Suspected drones over Lakenheath make it three US bases in England hit by threats in two months, and Iran has named Europe as a target
US Air Force security forces responded on Friday to suspected unauthorised drone activity over RAF Lakenheath, the Suffolk base that is home to America's F-35 and F-15 squadrons in Europe. Nothing and no one was hit, and Britain's Ministry of Defence says the situation is resolved. But it is the third US base in England to face a security threat since September, and it comes days after a senior Iranian official said bases in Europe could be struck.
Three things to know
- No personnel, aircraft or infrastructure were affected, the US Air Force said. Neither government has said who flew the drones or whether they were hostile, and no arrests have been reported.
- Days earlier the US moved at least a dozen aircraft out of RAF Mildenhall, a few kilometres away, after a threat. In September, bombers left RAF Fairford after men in vans, some reportedly carrying fuel, approached the base at night.
- Iran's security chief Mohsen Rezaei said this week that Iran could strike US bases beyond the Middle East, including in Europe, if they are used for attacks on Iran.
American security forces at RAF Lakenheath in eastern England responded on Friday to what the US military called suspected unauthorised drone activity over the base, the latest in a run of threats against US forces in Britain since the war with Iran began.
A US Air Force spokesperson said no personnel, aircraft or infrastructure were affected, and that the US was working with British counterparts on the safety of service members, civilians, contractors and their families. A UK Ministry of Defence spokesperson said the situation was resolved and that it was working with the Americans to establish the facts.
Neither government has said how many drones were seen, how long they stayed, where they came from or whether they were brought down. No arrests have been reported.
Why is Lakenheath a target worth watching?
Lakenheath, in Suffolk, is the largest US Air Force base in England and the home of the 48th Fighter Wing, which flies F-35 and F-15 jets. It sits a few kilometres from RAF Mildenhall, the hub for American refuelling tankers in Europe.
Earlier in the week, Lakenheath’s own social media page had asked people living nearby to report suspicious activity, including unauthorised drones, telling them that an observant community was the base’s strongest security asset.
What else has happened at US bases in Britain?
This is the third threat to a US base in England in about two months.
In September, a farmer called police after spotting a group of men with several white vans acting suspiciously near RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire. Days later the US withdrew its B-1 bombers from the base. US prosecutors have since charged three men they describe as Iranian operatives, alleging that one directed others to drive vans to the base, some carrying barrels of fuel, and paid for metal objects that could be used as shrapnel. British police charged two British men last month with national security offences, one of them with assisting a foreign intelligence service.
On Tuesday, flight-tracking data showed the US had moved at least a dozen aircraft out of Mildenhall, after what was reported to be a threat from Iran.
Iran has rejected accusations that it was behind the Fairford incident or any other hostile activity in Britain.
What has Iran said?
In an interview broadcast on Wednesday, Mohsen Rezaei, a senior Iranian security official, threatened strikes on US bases beyond the Middle East, including in Europe, if they were used for attacks on Iran. Iranian officials have said before that they could widen the war geographically if the US attacks again.
American aircraft have flown from British bases throughout the war that began with US and Israeli strikes on Iran on 28 February. A fragile lull has held for weeks, but it is fraying: on Friday Iran’s Revolutionary Guards claimed to have hit a US radar in Bahrain, a claim the US military rejected, saying it shot down two Iranian drones.
Is this a new pattern?
Drone sightings over US bases in eastern England are not new. In late 2024 unexplained drones were reported over Lakenheath, Mildenhall and nearby Feltwell over several nights, and no culprit was ever named publicly. What is different now is the context: an active war with Iran, and Iranian officials openly naming bases in Europe.
How we got here
The key moments that brought this story into focus. Open any moment for detail.
28 February 2026War with Iran begins
The US and Israel strike Iran; Iran answers with missiles and drones across the region.
September 2026RAF Fairford
Men with white vans are seen near the base at night; the US later withdraws its B-1 bombers.
October 2026British charges
Two British men are charged with national security offences linked to the Fairford incident.
10 November 2026RAF Mildenhall
Flight-tracking data shows at least a dozen US aircraft leaving the base after a reported threat.
11 November 2026Iranian warning
Mohsen Rezaei says Iran could strike US bases in Europe if they are used for attacks on Iran.
13 November 2026RAF Lakenheath
US forces respond to suspected drone activity; nothing is hit.
What happens next
The Ministry of Defence says it is working with the US to establish the facts, and a statement on the drones' origin may follow. The US and British cases over Fairford continue through the courts. Watch for any further movement of US aircraft out of British bases, and for Iran's response to the next US move after Trump said the US no longer needed a deal with Tehran.
Sources
- VNN
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