The US military hardware pouring into the Middle East
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The U.S. military has deployed scores of combat aircraft across the Middle East and will soon have a second aircraft carrier within range of Iran if President Trump gives the order to strike.
Over the past month, dozens of jet fighters and support aircraft have flown from the U.S. and Europe to bases in Jordan and Saudi Arabia, according to flight-tracking data. For decades, the U.S.
military has located warplanes at bases throughout the Middle East that have served as launching points for conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and Yemen. However, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates won’t allow the U.S. aircraft to use their respective airspace to strike Iran.
That has prompted the U.S. to base many fighters farther away in Jordan, which means warplanes would need to rely more on aerial refueling to reach their targets and return to the bases. The U.S.
has deployed F-22s and F-35s, whose stealthy designs allow them to evade being targeted by surface-to-air missiles. These same jet fighters escorted B-2 stealth bombers when Trump ordered military strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites in June 2025. EA-18G jamming aircraft would likely be used to disrupt Iran’s missile launchers, as they were last month during the U.S.
mission to capture former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro. After a strike on Iran, F-15E and F-16 fighters would likely be used to intercept Iranian drones launched in response at Israel or bases with a U.S. military presence in the region.
Even though they are not based in the region, long-range bombers, including the B-2, could launch from the U.S. and fly nonstop missions over Iran with the help of aerial tankers. The U.S.
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