UK security criticised after USAF planes removed

A former military intelligence officer said Britain needed to "take the security of our US allies far more seriously" after US Air Force aircraft were withdrawn from two UK bases.

Frank Ledwidge said there must have been a "credible threat" to cause the US to remove military planes from RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk on Monday and Tuesday.

Referring to previous incidents at RAF Fairford and RAF Brize Norton, he said: "This is a third example in less than two years of bases being penetrated, or becoming close to being penetrated, by hostile forces. It's embarrassing."

Downing Street has recently insisted British airbases were safe and that their security was a "top priority".

Speaking in a parliamentary debate on Thursday, defence minister Luke Pollard said the Ministry of Defence had "strengthened protection across the [military] estate, including sites hosting the United States visiting forces".

"Enhanced vigilance remains in place, sites have reviewed their security posture, and additional policing, guarding and specialist support have been deployed where required."

RAF Mildenhall is home to the 100th Air Refuelling Wing, the only permanent US air refuelling wing in Europe.

Ledwidge, who is associate professor in strategy and law at Portsmouth University, said the aircraft that were moved were "very vulnerable".

"They are difficult to secure without really intense shifts and changes to the defence profile of the base," he said.

"These are very valuable aircraft. They're logistics enablers — they refuel [planes] in the air and enable bombers to go further.

"There's a limited number of these assigned to US Air Force forces in Europe, and they can't afford to lose any," he added.

He believes the US "will think of this as another example of British failure to secure not only US bases, but of course our own".

"We had the incident at RAF Fairford, where a major component of the US bombing fleet was based," he said.

"That's a rather mysterious incident, that seems to have been foiled by a vigilant lady who had nothing to do with the security or police forces.

"I'll be blunt. [Britain] has got to take the security of our US allies far more seriously.

"We can't have any more situations and embarrassments such as we had at Fairford.

"I'd also remind people that Brize Norton, which is our own primary aerial refuelling and mobility base, was penetrated, as they call it, by civilians last year.

"This kind of thing can't go on."

Speaking to fellow MPs in Parliament, Pollard said: "There have been no further reported breaches since those incidents, but we are not complacent and continue to keep our security posture under review.

"We continue to work closely with civilian police, the United States and local partners."

A Ministry of Defence (MoD) spokesperson said: "National security is the first duty of government, and we take the security of our people, sites and local communities extremely seriously."

They said the MoD was investing an additional £470m to strengthen security at military sites, including "better physical protection, surveillance and counter-drone capabilities".

"We have already introduced restricted airspace over 44 critical defence sites," they added.

The MoD was also "using new digital systems to identify threats and vulnerabilities earlier".

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