Pro-Palestinian activists break into UK's biggest air base in startling security breach
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In a statement, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the incident 'disgraceful,' saying: 'Our Armed Forces represent the very best of Britain and put their lives on the line for us every day. It is our responsibility to support those who defend us.'
Palestine Action has carried out a series of acts of vandalism at high-profile and supposedly secure locations, including defense manufacturers.
Thames Valley Police, the force responsible for the area, said in a statement that officers were working with the Ministry of Defense and the RAF to investigate. Inquiries 'are ongoing to locate and arrest those responsible,' the force noted.
In a statement, the Ministry of Defense said, 'We strongly condemn this vandalism of Royal Air Force assets. We are working closely with the police who are investigating.'
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The ministry did not immediately respond to a question on whether it would open a review of security at the site.
Grant Shapps, a former British defense secretary, wrote on social media that there needed to be a 'full security review.'
'Storming an RAF base isn't protest — it's a national security breach,' he wrote. 'The blame lies squarely with these reckless activists, but ministers must now explain how on earth it was allowed to happen.'
In its statement Friday, Palestine Action claimed the targeted planes 'can carry military cargo and are used to refuel' military aircraft, including fighter jets, from the British and Israeli militaries.
But Greg Bagwell, a former senior RAF commander and a fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, said the planes damaged by the group were incompatible with Israeli fighter aircraft and could not be used to refuel them.
'They couldn't have gotten a more wrong aircraft,' he said in an interview. 'They have targeted aircraft that are not the aircraft they think they are.'
The Israeli air force flies American-built fighter planes such as the F-15, the F-16, and the F-35A, Bagwell said, all of which can only be fueled with a boom-style method that is not used by the planes that were damaged Friday.
Palestine Action has previously conducted vandalism and protests at sites in Britain that are operated by Israeli weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems and at companies with links to that firm, and also at other defense companies.
Several activists have been prosecuted over the protests, including five people who were imprisoned last year for causing about $1.3 million of damage to a weapons equipment factory in Glasgow, Scotland, in June 2022.
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Britain's largest RAF base, Brize Norton houses about 5,800 service personnel, 300 civilian staff members, and 1,200 contractors.
Bagwell said he believed many military bases around the world were vulnerable to the kind of intrusion the group made Friday.
'Airfields are large pieces of real estate that have miles of fence line,' he said. 'It's not an easy piece of territory to protect everywhere. Anybody with a wire cutter or ladders could be able to get in.'
Adding more human protection or electronic monitoring along every part of a major military base like Brize Norton would be very expensive. But Bagwell said officials needed to take the risk seriously.
He said the breach showed that it would not have been difficult for terrorists or agents of a foreign government to have done something more sinister at the base.
'It was exactly the sort of activity that the likes of Russia and Iran would like to promote,' he said. 'This time it was a protester, but next time it could be someone who was doing something on behalf of others.'
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