US military personnel at Lakenheath base in Suffolk, eastern England, were ordered to take shelter following a report of suspected unauthorised drone activity over the military site. The alert was issued at around 18:30 local time on 13 November.
The message to personnel was marked in red letters “REAL WORLD” and contained the instruction: “Seek the nearest shelter room”. Sky News reported that it had seen a copy of the warning.
A US Air Force spokesperson said: “Air Force security forces responded to suspected unauthorised drone activity over Lakenheath. No service members, aircraft or infrastructure were affected.”
The UK Ministry of Defence said that the ministry’s police and Suffolk Constabulary had been sent to assist the US security forces. The ministry later clarified that the base had returned to normal security and force protection measures.
Local MP Nick Timothy said he had spoken to the authorities and that “there is no threat to the public, and the incident has now been resolved”. According to the Associated Press, US and British authorities are continuing to clarify exactly what triggered the response.
The alert was described by the US Air Force as suspected drone activity. It has not been established who was operating the aircraft, and no public evidence has been presented that drones were actually used over the base. Dronewatch Europe recalled that previous alerts in the area may also have resulted from errors in identifying observed objects.
Lakenheath is one of the main US military bases in the United Kingdom. It is home to the 48th Fighter Wing, which includes US fighter aircraft.
The incident comes days after the US moved more than ten aircraft from nearby Mildenhall base due to reports of a threat linked to Iran. At least two of the aircraft were transferred to Lakenheath. The Associated Press reported that Mildenhall had raised its security level to FPCON Charlie, the second-highest level in the system for protecting US military facilities.
In October, the US Air Force withdrew bombers from Fairford base following threats that British authorities linked to Iran. These actions brought increased attention to the security of US military facilities in the United Kingdom.
Similar alerts were reported in November 2024. At the time, repeated drone sightings were reported near Lakenheath, Mildenhall and Feltwell. Around 60 British service members took part in the investigation, but no group claimed responsibility and the origin of the observed objects remained unknown.
Sources: segabg.com, news.sky.com, apnews.com