Washington: Satellite images show that almost all US military planes have been eliminated from a large American air base in Qatar, since Washington weighs if you intervene in Tehran’s conflict with Israel.
The images, taken earlier this month, reveal a strong drop in the number of aircraft on the ground, a movement that is believed to protect them from possible Iranian attacks as tensions increase in the region.
Almost 40 military airplanes, including transport aircraft such as Hercules C-130 and recognition aircraft, were parked in the asphalt at the Udeid base on June 5, according to images published by Planet Labs PBC and analyzed by AFP.
In an image taken on June 19, only three planes are visible.
The United States Embassy in Qatar announced Thursday that access to the base would be limited “out of great caution and the light of current regional hostilities”, and urged the staff to “exercise greater surveillance.”
The White House says that the president of the United States, Donald Trump, will decide at some point in the next two weeks if he will join the attacks of the Israel ally about Iran. The Islamic Republic could respond by hitting US bases in the region.
Mark Schwartz, a former deputy general of the US Army. And a defense researcher at Rand Corporation, said that the staff, airplanes and facilities in the UDEID would be “extremely vulnerable” given his “proximity” to Iran.
Schwartz, who served in the Middle East, told AFP that even the shrapnel could make the aircraft “not capable of missions.”
“You want to reduce the risk for US forces, both staff and team,” he said.
The planes that have abandoned the asphalt since the beginning of June could have moved to Hangars or other bases of the region.
A United States defense official would not discuss the specific positioning of assets, but told AFP: “We are still committed to maintaining operational security while we execute our mission with the highest level of preparation, lethality and professionalism.”
The US forces in the Middle East have been mobilized since Israel attacks Iran almost a week ago, with an additional route aircraft and a significant movement of airplanes.
An AFP analysis of the positioning of open source data monitoring aircraft showed that at least 27 military fuel replenishment, KC-46A Pegasus and Stratotanker KC-135 plans, traveled from the United States to Europe from June 15 to 18.
Twenty -five of them were still in Europe in the late Wednesday, and only two returned to the American soil, according to the data.
