Two Latvian nationals living in the UK were arrested in the early hours of Thursday after being found inside the perimeter of RAF Molesworth, a Royal Air Force site in Cambridgeshire, eastern England, that hosts US and NATO intelligence operations. Counter Terrorism Policing is leading the investigation, and both men, aged 32 and 36, remain in custody.
According to police, a security patrol found an abandoned vehicle near the base at about 10pm on Wednesday, and a small breach in the perimeter fence was identified afterwards. The two men were located and arrested at about 2am. They were first held on suspicion of trespass on a prohibited site and criminal damage, then further arrested on suspicion of an offence under section 4 of the National Security Act 2023: entering a prohibited place for a purpose prejudicial to the UK. That offence carries a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison. Police said the vehicle was recovered and checked as a precaution for explosives, but nothing of concern was found. Dutch broadcaster NOS reported that two addresses in Peterborough were searched in connection with the arrests.
RAF Molesworth, about 30 miles northwest of Cambridge, is a non-flying base that was once a Second World War airfield. It is now managed by the US Air Force and hosts a US intelligence analysis centre as well as NATO's Intelligence Fusion Centre, which says it has a workforce of more than 200. According to the CIA's website, it supports Washington's intelligence work covering Europe and Africa.
The arrests come just over a week after a major security incident at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, in southwest England. Police were called there after three white vans were seen behaving suspiciously nearby, and seven men in their 20s were arrested; they have since been released on bail, and one is a dual UK-Iranian national. The United States subsequently withdrew B-1 bombers stationed at Fairford. The nature of the threat at Fairford remains unclear.
Helen Flanagan, head of the Counter Terrorism Policing London team, said there was currently nothing to suggest a link between the two incidents. She acknowledged "heightened interest and concern around military sites" but stressed that the investigation is at a very early stage, that police are examining the men's possible motivation, and that they are keeping an open mind. She urged the public to stay vigilant.
The case is likely to intensify scrutiny of security at UK bases that host American and allied forces. Questions have already been raised about the roughly four-hour gap between the discovery of the vehicle and the arrests. Last year, pro-Palestinian activists also broke into RAF Brize Norton in southern England and sprayed a plane with paint, an earlier breach that has kept base security in the public eye.