Overview
- Private firm MizarVision released images showing 11 F-22s parked at Ovda Airbase on Feb. 26, with a Patriot air-defense battery visible and reports of U.S. support crews establishing an operational squadron.
- Roughly a dozen Raptors departed RAF Lakenheath, with refueling KC-46s trackable and the fighters’ transponders off, according to open-source flight data and spotters.
- The USS Gerald R. Ford left Crete and is moving toward Israel to operate alongside the USS Abraham Lincoln, reinforcing a rare two-carrier U.S. posture in the region.
- Open-source analyses and media reports say the U.S. has shifted more than 150 aircraft since mid-February, with some counts exceeding 300 across regional bases and carriers.
- As negotiations convene in Geneva, Iran staged Revolutionary Guard drills and senior officials warned the United States would face heavy casualties in the event of a strike.