US braces for Iran escalation, sends additional refuelers to Middle East | The Jerusalem Post

Summary

Dozens of American refueling aircraft will be deployed across IDF bases and the Ramon Airport in southern Israel, another security official, who is familiar with the details of the talks with the US Defense Department, said on Sunday. Coordination between the IDF and US military will naturally tighten, “with the goal of shortening the time it takes to move from routine to emergency readiness,” as the hours pass and more American forces arrive in the Middle East, another senior security official said. If the Americans intensify the strikes and expand the operational posture against Iran in a way that would require the transfer of an additional force package of refueling aircraft, they may land at Ben-Gurion Airport despite the agreement reached so far between the two nations. Meanwhile, an Israel Air Force source told Walla on Sunday that 14 American military refueling aircraft arrived in Israel over the weekend against the backdrop of the escalation in the war with Iran. As part of the buildup of American forces in the Middle East and Israel, the US military is redeploying F-35 aircraft from Britain and F-15 aircraft from Germany, including aircraft specialized in suppressing enemy air defenses and radars. US operating over 20 warships, hundreds of aircraft to maintain naval blockade The move is intended to “blind” the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which has been working around the clock to recover its decimated abilities, including accelerating the renewal of production lines for surface-to-air and surface-to-surface missiles. This is in addition to dozens of aerial refueling aircraft that support long operations against and over Iran. It should be noted that, in order to enforce its naval blockade on Iranian ports and beaches, including the Strait of Hormuz, CENTCOM is operating more than 20 US Navy warships, along with hundreds of aircraft that are already dispersed among different bases across the Middle East. Meanwhile, the US military and US Department of Defense are keeping the location of US special forces completely opaque, since their operations are defined as “highly secret.”