As Israel-Iran war escalates, US moves refuelling tankers to Europe to support operations

As the war between Israel and Iran continues to escalate, the US Air Force has moved dozens of refuelling tankers to Europe.

The movement of US Air Force’s KC-135R and KC-46A tankers was first reported on Sunday by open-source investigators observing aviation tracking platforms. They reported as many as 28 tankers flying eastward across the Atlantic Ocean. At the time, their destination and purpose were not known.

Reuters has now reported that the US military has moved a “large number” of tankers to Europe to provide US President Donald Trump with options for any active involvement in the Israel-Iran war.

While the news agency did not give a number, it said that a flight tracking website showed that at least 31 tankers left the United States eastward.

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4 reasons why US moved tankers eastward

Veteran defence journalist Tyler Rogoway noted in an article for The War Zone that there are four reasons why the US Air Force could have moved tankers eastward.

Firstly, the Trump administration could be preparing to provide Israel with aerial refuelling support.

Such a move would mark a significant escalation as that would mean direct US facilitation of Israeli attacks inside Iran.

For long-range missions for longer periods, Israel would require such US support as Israel just has seven ageing tankers for aerial refuelling, according to Rogoway, the Editor-in-Chief of The War Zone.

Such refuelling would allow Israeli planes to roam inside Iran for much longer to find and destroy targets — more so as Israel has established air superiority. So far, as Israeli warplanes are limited by range, they are believed to be largely using standoff weapons — the kind of weapons that you fire without coming within the range of the target nation’s air defences or near its airspace.

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This is critical to hit underground nuclear sites as using “heaviest bunker-busters to bear on targets will require Israeli aircraft to be in close proximity to them, in particular”, according to Rogoway.

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Secondly, the Trump administration could be joining Israel in attacks on Iran.

In this case, these tankers would be required to refuel both US and Israeli aircraft in the air.

Thirdly, the Trump administration could be laying the groundwork to deal with the possibility of Iran closing the Strait of Hormuz.

The closure of the strait would hamper world trade as nearly a fifth of the world’s oil and gas transits through the waterway.

In this case, the US forces would most likely be joined by Arab forces in a widespread operation that would require the suppression and destruction of Iranian air defences along the coast, finding and destroying Iranian anti-ship missiles, hitting Iranian gunboats, and neutralising Iranian missiles and drones.

All of these missions would require substantial aerial refuelling.

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Fourthly, and lastly, the Trump administration could be building an air bridge between the United States and Middle East.

Rogoway said that this was the most likely intention behind the movement of tankers.

The air bridge refers to an air corridor for continuous and sustained airlift of aircraft, troops, equipment, fuel, personnel, and other things over long distance — between the United States and Middle East in this case. For such an air bridge, the deployment of refuelling tankers is a must so that aircraft, whether transporters or fighters, could operate smoothly.

The air bridge would involve moving many types of aircraft, and especially fighters, and deploying tankers would enable aircraft like B-2 bombers to operate inside Iran, noted Rogoway.

“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,” noted Rogoway.