By Pat Carty.
(Editor’s Note: The increased activity by U.S. aircraft in the UK was first noted by OSINT accounts (Twitter) several days ago. Then defense focused news media picked up the story, and now it has garnered the attention of main stream media. Most of the stories are mentioning the sanctioned oil tanker Bella 1 / Marinera as a reason for the pick up of U.S. military activity in the UK.)
Following the U.S. military operation on 3 January, 2026, which resulted in the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife during a raid on Caracas, international reactions poured in. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, when questioned soon after the operation, stated: “I want to get all the material facts together, and we simply haven’t got the full picture at the moment – it is fast-moving.” He firmly denied any UK involvement, adding: “The UK was not involved in any way in this operation, and as you would expect, we are focusing on British nationals in Venezuela.”
RAF Fairford, located about 80 miles west of London, serves as a key U.S. Air Force forward operating base in Europe and home to the 501st Combat Support Wing and the 420th Air Base Squadron. It is also the preferred location for USAF bomber deployments and occasionally hosts exercises, but typically experiences low flight activity.
However, early January 2026 saw a significant surge in operations. On January 3, a NOTAM reactivated the base (closed over the Christmas period) for official business only, later extended through to 23:59 hours on 15 January.
Following the publication of the NOTAM, a rare unmarked C-40 (often associated with discreet U.S. Special Operations movements) arrived, followed by eleven C-17 Globemaster III transports. Some of them carrying two MH-47G Chinooks and five MH-60M Black Hawks – operated by the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR), the same regiment whose helicopters played a central role in the Venezuela raid. Two USAF CV-22s Osprey helicopters then arrived, operated by the 7th Special Operations Squadron at RAF Mildenhall, where incidentally, two AC-130 gunship had also just arrived.
All these unexpected, at least to the local population, and in some cases exotic arrivals, created much speculation. All fuelled by reports in the local and national press of a build up for a possible raid, elsewhere to Venezuela. What the press never mentioned however, is that NATO Exercise “Steadfast Dart 2026” runs from 2 January to 18 March, and is an annual NATO exercise to test and train the operational deployment and reinforcement of NATO’s Allied Reaction Forces!
But, was the influx of these aircraft, some exotic, any connection to the raid in Venezuela, or just a build up for a future raid elsewhere? Or just part of Exercise Steadfast Dart 26? I guess only time will tell.
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Author: Pat Carty is a NATO accredited journalist who covers military news, events, operations, and exercises; including special operations forces. He is a contributor to SOF News as well as several other military defense publications.
Map: Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).