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U.S. personnel at RAF Lakenheath in eastern England were ordered to "shelter in place" late Friday evening after suspected unauthorized drone activity over the base, the latest security incident at a British facility hosting American warplanes amid threats linked to Iran.
"This evening, USAF Security Forces personnel responded to suspected unauthorised drone activity over RAF Lakenheath. No personnel, aircraft or infrastructure were affected," a U.S. Air Force spokesperson said.
An alert seen by Sky News, headed "REAL WORLD" in red capital letters, told personnel to "seek the nearest shelter-in-place room."
Residents near Lakenheath in Suffolk and RAF Feltwell in neighboring Norfolk heard sirens around 5:30 p.m., some comparing them to wartime warnings, and a loudspeaker announcement in an American accent urged people to stay indoors, the Daily Mail reported.
Britain’s Ministry of Defense said U.S. security personnel responded and "the situation is now resolved." "We are working closely with them to establish the facts. We will provide updates in due course," a spokesperson said.
West Suffolk lawmaker Nick Timothy said authorities told him "there is no threat to the public, and the incident is now resolved."
"Given the raised threat level, I continue to encourage everyone to report anything suspicious or out of the ordinary to the authorities," he wrote.
A post on the base’s Facebook page earlier in the week had urged people to report "suspicious activity, including unauthorized drone activity." Lakenheath hosts the U.S. Air Force’s 48th Fighter Wing, the largest U.S. fighter operation in Europe, with nearly 7,000 active-duty personnel.
The incident came days after at least 12 U.S. aircraft, including KC-135 refueling tankers, left nearby RAF Mildenhall over what The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported was a threat from Iran; at least two moved to Lakenheath.
In October, the U.S. withdrew its B-1 bombers from RAF Fairford after men in white vans approached the base on Sept. 27. British police found petrol but no explosives, and two British men were charged, one with assisting a foreign intelligence service believed to be Iran’s.
The U.S. Justice Department this week charged three men it described as "Iranian operatives" over the Fairford plot.
A charging document said Mohammad Ali al-Hassani directed individuals to drive vans, some with fuel barrels, to the base and paid them to buy metal objects that could be used as shrapnel. Iran denies involvement.
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