 fighter jets, and RAF Fairford, which hosts long-range American aircraft deployments. Neither the Ministry of Defence nor the US Air Force confirmed why aircraft were recently removed from RAF Mildenhall following reports of a threat.
Flight tracking and community concerns
BBC Verify used public flight-tracking data to observe 10 US KC-135 tankers departing from RAF Mildenhall. The aircraft flew to US bases in Germany, Italy, Spain, and Scotland, with military aviation analyst Roger Smith noting that the site appeared largely bare. Local politicians called for greater transparency amid social media speculation. West Suffolk MP Nick Timothy stated that while information was tightly controlled, he believed there was no wider threat to the community, though he urged residents to remain vigilant and asked authorities to communicate as freely as possible.
History as a World War Two hub
King George V officially opened the station as an RAF bomber base in October 1934, coinciding with an England-to-Australia air race. Bombers launched from the site within six hours of the declaration of war in 1939, later hosting Lancaster, Stirling, and Wellington bombers for missions such as early night bombings, the Cologne raids, the Berlin raid, and D-Day. The US took over the facility in 1951, running B-29 and B-50 bombers before it evolved into a primary European refuelling tanker base.
Current operations and security
Today, the base primarily handles maintenance and refuelling, hosting the 100th Air Refuelling Wing, which is Europe’s only permanent US air refuelling wing. Its fleet includes KC-135 Stratotankers, CV-22 Ospreys, RC-135V/W Rivet Joint reconnaissance aircraft, and MC-130J Commando II planes, while also serving as a staging area for Middle East deployments and presidential flights.
Previous security incidents include drone sightings over Suffolk and Norfolk bases in 2024, which a defence think-tank investigation linked to commercial vessels in the North Sea. Although the US Air Force previously planned to close the facility, it reversed that decision in 2020, declaring the station vital to operational efficiency in Europe.
