US special forces planes fly out of Britain as Iran operations intensify

Four of the MC-130Js that took off from RAF Mildenhall featured the Silent Knight radar modification on the nose of the aircraft, aviation sources told the People's Channel.

The radar provides terrain-following and terrain avoidance capabilities, allowing the tactical planes to conduct precise and delicate low-level flying missions.

The US Special Operations Command requires the MC-130J to fly as low as 100 feet off the ground to conduct sensitive operations.

GB News has seen recent images of the Special Forces aircraft on the tarmac in Suffolk featuring the specialist radar.

The aircraft arrived in the UK over the last two weeks as American forces gathered in Europe and the Middle East ahead of the start of the war.

Some of the aircraft landed in Suffolk after Sir Keir Starmer gave the US permission to use its airbases for "defensive" operations in Iran.

The Mildenhall base has long been used by US Special Forces teams in Europe and was a key preparatory site for the interdiction of a fleeing Russian oil tanker off the coast of Britain in January.

The MC-130J belong to the 352nd Special Operations Wing, the only US Air Force special operations unit in Europe.

It boasts more than 1,000 personnel on the Suffolk-based unit, which includes attached intelligence support troops.

The latest movement of the US SOF planes comes as military analysts in the US have suggested that reopening the Strait of Hormuz might require ground forces to secure the Iranian coastline.

There are also suggestions that the US might rely on Kurdish forces in Iraq to battle with the Iranian regime, to open up a new front in the war and stretch out Iranian firepower.

Analysts have also pointed to US President Donald Trump's statements that he will play a key role in selecting the regime's next leader, since confirmed as Mojtaba Khomeini, the late Ayatollah's son.

The Pentagon might seek to replicate its successes in Venezuela, where it used special forces to extract Nicolás Maduro and replace him with Delcy Rodríguez, who has been appointed to promote American interests.

Pressure is mounting on the US strategy in Iran as the war approaches its second week.

At 60 days, Trump will have to go to Congress to seek an authorisation for use of military force (AUMF).

Without the AUMF, Trump's war will be on shaky domestic legal and political grounds.

Both Trump and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth have not ruled out using boots on the ground in the conflict.