UK Airbases Found Using Small Fences Instead of Robust Security

Key Royal Air Force bases in the United Kingdom – including those that may host fighter jets – have been found to be almost unprotected.

According to The Telegraph, some of these bases have large sections of their perimeters secured only by small fences that are easy to climb over.

Journalists discovered serious security gaps at at least three sites that have been named as potential targets by the pro-Palestinian group Palestine Action.

According to them, many sections lack barbed wire, and surveillance cameras do not cover the entire base areas.

In some cases, runways have no protection at all or are fenced off only by low metal or wooden barriers.

Journalists also visited another facility where next-generation F-35 fighter jets are potentially to be stationed.

There, along a 200-meter section of the perimeter, potential intruders face only a 150-centimeter-high wire mesh fence without any barbed wire.

Previously, activists from Palestine Action were able to enter the RAF Brize Norton base in Oxfordshire without resistance. They left the premises after pouring paint over two military aircraft.

The incident did not result in significant consequences but highlighted the actual lack of security.

Particular attention is drawn to the main RAF intelligence base. According to The Telegraph, a 700-meter section of its perimeter near the runway is protected only by fences up to 1.7 meters high, without any barbed wire.

Nearby is another base housing Typhoon fighter squadrons. Along its entire northern and eastern perimeter stretches a 1.8-meter-high fence extending 2.4 kilometers.

Critical vulnerabilities were also found at two other RAF bases, including an officer training school.

Former British Army officer Ed Arnold, who previously oversaw security at military facilities, stated that the Royal Air Force had become an “easy target” for activists and foreign spies.

“Palestine Action has already exposed weaknesses in our security. But if more radical groups follow their example, the consequences could be catastrophic. Someone could throw a grenade into a plane’s engine instead of just pouring paint on it. Russia and Iran are definitely watching this,” Arnold warned.

The UK Ministry of Defence confirmed that, following the incident at Brize Norton base, an urgent review of security procedures at all military facilities across the country had been launched.