{"id":49576,"date":"2026-03-09T19:39:01","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T19:39:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2026\/03\/09\/us-b-1b-lancers-arrive-at-raf-fairford-as-strikes-on-iran-intensify\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T17:03:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T17:03:10","slug":"us-b-1b-lancers-arrive-at-raf-fairford-as-strikes-on-iran-intensify","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air-warfare\/2026\/03\/09\/us-b-1b-lancers-arrive-at-raf-fairford-as-strikes-on-iran-intensify\/","title":{"rendered":"US B-1B Lancers arrive at RAF Fairford as strikes on Iran intensify"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Multiple U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancer bombers have arrived at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, United Kingdom, as American forces intensify strike operations against Iran under Operation Epic Fury. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The U.K. Ministry of Defence confirmed Saturday that U.S. forces had begun using the British base for \u201cspecific defensive operations to prevent Iran firing missiles into the region.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/c75ekve9yq9o\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/c75ekve9yq9o\">The BBC reported<\/a> at least three B-1B Lancers at the base, with the first aircraft arriving the evening of March 6 and two more on March 7. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Aviation tracking outlet The Aviationist reported four arrivals in the initial deployment, followed by a second flight bringing the total to eight B-1Bs in Europe. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/theaviationist.com\/2026\/03\/07\/b-1b-bombers-deploy-to-raf-fairford\/\" rel=\"\">According to The Aviationist<\/a>, three of those aircraft diverted to Ramstein Air Base in Germany after low visibility prevented landing at Fairford following a mission over Iran; five are currently at Fairford.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The B-1B, originally built by Rockwell and now supported by Boeing, is operated by Air Force Global Strike Command and is a supersonic conventional strike aircraft capable of carrying up to 24 AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles internally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">B-1Bs have already played a significant role in the war. According to reports from early briefings, CENTCOM Commander Adm. Brad Cooper said B-1 and B-2 bombers had carried out pinpoint strikes on missile sites deep inside Iran during the operation\u2019s first 72 hours. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a March 2 post on X, CENTCOM said the bombers struck deep inside the country \u201cto degrade Iranian ballistic missile capabilities.\u201d At a March 5 press briefing at CENTCOM headquarters, Cooper said that America\u2019s bomber force had struck nearly 200 targets deep inside Iran, including around Tehran, in the preceding 72 hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The forward deployment comes as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned that strikes on Iran are \u201cabout to surge dramatically.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On March 4, Hegseth said that the U.S. had gained control of Iranian airspace and was shifting from advanced stand-off weapons to gravity bombs. Basing bombers at Fairford significantly shortens turnaround times compared to flying round-trip missions from the continental United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Prime Minister Keir Starmer authorized U.S. use of British bases on March 1 for what he described as a \u201cspecific and limited defensive purpose\u201d of destroying Iran\u2019s missiles \u201cat source,\u201d following initial resistance to a request from President Trump. RAF Fairford is the U.S. Air Force\u2019s only dedicated forward operating location for heavy bombers in Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Three B-52H Stratofortress bombers from Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota, arrived at Fairford on March 9, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/c93w2kgvkvgo\" rel=\"\">the BBC reported<\/a>, joining the B-1Bs already at the base. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">U.S. Air Force Europe declined to confirm or deny the deployments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The U.K. Ministry of Defence confirmed Saturday that U.S. forces had begun using the British base for \u201cspecific defensive operations.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":112226,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":39,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[7,39,160,46,11,47,36],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3507],"class_list":["post-49576","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-air","category-air-warfare","category-daily-news-roundup","category-europe","category-global","category-mideast-africa","category-newsletters"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"VFR3RUUGWNBPBG7F7AGDZUA37M","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-military\/2026\/03\/09\/us-b-1b-lancers-arrive-at-raf-fairford-as-strikes-on-iran-intensify\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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