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Pro-Palestine protesters have claimed responsibility for breaking into RAF Brize Norton and damaging two military planes in a shocking breach of security.
Palestine Action said two of its activists infiltrated Britain’s largest RAF base and sprayed red paint into the engines of two Airbus Voyager aircraft before escaping without being caught.
Shocking footage shared by the group this morning shows protesters storming across the RAF runway in Oxfordshire on electric scooters.
The bodycam footage then shows them spraying red paint into the turbine engines of the air-to-air refuelling tankers which the RAF say are ‘vital for enhancing the operational reach and flexibility of Britain’s military air power’.
Palestine Action claim to have used repurposed fire extinguishers to spray the paint, while they say they caused further damage with crowbars.
The activists said they sprayed red paint across the runway and left a Palestine flag behind before fleeing the base undetected.
The alleged protest will raise huge questions over security at the RAF base at a time when the world is teetering on the brink with war raging in the Middle East and state threats from both Russia and Iran.
It comes just days after Palestine Action activists brazenly filmed themselves breaking in and vandalising the warehouse of a firm that supplies military items to Israel.
Brize Norton is the largest RAF base in the country with approximately 5,800 service members, 300 civilian staff and 1,200 contractors.
Voyagers, described as a ‘petrol station in the sky’, can carry up to 109 tonnes of fuel and are used to refuel fighter and compatible heavy aircraft.
RAF Brize Norton hold a core fleet of nine voyagers, while five others are available for commercial use but can be recalled for military purposes.
The RAF is reportedly planning to send Voyager aircraft to the Middle East as the conflict between Israel and Iran escalates.
One of the Voyagers, which has a Union Jack on its tail, has previously been used to transport prime ministers and Royal Family members to engagements abroad.
Palestine Action claimed they damaged the planes at Brize Norton as it is the base ‘where flights leave daily for RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus’ – the bse used for military operations in the Middle East.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer confirmed last week that fighter jets were being scrambled to RAF Akrotiri amid threats from Iran and its conflict with Israel escalating.
Iran and Israel have been firing missiles at each other for more than a week now after Tel Aviv launched an unprecedented attack on Tehran, dubbed Operation Rising Lion, striking 100 targets including nuclear and military sites and killing senior military figures.
A Palestine Action spokesperson said: ‘Despite publicly condemning the Israeli government, Britain continues to send military cargo, fly spy planes over Gaza and refuel US/Israeli fighter jets.
‘Britain isn’t just complicit, it’s an active participant in the Gaza genocide and war crimes across the Middle East.
‘By decommissioning two military planes, Palestine Action have directly intervened in the genocide and prevented crimes against the Palestinian people.’
On Saturday, Palestine Action also targeted Permoid Industries Ltd, in Newton Aycliffe, Durham, which is a warehouse that supplies military items to Israel.
According to the group, the incident occurred ‘under cover of darkness’ and involved the activists destroying equipment, spraying red paint over the floors and walls and smashing glass windows.
One activist with a spray can was filmed daubing ‘Free Gaza’ on the walls, while another walked into another part of the warehouse carrying a fire extinguisher filled with paint.
Permoid Industries describes itself as an engineering firm that has supplied the Ministry of Defence for more than 80 years, as well as the automotive sector.
Products manufactured by the firm include ammunition containers suitable for belted heavy machine-gun ammunition, and cartridge, mortar, and shell munitions.
MailOnline has contacted the Ministry of Defence and Thames Valley Police for comment.
