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Yahoo
7 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
U.S. Air Force Fighters Deploy To Reinforce Middle East
As the conflict between Israel and Iran continues, the U.S. Air Force is now in the process of deploying fighters to bases within the Middle East. The fighter movements follow the arrival in Europe of more than two-dozen U.S. Air Force KC-135R and KC-46A tankers that flew across from the United States in recent days, as you can read about here. Three unnamed U.S. officials confirmed to Reuters that the United States was deploying more fighters to the Middle East and extending the deployment of other warplanes already in the region. One of the officials said the deployments include F-16, F-22, and F-35 aircraft. The U.S. military is deploying more fighter aircraft to the Middle East and extending the deployment of other warplanes. Story coming. w/@idreesali114 U.S. officials stress the defensive nature of the deployment. — Phil Stewart (@phildstewart) June 17, 2025 In the latest move, the U.S. military is moving fighter jets to the Middle East and extending the deployment of warplanes to bolster defenses amid the Israel-Iran conflict, officials say. W/@phildstewart — Idrees Ali (@idreesali114) June 17, 2025 Today, flight-tracking software revealed at least 17 U.S. Air Force tankers heading south from bases in Europe, indicating that they are 'dragging' fighters to the Middle East. This was backed up by eyewitness sightings as well as air traffic control communications. As it stands today, at least 31 tankers have been noted heading across the Atlantic, based on publicly available flight-tracking data. Now 17 tankers moving east over Europe. — Evergreen Intel (@vcdgf555) June 17, 2025 Previously, U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth wrote on X that he 'directed the deployment of additional capabilities to the United States Central Command Area of Responsibility.' 'Protecting U.S. forces is our top priority, and these deployments are intended to enhance our defensive posture in the region,' Hegseth added. — Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (@SecDef) June 16, 2025 Since Hegseth's comments yesterday, additional tankers have been noted on flight-tracking software leaving bases in the United States. These aircraft have been flying with 'GOLD' callsigns, typically used for Coronet flights that deploy fighters across the Atlantic or Pacific. There are indications that F-22s may be coming to the Middle East from Langley Air Force Base in Virginia, while F-35s are likely drawn from either the Vermont Air National Guard — as suggested by tanker tacks in the vicinity — and/or RAF Lakenheath in England. Five additional tankers lifting and heading for the east routes. — Evergreen Intel (@vcdgf555) June 17, 2025 Instagram user provided TWZ with photographs that show F-35s from Lakenheath heading south over the United Kingdom today, toward the Middle East. The stealth fighters were split into three flights of four, each supported by a KC-135 tanker, reportedly flying from RAF Mildenhall in England and Morón Air Base in Spain. As for the F-16s mentioned by one U.S. official, these may well involve the jets at Aviano Air Base in Italy. Reports of movements of some of these F-16s emerged today, based on sightings and air traffic control communications. When U.S. Air Force tankers began their migration across the Atlantic, we noted that one of the possible reasons was to prepare for the influx of additional major assets into the region, and especially fighters. At this point, this is very likely being done for contingency needs and to give the president multiple options, as we outlined in our previous feature on the tanker movements. Any involvement in the kinetic conflict remains pre-decisional, at least publicly. However, having all these assets in the region would allow the United States to respond in force if Iran attacks U.S. interests or if the administration decides to get involved directly. At the same time, the Air Force can use these fighters for shooting down drones and cruise missiles, something they have been doing in this theater for months now. In particular, the F-16s reportedly now being deployed to the Middle East have already been using APKWS IIs to down drones launched by Iranian-backed Houthi militants in Yemen since last year, which we were the first to report. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagles played key roles in defending Israel from incoming missile and drone attacks last year. F-15Es recently saw their counter-drone capabilities, in particular, significantly expand through the addition of laser-guided Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System II (APKWS II) rockets to their available arsenal. Air Force F-16s in the Middle East had already been using APKWS IIs to down drones launched by Iranian-backed Houthi militants in Yemen since last year, which we were first to report. The movement of such large numbers of tankers could also indicate support for global airpower bomber missions from the United States to Iran and back, although there has been no sign of Air Force Global Strike Command involvement so far. As of today, Planet Labs satellite imagery reviewed by TWZ revealed that four B-52s and six F-15Es, plus other aircraft, were still at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean. There has been speculation that the U.S. Air Force could use B-2 stealth bombers to assist Israel in its attacks on Iran's nuclear facilities. In particular, the deep-lying nuclear enrichment site at Fordow could require Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) bunker-buster bombs, designed to penetrate just this type of target, and only carried by the B-2. This is a scenario that we have repeatedly highlighted and discussed for many years. As well as the apparent deployment of U.S. Air Force fighters to the Middle East, a second aircraft carrier strike group, led by the USS Nimitz, was sent from East Asia toward the Middle East earlier this week, as you can read about in this previous article. It will join the carrier USS Carl Vinson, which is already operating relatively close to Iran, around the Arabian Sea. Already, U.S. Navy warships in the region are understood to have been helping shoot down Iranian ballistic missiles headed toward Israel. This is in addition to the U.S. Army Patriot surface-to-air missile systems and Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) ballistic missile defense systems that have been helping defend Israel, too. This is a fast-developing story, and we will bring more updates when we have information about these highly unusual aircraft movements. Contact the author: thomas@
Yahoo
16-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Armada Of USAF Tankers Just Deployed East Over Atlantic Spurring Speculation
Over two dozen U.S. Air Force KC-135R and KC-46A tankers from across the United States appeared on flight-tracking software yesterday evening, taking off from their bases and heading east over the Atlantic. It isn't clear if they were 'dragging' any combat aircraft with them, but there wasn't any obvious signs of that. While tanker movements in this direction are far from abnormal, such a large, near-simultaneous migration of the jets was very peculiar, especially at a time of extreme crisis in the Middle East. The exact reason for the mass deployment is unclear, although many of the potential answers would indicate a change, or preparations for a potential change, in the current conflict between Israel and Iran. 28 now. — Evergreen Intel (@vcdgf555) June 16, 2025 Open-source enthusiasts took to social media after all the tankers began popping up on flight tracking software. At its peak, it appeared that at least 28 tankers were all heading east. While there is a multinational exercise in Norway that is about to kick off, that wouldn't require anything like this level of relocation of refueling assets. There is no other apparent exercise or commitment that would necessitate such an operation. On the other hand, these are precisely the assets that would be needed if the United States were going to change its support of Israel's Operation Rising Lion, or if there were urgent concerns that the conflict is about to widen significantly. Outside of some sort of unlikely signalling move, an undisclosed massive exercise, or some other yet-to-be-known long-established commitment, there are four possible explanations for the movements in the context of the Iran-Israel war. Keep in mind that some of these possibilities could be pre-decisional. In other words, the movement of assets could be happening now so that a wide array of contingencies are prepared for and executable options are available very quickly if need be. 1) The U.S. has decided or is preparing for the possibility that it will provide Israel with aerial refueling support to dramatically accelerate its offensive air operations over Iran. As we have discussed repeatedly for years, and especially since this conflict kicked off, Israel lacks robust aerial refueling capabilities, with just a handful of aging 707 tankers (around seven operational) available to support hundreds of fighter aircraft. This is a massively limiting factor when it comes to sortie generation for long-range strikes into Iran. It also severely limits how long aircraft can remain on station once in their assigned target area and how deeply they can penetrate into Iranian territory. As Israel gains air superiority further east over Iran, aerial tanking becomes even more important. It also allows fighters to employ direct attack weapons, as opposed to much more expensive, and, in some cases, less effective standoff munitions. Bringing the Israeli Air Force's heaviest bunker-busters to bear on targets will require Israeli aircraft to be in close proximity to them, in particular. Additional tanker support would greatly help with these efforts. Arguably more importantly, aerial refueling will enable much better effectiveness when it comes to hunting for and interdicting Iran's theater ballistic missiles before they can be launched. This is very challenging mission to accomplish at scale under any circumstances, but even more so when fighter aircraft can only remain over a search area for a matter of minutes before they have to head back for gas. The successful attacks on Israel by Iran using theater ballistic missiles could help justify support for this effort with U.S. tanker capacity. This is especially true if U.S. and Israeli stocks of extremely expensive and hard-to-construct missile interceptors are running low. So, gaining more aerial refueling capacity will enhance just about every facet of Israel's tactical jet operations, multiplying the available force to a significant degree. The U.S. can provide exactly this support at scale. Doing so would also keep the U.S. technically out of the direct kinetic fight, although Iran would probably see that claim differently. 2) Joining the kinetic fight. This would mean the U.S. would enter the air war directly, or is preparing to be more capable of executing that option. These tankers would be needed for such operations, as well as for refueling Israeli aircraft. This, of course, would be a massive shift in U.S. policy, and it could have cascading effects throughout the region, especially in terms of the likelihood that Iran would start targeting American installations. This scenario could also work in reverse if Iran targeted American interests in the region, with the U.S. then entering the direct conflict. Having the tankers pre-positioned for such a contingency would be very helpful. 3) Preparing to deal with Iran attempting to close the Strait of Hormuz. If this were to occur, U.S. and likely Arab gulf state military aircraft would leap into action in an attempt to curtail the operation. This would mean the war would instantly widen, and this cannot be done just by going out and sinking small boats. It would require a massive operation that includes SEAD/DEAD and persistent surveillance aircraft sorties. It also means having to hunt for highly mobile shore-based anti-ship missile launchers on a grand scale — an incredibly challenging task. Once again, this would demand large amounts of continuous tanker support. You can read our complete report on the plausibility of Iran closing the strait and what it would take to break Iran's grip on the waterway in a very recent feature here. 4) Providing a robust air bridge from the U.S. to the Middle East. This may be the most likely option as it would be needed if major assets are going to start flowing into the region, or at least the option to support such actions is being put into place now. This would include many types of aircraft, and especially fighters. It could also be put in place to support global airpower bomber missions from the United States to Iran and back. American B-2s are the only known conventional assets that have the potential capability of badly disabling or destroying Iran's deepest underground components of its nuclear program. We have constantly highlighted this scenario for many years. Pre-positioning a tanker bridge spanning the Atlantic to the Middle East would be needed to support those heavily-laden B-2 operations. This same bridge can also help American assets get out of the region if the United States evacuates its sprawling bases there out of fears of massive Iranian bombardment. Contingencies include: -opting to provide AR to IAF.-Joining the kinetic offensive fight (offensive) -Dealing countering an attempt to close the strait (defensive)-Providing BM left of launch interdiction/hunt (defensive) -Providing a robust bridge for global airpower bomber… — Tyler Rogoway (@Aviation_Intel) June 16, 2025 It's worth noting that other assets also appear to be heading in Iran's direction, including a U.S. carrier strike group heading into the Indian Ocean from the South China Sea as this is being published. USS Nimitz is about to transit Malacca Strait, likely heading to CENTCOM AOR. — Duan Dang (@duandang) June 16, 2025 We will just have to wait and see what exactly all this is about. We have reached out to the USAF for any details they can provide. Contact the author: Tyler@
