Keir Starmer’s claim that he is only letting Donald Trump use British bases for “defensive” airstrikes on Iran is a “fiction”, a former Royal Air Force officer has told Declassified.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the retired squadron leader said it was “glaringly obvious” that American bomber missions from RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire were conducting offensive strikes on Iran.
“Keir Starmer’s insistence that the UK is not involved in the war, and that US aircraft at RAF Fairford are only carrying out defensive missions, is becoming increasingly unsustainable,” the veteran said, describing the policy as “deeply wrong”.
“RAF Fairford has, in recent days, become the principal forward operating base for US strategic bombers in Europe. There are now approximately 15 B-1Bs – over half the US fleet – and six B-52s at the base.
“These aircraft are capable of carrying substantial precision payloads, including GBU-31 JDAMs for direct attack and AGM-158 JASSM stand-off missiles for longer-range strikes against infrastructure targets,” they commented, referring to the 2,000lb bombs and cruise missiles Declassified has filmed being loaded at Fairford.
“Both B-1 and B-52 aircraft at Fairford have been routinely loaded with such precision and stand-off munitions. This is indicative of a deep strike configuration, not a ‘defensive’ posture.”
‘Whole civilisation will die’
The veteran’s concerns come as Trump is threatening to bomb Iranian power stations and bridges, in what would be further breaches of international law.
The US president said in a social media post today about Iran: “A whole civilisation will die tonight, never to be brought back again.”
Sir Richard Dalton, a former UK ambassador to Iran, told Declassified: “The UK is already very close to being complicit in the US crime of aggression, even without what may happen tonight and thereafter. If the US uses UK bases to carry out the latest US threats against Iran, then we shall have crossed the line.
“I don’t think there has been any statement to parliament about how the policy works in practice. Parliament should demand clarification.”
Newspaper reports suggest Starmer will not let Trump use Fairford for these raids, however the veteran who spoke to Declassified fears the base may already have been used to attack civilian targets.
“The government’s assertion that RAF Fairford is being used solely for ‘defensive operations’ is difficult to reconcile with the scale and pattern of activity now visible,” they said, noting that several bombers were involved in each raid and required extensive aerial refuelling.
“There is also the question of the ‘kill chain’. Intelligence, basing, refuelling and strike delivery form a single operational system. By hosting aircraft, enabling sorties and supporting sustainment, the UK is part of that system, regardless of whether it formally authorises each mission.
“Iran has already indicated that bases involved in such operations may be treated as legitimate targets. That is the foreseeable consequence of hosting over half of a major strike fleet engaged in active operations.”
Dynamic targeting
The Ministry of Defence has refused to answer questions from Declassified about whether UK authorities are able to approve target lists before each mission or audit them post-strike.
Even if the UK was in a position to pre-approve strike lists, pilots are now being assigned new targets mid-flight, in a practice known as dynamic targeting.
On 31 March, Trump’s top General Dan Caine said: “Given the increase in air superiority, we’ve successfully started to conduct the first overland B-52 missions, which allow us [to]…switch towards more and more dynamic targets servicing mobile targets around the battle space.”
At the same briefing, US war secretary Pete Hegseth explained: “Just last night, we had 200 dynamic strikes alone. A dynamic strike is a strike where a pilot leaves, and during their flight, they get a new target set based on real-time intel given to them.
“A new launcher, a new location, a new troop formation. A dynamic target is one that changes while you’re in the air because of improved intelligence. Two hundred dynamic strikes alone in addition to the pre-planned targets.”
The RAF veteran told Declassified that dynamic targeting would make it even harder for the UK to ensure only defensive strikes are conducted.
“It means you are doing it on the hoof and that lays you open to massive mistakes. It is much more open to error. Dynamic targeting is done under stress, under pressure. It is very hard. It is not sustainable as defensive.”
Dalton echoed the veteran’s concerns, commenting: “We know nothing about the targeting of US aircraft operating from UK bases. Are there any mechanisms for reporting to UK authorities?
“Is there a US operational policy for action from our bases in force that His Majesty’s Government has approved? Does the government have the gumption to even ask for oversight?”
Campaign group Drone Wars raised similar questions in a recent report on Fairford, which said dynamic targeting “presents a fundamental challenge to UK oversight.”
“UK military personnel may conceivably be embedded within … operations centres, and could hold a ‘red card’ to prevent the use of British aircraft in an attack which does not comply with UK rules of engagement.
“However, it is unlikely that they would be in a position to veto the use of a specific US aircraft for a US commanded mission. The operational reality is that bombers from Fairford take off as part of a US-only chain of command, executing tasking orders generated thousands of miles away.”
Weapons at Welford
Another indication of Fairford’s importance to Trump’s attack on Iran is the quantity of missiles being loaded onto planes at the base.
Last Tuesday, Declassified filmed US airmen loading cruise missiles onto the wings of B-52s. The aircraft can carry up to 20 of these munitions, which cost $1.5m each and have a range of hundreds of miles.
There are two variants: the JASSM and the JASSM-ER (extended range). The US has stockpiles of these around the world, which are being heavily drained to support the bomber raids from Fairford, according to a report in Bloomberg.
“After the moves, only about 425 JASSM-ER out of a prewar inventory of 2,300 will remain available for the rest of the globe. That would be roughly enough for 17 B-1B bombers on a single mission,” the report added, saying that two-thirds of US stockpiles have been committed to the Iran war.
Activists have noticed C-130 cargo planes regularly arriving at Fairford from US bases in Italy and Germany, where some of the missiles are stored. The same model of cargo plane has also been filmed unloading cheaper JDAM bombs at Fairford.
This is significant because Fairford is supposed to have a vast local stockpile of JDAMs at RAF Welford, 20 miles away from the base. Airborne deliveries of JDAMs to Fairford might indicate Welford is heavily depleted.
The site at Welford, which is riddled with bunkers, spans the size of 500 football pitches and would cost the US almost $1bn to replace, according to a Pentagon document found by Declassified.
Each year a ship sails from the US carrying $145m worth of weapons to keep Welford ready for war. Activists reported seeing lorries with explosive hazard signs travelling between Welford and Fairford up to three times a day in March.
However when Declassified filmed outside Welford last week, no lorries were seen and the number of shipping containers – in which weapons are sometimes stored – appeared very low.
Protests at Lakenheath
Fairford and Welford are not the only bases in England that Trump is using to attack Iran.
Over in Suffolk, peace campaigners staged a series of protests outside RAF Lakenheath, which is home to the US air force’s 48th fighter wing.
It houses F-15 Eagles, which Declassified filmed being pre-deployed to the Middle East as early as January.
An F-15 that crashed in Iran on Friday – triggering a major rescue mission – is thought to have come from the detachment at Lakenheath.
Another F-15 that crashed earlier in the war, apparently shot down by friendly fire over Kuwait, also came from Lakenheath.
Together these crashes shed rare light on the central role fighter jets normally stationed in the UK have been allowed to play in Trump’s illegal attack on Iran.
Lakenheath continues to be a major hub for the US military build-up around Iran. Last week, A-10 ‘warthog’ planes were seen arriving at Lakenheath, ahead of a likely deployment to the Middle East.
A-10s fire depleted uranium rounds designed to destroy tanks, which would make them an important asset for a ground invasion, further undermining Starmer’s ‘defensive’ posture.
Depleted uranium rounds were fired extensively in Iraq during the Gulf Wars and in Kosovo in 1999, where local people have linked them to cancer.
When Declassified visited Kosovo in 2023, we found ethnic Albanians who had fought alongside NATO were concerned about contamination from A-10 sorties.
“This is one of the spots that was hit six times with depleted uranium,” a former Kosovo Liberation Army fighter said. “The crater was five or six metres deep and seven metres wide. We brought healthy soil to put on top, in order to reduce radiation for the people.”
US nuclear weapons are suspected to have been stored at Lakenheath since last year. Meanwhile Mildenhall, another US base near Lakenheath, is being used to send refuelling tankers and surveillance planes to the Middle East for the war with Iran.
A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: “The UK authorised the United States to use British bases for defensive missions to destroy Iran’s missile capabilities which are threatening British people, bases, and our partners in the region.
“The United States is using British bases for specific defensive operations to prevent Iran firing missiles into the region, which is putting British lives at risk. This is alongside the defensive action the UK is taking to protect British people across the region.
“We won’t be providing a running commentary on our allies’ operations, including their use of our bases.”