by Michael Snyder, The Economic Collapse Blog:
Did President Trump just pull the trigger on a major decision? When dozens of U.S. Air Force tankers started taking off from their bases, all sorts of speculation started to erupt on social media. And then when those tankers started flying east across the Atlantic, the level of speculation escalated to a frenzy. As I write this article, the Pentagon has still not explained what all of these tankers are doing. But TWZ has accurately noted that what we are witnessing is “very peculiar”…
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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.
I have never seen anything like this.
According to the most recent reports, “more than 30” U.S. Air Force KC-135R Stratotankers and KC-46 Pegasus Tankers are flying east across the Atlantic Ocean…
Dozens of American military aerial-refueling aircraft left U.S. shores heading east across the Atlantic Ocean early on Monday in an unprecedented deployment of the U.S. Air Force.
The KC‑135 and KC‑46 planes, more than 30 in all, might participate in a scheduled NATO exercise in Europe. However, analysts and regional officials speculate the mission could extend to the Middle East, possibly supporting operations related to the ongoing hostilities between Israel and Iran.
I think that it is quite likely that these tankers are headed over to Israel to provide refueling support.
Because Israel only has minimal aerial refueling capabilities, there is a limit as to how many long-range strikes the IDF can conduct in 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.
If dozens of U.S. tankers start providing the IDF with refueling support, that will allow Israel to hit Iran much harder and much more frequently.
It is also possible that these tankers are headed over to the Middle East because the U.S. is preparing for a scenario in which it will have to start attacking Iran directly.
Yesterday, I listed 3 potential trigger events which could draw the U.S. directly into the conflict.
Interestingly, on Saturday the U.S. Air Force broadcast an Emergency Action Message that was unusually long…
The US Air Force has broadcast two encrypted emergency codes, typically utilized for crucial military communications, sometimes pertaining to nuclear command and control.
The initial Emergency Action Message (EAM) was aired on Saturday, exhibiting a complexity far beyond the standard signals that usually span around 30 characters.
This covert message, typically released a day later, on Sundays, extended to 246 characters. It coincided with reciprocal bombardment between Israel and Iran as the two Middle Eastern countries continued their hostilities.
And then on Sunday the U.S. Air Force broadcast an Emergency Action Message that was even longer…
A subsequent communication was issued on Sunday, this time extending to 290 characters, again through the US Air Force’s High Frequency Global Communications System, reports the Mirror US.
What in the world is going on?
I think that there is far more happening behind the scenes than we are being told.
Ultimately, Israel’s success in this war will be determined by how much damage is done to Iran’s nuclear facilities.
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