Bunker busters and a Burger King: a visual guide to US military bases on British soil | US military
THey, they are dotted across the UK countryside and are often hidden from the public behind high security perimeter fencing. They are technically British territory, and most of them misleadingly have “Royal Air Force” in their names.
But in many respects, these military outposts are under the control of the U.S. president and commander in chief.
There are more than 12,000 US military personnel based in the United Kingdom, operating from at least 15 bases and installations.
They play a critical role in US military and intelligence operations, providing launch sites for massive bombers and infrastructure for global espionage operations. As of last year, a Suffolk base may now be home to part of the US nuclear arsenal.
The bases also feature some home comforts: RAF Lakenheath has a bowling alley, Burger King and baseball fields.
The US war with Iran in recent weeks has demonstrated the usefulness of bases, with waves of military aircraft taking off from places such as RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire.
But the war raises rare questions about the existence and purpose of such bases on UK soil. For almost three-quarters of a century, the British political establishment has viewed them as the linchpin of the UK’s alliance with the world’s most powerful power.
British prime minister Keir Starmer initially resisted the use of US bases in the Iran conflict, then insisted they should only be used for “limited defence” purposes.
US President Donald Trump’s threats of military action that would likely amount to war crimes, his open disdain for Britain and the NATO alliance, and the seemingly rapid disintegration of the so-called special relationship have all served to put these UK-based military installations in the spotlight.
Green Party leader Zack Polanski said Britain should consider closing US bases in Britain as part of a wider dissolution of the military alliance between the two countries. So where are the US military bases? What exactly are they doing? So who ultimately controls them?
Where are they?
The locations of 15 bases in the UK were revealed in a Pentagon document listing all bases worldwide. (This figure does not include the other six US sites in Britain, which are actually too small to be included in the list.)
All bases are located in England, except Lossiemouth in Scotland. Lord Coaker, British Minister of Defense He told the House of Lords on 24 March He said there are 12,300 American military and civilian employees spread across bases and facilities. (This figure does not include American military personnel serving at other facilities in the UK, such as NATO facilities.)
Major bases include RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire, known for controversy over the death of 19-year-old Harry Dunn. In 2019, Anne Sacoolas, a US intelligence official whose husband worked at the base, was killed when she was hit by a car she was driving on the wrong side of the road.
Croughton is a major communications center responsible for transmitting top-secret material to the U.S. military and intelligence agencies. There is CIA reportedly used It is the base from which information intercepted by listening stations installed in US embassies around the world is transmitted.
RAF Fairford
During the Iran war, photographers standing around RAF Fairford captured a disturbing image of heavy bombs being loaded onto American aircraft. The footage brought into sharp relief the vital role the Gloucestershire base played in supporting the US bombing campaign.
Fairford’s value to the United States is its particularly long runway, stretching almost 2 miles (3 km). Both are retrofitted to support heavy bombers such as the B-1 and B-52 attacking Iran. The aircraft is capable of carrying large payloads, including so-called “bunker buster” bombs.
By launching missions from a base half an hour away from Swindon rather than in the US, the air force has reduced the distance to bombing targets in Iran by thousands of kilometres. Before a fragile ceasefire came into force this week, up to four such flights were departing from RAF Fairford each day.
RAF Mildenhall
Located on the plains of west Suffolk, RAF Mildenhall is home to approximately 4,000 American military personnel and is described by the US air force as a “power projection platform”. The base played an active role in supporting US bombing missions over Iran, thanks to its fleet of refueling aircraft stationed at the base.
The so-called tankers made frequent flights from Mildenhall to the Mediterranean, completing mid-air refueling missions and helping other U.S. military aircraft stay in the skies while traveling to and from Iran.
RAF Lakenheath
RAF Lakenheath is the largest American base in the United Kingdom. Nestled between a forest and farmland, the base is a pocket of America in East Anglia. High perimeter fences act as a symbolic border: US military police patrol inside, British officers outside.
The base, which has more than 6,000 US military personnel, the population of a small town, hosts a large fleet of fighter jets consisting of F-35s and F-15Es. Most of Lakenheath’s aircraft are currently based in the Middle East, but the base also serves as a staging point for transporting aircraft from the United States to the region.
In recent years, indications have emerged that the US is once again stockpiling nuclear weapons at Lakenheath; This means a return to the days of the cold war. For decades, the air force maintained a powerful arsenal of nuclear weapons at its base, ready to destroy the Soviet Union at a moment’s notice.
These were removed in 2008 but experts believe they most likely returned to the base last year. Analysts have detected signs of their existence, but the official stance of both the American and British governments is to neither confirm nor deny whether nuclear weapons are there.
RAF Menwith Hill
Menwith Hill is part of a global network of American electronic listening stations located all over the planet to give the United States the ability to intercept communications of almost anyone, anywhere. It is run by the secretive National Security Agency (NSA) and is its largest base outside the United States.
The 1,000 US personnel stationed at the base work in close cooperation with the British electronic surveillance agency GCHQ. There are around 300 British employees at Menwith Hill, according to recently released figures.
The huge white “golf balls” of Menwith Hill in the Yorkshire Valleys can be seen for miles and passing walkers can speculate about the balls’ purpose. These devices, called Radoms, contain powerful equipment that helps the United States eavesdrop on much of the world.
One of the most important tasks of American intelligence officers at Menwith Hill is to monitor communications in the Middle East. They are likely to play an important role in listening to Iran’s political and military leaders.
Intelligence gathered by Menwith Hill also reportedly used It is a legally questionable practice for the American military to detect and kill suspected enemies overseas through drone strikes.
Does the British government have any control over US bases?
Exactly how much control the UK government has over Americans’ use of the bases is unclear and open to debate. In general, the terms of the agreement were determined 74 years ago in a declaration agreed by the then leaders of the two countries (Prime Minister Winston Churchill and President Harry Truman).
At the time, the US was building a massive arsenal of nuclear weapons that were stored at bases in the UK and could be dropped on the Soviet Union in the event of war.
In a short paragraphTruman and Churchill agreed that “the use of these bases in case of emergency will depend on the mutual decision of the government.” [British] government and the US government in the light of the conditions prevailing at the time.”
The two countries signed a series of official agreements regulating the use of these bases in 1951 and 1973. However, there are also an unknown number of secret agreements. Al Carns, deputy defense minister said in february: “Confidential agreements also apply in some areas, reflecting the sensitive nature of certain operational activities carried out at these facilities.”
While the British government stated that it would consider any request to use UK bases on a case-by-case basis, its approval was “appropriate”. consideration of the legal basis for any proposed activity”.
However, it is not clear how this works. Starmer said US bases in England would be used for defensive purposes only, but did not explain how this was implemented.
Critics have questioned whether, for example, the Americans gave detailed targeting plans to the British government before their individual bombing missions each time they took off from RAF Fairford, and if so, whether this information could be trusted.
global network
Although extremely important in their own right, US bases in the UK are best understood as nodes in a vast network of military sites spread across the world; According to the Pentagon’s latest data, there are 566 of them. Britain is the country with the fourth highest number of bases after Germany, Japan and Italy, which the USA and its allies defeated in the Second World War.
The number of bases in any country is not always an indication of their importance. Often geography is key. Al-Udeyd air base in Qatar, which has been repeatedly targeted by Iranian missiles, is the largest US base in the Middle East and an important center for operations in the region.
But access to other key sites, such as two bases the US operates jointly with Spain, has been blocked, despite Trump’s anger. The Spanish government has denied US permission to use the bases for what it calls “unjust and dangerous military intervention” in Iran.
Italy also prevented the United States from using a base in Sicily because the Americans did not follow the required permit procedure.
Although such acts of resistance occurred sporadically and were more of a nuisance to the United States than a serious impediment to war, they highlighted a weakness in the system: despite America’s military superiority, the use of bases depended on the maintenance of diplomatic relations.
This is not Trump’s style and he is the president of the United States reportedly Considering a very different path: punishing some European countries for not supporting U.S. efforts in Iran.
One option is said to be shifting some US bases or US military personnel to countries such as Poland, Romania, Lithuania and Greece, where they are considered more useful during the attack. Given the worrying state of relations, the UK may not be on this list.
