When police arrested masked men with vans outside a British air base in Fairford, national security experts feared an imitation of Ukraine’s Operation Spiderweb unfolding on UK soil. The operation pulled off by Kyiv last year launched armed drones from trucks to target bombers deep inside Russia, destroyed or damaged dozens of aircraft, and created a template for others to copy. Outside Fairford, police reportedly found no explosive devices inside the vans, but the uncertainty over the threat these men posed is the latest reminder that distance from a front line offers our bases less safety than ever. The faster the UK and US adapt to this reality, the more secure our nations will be. And right now, we still have lessons to learn.
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