Why US 'nuke sniffer' plane just landed in UK as global tensions rise

An American plane nicknamed the 'nuke sniffer' has landed in the UK amid rising global tensions, particularly between the US and Iran.

The US is building up their forces in the Persian Gulf with more personnel, aircraft and a carrier strike group heading for bases near Iran, while Donald Trump has said the country must do 'two things' if they don't want him to use military might against them.

"Number one, no nuclear. And number two, stop killing protesters. We have a lot of very big, very powerful ships sailing to Iran right now, and it would be great if we didn't have to use them," Trump said.

Amid all of this, The Independent reports that the USAF WC-135R Constant Phoenix plane has landed at RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk, and this is the aircraft known as the 'nuke sniffer'.

The WC-135R Constant Phoenix, known as the 'nuke sniffer', has landed in the UK (Stephen Huntley)

The plane gets that nickname because it has instruments which can detect radioactive particles in the atmosphere, and as for why it's here, The Telegraph reports that defence sources have told them the presence of the plane 'does not indicate immediate military action'.

The outlet said the reason for this plane being in the UK is not clear, so its arrival doesn't guarantee that something is definitely happening.

The Telegraph also added that other observations of RAF Mildenhall appeared to show US special forces practising fast-roping drills from a V-22 Osprey.

Operated by the 45th Reconnaissance Squadron, the US Air Force currently operates three of these planes.

The last time one of these ended up in the Middle East was during a joint US-Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear facilities, while the previous time a 'nuke sniffer' landed at RAF Mildenhall was in January 2022, just before the Russian invasion of Ukraine began.

That doesn't necessarily mean the US is definitely going to get involved in more military action in the near future, but Trump declared that the military assets he had moved nearer Iran were 'ready, willing, and able to rapidly fulfil its mission, with speed and violence, if necessary'.

Thousands have been killed in Iran, and the US is moving more military assets to the Middle East (Anonymous/Getty Images)

Former CIA analyst David McCloskey told Channel 4 that he thought Trump was likely to attack Iran, but if an attack is coming it hasn't happened yet.

There have been massive protests in Iran against the current regime which have been met with extreme violence, and Time warns that as many as 30,000 people might have been killed on the streets by security forces.

More accurate information is hard to come by as many journalists are not allowed into Iran and information in the country is being suppressed, but people who spoke to Time said that supplies of body bags had been exhausted and trucks were having to fill in for ambulances.

On 21 January, the Iranian regime declared the death toll was 3,117, but the actual figure is likely to be much higher.

The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (Hrana) says it has confirmed at least 6,479 people have been killed and is investigating around 17,000 more deaths.