A B1 bomber is towed past another B1 aircraft at RAF Fairford.A BBC security expert has said there is “panic at the Pentagon” after America withdrew all of its bombers from an RAF base.
Around a dozen B-1s have been removed from RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire and returned to the Unites States.
The unexpected move come just days after five men were arrested near the base on suspicion of terror offences.
The men, who were all British nationals from London, were later released on bail.
A sixth man was arrested in London on Thursday on suspicion of preparation of terrorist acts, and has also released on bail.
Prime minister Andy Burnham has said that Iran “played a part” in the alleged bomb plot.
On Radio 4’s Today programme, BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner said: “The unexpected mass withdrawal of America’s heavy bombers from RAF Fairford has happened so suddenly, it hints at something approaching panic in the Pentagon.
“There must be concerns in Washington that the US cannot risk catastrophic damage to another one of its high-value aircraft.”
Gardner said the US decision to remove its bombers suggested there was “clearly a new threat on top of the existing one”.
He said: “The US is still heavily bruised about the damage done to its high value aircraft in the Middle East by Iranian precision strikes.
“This must be a huge shock to it that bases in its closest ally, the UK, are not as safe as they thought they were. So they’ve pulled them all the way back to the continent of the United States.”
Gardner said it “will be a loss to the US and an embarrassment to the UK”.
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