Shots were fired by US personnel before the man was detained at RAF Mildenhall.
He suffered cuts and bruises and is now in the custody of Suffolk Police.
[FONT="]A[/FONT][FONT="] defence source said opening fire in such a situation was standard practice for the personnel guarding a base.
[/FONT][FONT="]The source said: “If you enter a military base forcibly you would expect an armed response.”[/FONT]
Good possibility that they shot to disable the vehicle rather than kill information. While in England we were told that you can't get information out of a dead saboteur. I worked out of RAF Lakenheath in the early 80s. My avatar is the patch we were not allowed to wear. SR71s used to fly out of RAF Mildenhall back then.
That said, in the past few years security has been stepped up at the US base, which now has a much tighter perimeter.
You can't just drive into the base, you have to go through what's called the '"shed" - your car is checked and you have to go through lots of tight security measures.
The vehicle was brought to a halt close to a US plane, an Osprey, and it was not thought there was "any significant damage" to the vehicle or the aircraft, Supt Warner said.
I was thinking entry gate, but the story said "checkpoint". That sounds a lot more like entering into a controlled area (flightline) than a gate to enter the base itself. That would explain the "got close to an Osprey" part. 352d Special Operations Group is at Mildenhall, with the MH-53s being retired in the USAF Ospreys will be flying there.
[FONT="]A US Airforce base in Suffolk suffered a major security breach today when a driver forced his way through the main security checkpoint.[/FONT][FONT="]
[/FONT][FONT="]American military guards opened fire as the car travelled a significant way inside RAF Mildenhall after passing through a hail of bullets - stopping just metres short of a military aircraft, the Daily Telegraph understands.[/FONT]