US bombers take off from RAF Fairford for Iran strikes: B1s depart after fleet of American warplanes at UK base hit 14 as Trump threatens Tehran with ‘death, fire and fury’

US bombers seen taking off from RAF Fairford just hours after Donald Trump He vowed to inflict ‘death, fire and fury’ Iranian.

The planes are part of a growing fleet that has arrived at the UK base in recent days ahead of expected air strikes on Iran. Three more early Tuesday US B-1 bombers worth £300 million, including one dubbed ‘Seek and Destroy’, have landed at RAF Fairford.

Almost a quarter of America’s active B-1B ‘Lancer’ fleet has crossed the Atlantic and landed at a UK base, as US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth declared Tuesday would be the ‘most intense’ day of strikes against Iran yet.

President Trump also recently claimed that ‘we haven’t even begun to hit them hard’ and that ‘the big one is coming’. In response today, Iran threatened to ‘eliminate’ him.

The arrival of the latest bombers this afternoon brings the number of the US Air Force’s 45-strong B-1 fleet at RAF Fairford’s Tarmac to 11, up from eight yesterday. Three new B-1s arriving from the USA on Tuesday were ‘nicknamed’‘Search and Destroy’, ‘Polarized’ and ‘Bad Moon Rising’.

Yesterday, three B-52 Stratofortresses, capable of carrying 31 tonnes of weapons including the infamous ‘Iron Butterfly’, landed in Gloucestershire within striking distance of Tehran to form an armada of 14 of the US air force’s heaviest bombers in Britain.

All bombers, including bomb bays, were being checked by ground crew on Tuesday. Nearby service personnel performed the delicate task of checking ammunition, including missiles, to be loaded using a mini crane.

Additionally, 25 aircraft carrying crew, ammunition and supplies have landed at RAF Fairford in the last five days to support the US bomber fleet.

The massive buildup of bombers at RAF Fairford and today’s takeoffs suggest that the stage is set for a new wave of heavier and more sustained air strikes on Iran in the coming days.

Mr Hegseth said: ‘Today will again be our most intense attack day in Iran: Most fighters, most bombers, most strikes, intelligence more sophisticated and better than ever.

The massive buildup of bombers at RAF Fairford and today’s takeoffs suggest the stage is set for a new wave of heavier and more sustained air strikes on Iran in the coming days

Members of the US Air Force (USAF) lift missiles and bombs to load onto aircraft at RAF Fairford

While American bombers were preparing to attack from England, this also emerged today:

• Donald Trump said the war could be over ‘very soon’ and claimed the US had ‘already won’, but Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was not done with Iran;
• Iranian security chief Ali Larijani warns Donald Trump to ‘be careful not to eliminate’;
• Oil prices fell after Trump’s announcement that the President would waive some sanctions on oil due to market turmoil;
• Britain is preparing to send a second ship, the RFA Lyme Bay, to the Mediterranean to potentially assist with evacuations from the Middle East;

Donald Trump insisted last night that the war in the Middle East is ‘largely’ over.

He claimed that the American-Israeli operation, launched ten days ago, was ‘way ahead’ of schedule.

The American President even described the massive attack as a “short-term trip” that would be “completed fairly quickly.”

Initial US estimates suggested the conflict could last between two weeks and two months.

But as the number of B-1 and B-52 bombers now based in Britain and ready for action grows, Mr Trump claimed Iran has ‘nothing left’.

He said: ‘The war is largely completed. They have no navy, no communications, no air force.

‘Their missiles are scattered. Drones are being blown up everywhere, including drone manufacturing. “There is nothing left in military terms.”

Mr Trump spoke for an hour about the conflict with Vladimir Putin yesterday, in a call described by Moscow as ‘frank and serious’.

As Tehran vowed to step up missile launches, the President warned: ‘They hit everything they had to shoot at and they better not try anything cute or it will be the end of the country.’

He later told Republicans gathered in Miami: ‘We went on a little trip because we felt we had to do it to get rid of some evil.

‘I think you’ll find this will be a short trip.

‘We’ve already won in many ways, but we haven’t won enough. We move forward to achieve final victory that will put an end to this long-standing danger once and for all. ‘We’ll have a much safer world when it’s over, and it’ll be over pretty quickly.’

Personnel work in the bomb bay of a B1 bomber on Tuesday as the United States threatens to launch the heaviest bombing campaign yet in the war with Iran

At one point 11 B-1s were parked on the tarmac at RAF Fairford and were being checked for takeoff on Tuesday.

A US Air Force B-1 bomber landed at RAF Fairford early on Tuesday

A US Air Force Boeing B-52 Stratofortress bomber opens its parachute as it lands at RAF Fairford yesterday

Mr. Trump also repeated his claim that U.S. action was preemptive. He explained: ‘They were going to attack us within a week. They were ready. ‘They had more missiles than anyone thought and they were going to attack us, but they were going to attack the whole Middle East and Israel.’

The US military says it has hit more than 5,000 Iranian targets and destroyed 50 ships since Operation Epic Fury began.

Meanwhile, Britain was embarrassed by France when Emmanuel Macron ordered an ‘unprecedented’ deployment to the Mediterranean and Middle East. While Britain struggled to mobilize even a single warship, the French president made a show of diplomatic power.

He made plans against French ships to protect the Strait of Hormuz trade route, which was closed by Iran, causing the world oil to be blockaded and prices to rise rapidly yesterday.

And it was warmly welcomed in Cyprus, where hundreds of British families at RAF Akrotiri had to shelter from Iranian suicide planes.

While the events were taking place in the international arena, England was once again left behind.

Mr Macron was embraced by his Cypriot counterpart on the tarmac after the presidential plane stopped at Paphos airport, with Defense Secretary John Healey admitting there was a further delay in sending the destroyer HMS Dragon to the war zone.

Amid the convivial atmosphere, Mr. Macron pledged to protect the 25-mile-long Strait of Hormuz by sending a fleet of eight ships; this squadron is expected to join US forces – but only “after the end of the hottest phase of the conflict”.

While the Royal Navy stayed at home despite a drone attack on Akrotiri on the second day of the conflict, the French president, in an apparent slap at Keir Starmer, said: ‘An attack on Cyprus is an attack on all of Europe.’

He told Nikos Christodoulides: “The defense of Cyprus is, of course, an important issue for your country, your neighbor, your partner and your friend Greece, but also for France and with it the European Union.”

Meanwhile, Mr Healey said the £1bn HMS Dragon will spend at least two more days in Portsmouth before setting off. It is then expected to take a week to reach Cyprus; At this point Italian, French, Spanish and Dutch ships may already be in place.

The RAF seized unmanned aerial vehicles belonging to Iranian forces and their proxies. Defense sources last night confirmed engagement over Jordan and Bahrain. It is understood that the attack submarine HMS Anson was also diverted towards the Middle East from exercises in Australia.

But Downing Street sources have been forced to quash speculation that HMS Prince of Wales will sail to the Middle East.

The £3.5bn aircraft carrier had been brought to an advanced state of readiness, but Mr Trump told the UK on Saturday: ‘We don’t need people joining Wars after we’ve already won them!’