People watch as a US C-17 cargo plane comes in to land at RAF Fairford on Sunday. Photograph: Alastair Grant/APView image in fullscreenPeople watch as a US C-17 cargo plane comes in to land at RAF Fairford on Sunday. Photograph: Alastair Grant/AP Two more US aircraft arrive at RAF FairfordAircraft touch down in Gloucestershire after Trump given use of British bases for defensive operations in Iran
Two more US Air Force planes have landed at RAF Fairford, after the UK allowed the US to use its bases to take part in defensive operations in Iran.
Footage broadcast on Sunday showed two Boeing C-17 Globemaster transportation planes landing at the airbase in Gloucestershire, days after B-1 Lancer bombers arrived.
One of the C-17s arrived from Glasgow Prestwick airport, after it was redirected there due to poor weather and visibility at Fairford. The BBC reported it is carrying munitions and spare parts for the bombers.
Another C-17 arrived from the McGuire airbase near Wrightstown, New Jersey, according to flight tracking data.
It is unclear whether the aircraft will leave Fairford later to fly to the Middle East.
The increase of military traffic arriving at Fairford has taken place after Donald Trump said the UK was seeking to “join wars we’ve already won” after the US and Israel’s week-long bombing campaign on Iran.
Sir Keir Starmer has allowed the US to use UK bases for “specific defensive operations”. His change in stance came after British allies, and the RAF base at Akrotiri, Cyprus, were subject to retaliatory attacks in the last week.
A hanger at the Cypriot airbase was damaged by an Iranian-made drone that is believed to have been flown by the Tehran-backed militia group Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Starmer is also sending HMS Dragon, a destroyer with air defence capabilities, to the region.
Meanwhile, the Royal Navy reduced the readiness needed for its flagship aircraft carrier, HMS Prince of Wales, to five days ahead of any potential deployment. The vessel is in dock in Portsmouth.
Trump posted on Truth Social on Saturday night: “The United Kingdom, our once Great Ally, maybe the Greatest of them all, is finally giving serious thought to sending two aircraft carriers to the Middle East.”
He added: “That’s OK, Prime Minister Starmer, we don’t need them any longer – But we will remember. We don’t need people that join Wars after we’ve already won!”
