US Air Force personnel at the RAF Lakenheath base in Britain responded to “suspected unauthorised drone activity” on Friday evening, although no personnel, aircraft or infrastructure were affected, a US Air Force spokesperson said.

Source: Reuters, Nov 13, 2026

“We continue to work closely with our host nation counterparts to ensure the safety and security of our US service members, US and host nation civilians, contractors, and all of our families,” the spokesperson said by email.

Britain’s Ministry of Defence said US Air Force Security Forces personnel had responded to reports of unauthorised drone activity and that the situation had been resolved. “We are working closely with them to establish the facts. We will provide updates in due course,” a ministry spokesperson said in an emailed statement.

The Aviationist, a specialist military-aviation outlet, reported that an alarm sounded at the base at about 6:30 p.m. local time and that personnel were instructed to shelter in place while security forces responded. Reports that Lakenheath and the nearby bases RAF Mildenhall and RAF Feltwell had been raised to the highest force-protection level were not confirmed by officials.

Source: The Aviationist, Nov 13, 2026

A key US base in Europe

RAF Lakenheath, in Suffolk in eastern England, is one of the principal US Air Force installations in Europe and hosts the 48th Fighter Wing, which operates F-15E Strike Eagle and F-35A Lightning II jets. Neither the US Air Force nor the Ministry of Defence disclosed what was seen, how many objects were involved, or how long the response lasted.

The incident comes at a sensitive moment for US bases in Britain. The US has in recent weeks moved bombers that had been used to strike Iran out of Britain, and relocated huge refuelling aircraft from Britain to Germany. The Wall Street Journal has reported that the refuelling aircraft were moved due to a threat from Iran.

The Fairford backdrop

The bombers left RAF Fairford on security grounds after a group of men approached the base in white vans in the middle of the night on September 27. Two men were charged last month in relation to that incident, with prosecutors alleging one of them had tried to assist Iranian intelligence in Britain. The US Justice Department said this week that a member of an Iran-backed militia had plotted to attack the Fairford air base while detained in the US on criminal charges. These are allegations reported by Reuters; Tehran has rejected accusations of involvement in the Fairford incident or of other malign activity in Britain.

Britain’s domestic spy chief said in October that Iran had stepped up attempts to hit harder targets such as military sites in Britain. British authorities have for a number of years accused Iran of involvement in plots and attempted assassinations against dissidents and Israeli and Jewish targets in the UK — accusations Iran denies.

Drone scares over sensitive sites are not unique to Britain. Germany has blamed Russia for an attempted attack at Leipzig/Halle Airport in August, after airport workers found a drone laden with explosives and a detonator at the airport, an important civilian freight and NATO logistics hub in eastern Germany.

What happens next

The Ministry of Defence says it is working with the US Air Force to establish the facts and will provide updates in due course. Until officials say what was detected, the Lakenheath incident remains a security response to a suspected — not confirmed — drone intrusion, at a base whose role in US operations in Europe has already been under strain from the Iran-related security concerns of recent weeks.