The United States plans to close 15 military bases across Europe to cut spending, said US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel.

The Pentagon expects to save around half a billion dollars a year with the scale back amid a US military campaign to pivot resources towards Asia. Most of those affected are minor bases dating back to the Cold War.

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In Britain, the US Air Force will withdraw forces from RAF Molesworth in Cambridgeshire, RAF Alconbury and RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk.

The US used to keep a fleet of strategic bombers in RAF Mildenhall in the 1950s. The base is now home to air-to-air tankers and US Air Force Special Forces. The KC-135 tankers will be most likely moved to a US base in Germany.

The US Defense Department did designate the air force base RAF Lakenheath in Britain to be the first permanent European home of the F-35 fighter plane.

Other US bases will be closed in Belgium, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands.

Washington will keep its 60,000 troops spread across Europe, most of them in Italy, Britain and Germany, which will be in rotations for training programs. The US military also announced plans to recall around 500 personnel from the Lajes military base in the Azores islands, which Portugal opposed.

Hagel thanked those who had supported the US Air Force after acknowledging the change would result in the reduction of workers in some locations. The defense secretary said Washington valued the support provided to American forces for decades.

The closures will lead to the recall of 2,000 US personnel in Britain over the next several years.

The US has been evaluating its military presence across Europe for several years now. Washington seeks to reduce its footprint and to slash costs. Budget cuts and White House changes in strategic policy have prompted the Pentagon to turn its attention away from Europe towards the Asia-Pacific.