The U.S. has deployed 43 tanker aircraft to Israel for strikes on Iran
The U.S. Air Force has concentrated at least 43 tanker aircraft at Israeli air bases, which can be used to support strategic and tactical aviation operations in carrying out strikes on Iran, according to data from the British aviation resource Military Air Tracking Alliance (MATA).
According to satellite images, 25 American air tankers are currently stationed at the Ramon air base in the Negev desert, and four at the Ovda (Uvda) air base in southern Israel. Another 18 aircraft are at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv.
Earlier, The Times of Israel newspaper reported that over the past week more than 10 U.S. Air Force military transport aircraft landed at air bases in Israel.
Most of these flights departed from the U.S. Army's Biggs Army Airfield in El Paso, Texas. It hosts the Army's 69th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, equipped with Patriot anti-aircraft missile systems and THAAD missile defense systems. The aircraft's destinations were the Israeli air bases of Nevatim and Ovda.
In recent days, a number of other cargo flights by American military aircraft have also been carried out to U.S. bases in Middle Eastern countries, including Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Kuwait.
As the publication notes, the contents of the cargo are unknown, but it is assumed that this is linked to U.S. measures to strengthen air defenses in the region ahead of a possible new round of confrontation with Iran.
