U.S. Air Force steps up C-17 airlift to Israel and Kuwait

U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III transports have flown at least 16 missions into Israel's Ovda Air Base since mid-October, most of them from Fort Bliss, Texas, the home of the U.S. Army's air and missile defense forces, according to flight data compiled by open-source trackers. Three more C-17s were logged flying into Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait, and more Army, Air Force and Navy cargo flights were shown en route to the Middle East as of Nov. 3. The airlift log, compiled by the tracker ArmchairAdmi from public ADS-B and ACARS data, shows 11 of the Ovda flights departing Biggs Army Airfield at Fort Bliss between Oct. 27 and Nov. 2, usually routing through Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, or Canada and Spain's Rota naval base. Other C-17s flew to Ovda from Osan Air Base in South Korea, Cannon Air Force Base in New Mexico, Spangdahlem Air Base in Germany and Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Arizona. The Pentagon has not said what the aircraft are carrying. U.S. Central Command has said it does not discuss such movements for operational security reasons and that it "regularly rotates and repositions U.S. forces and assets to support assigned missions," Stars and Stripes reported. Fort Bliss houses Patriot and THAAD air defense units and stores interceptors, and several reports point to air defense as the likely cargo. The Wall Street Journal reported on Oct. 27, citing two officials and flight tracking data, that a Patriot system was being sent from Texas to Israel. Israel's public broadcaster KAN reported that 10 U.S. military cargo aircraft from Fort Bliss had landed at Ovda and Nevatim air bases in the Negev, Anadolu Agency reported, while open-source trackers said the shipments appear to involve THAAD systems. Neither the U.S. nor Israeli government has confirmed the contents. Pending flights in the log include two more C-17s from Fort Bliss on Nov. 2 and 3, Air Force flights from Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska and Andersen Air Force Base in Guam, two Navy-related C-5 Galaxy flights from Naval Station Norfolk and Naval Air Station North Island, and a special assignment airlift mission from Redstone Army Airfield in Alabama, home of the U.S. Army's missile and aviation commands. The flights come as Washington weighs its next step against Iran. The U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28 under Operation Epic Fury, and Iran struck back at Israeli and U.S. targets across the region, including bases in Kuwait, before an April ceasefire. In recent weeks the U.S. military has carried out several limited strikes, and President Donald Trump confirmed a strike on an Iranian anti-aircraft facility on Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz on Nov. 3, calling it a "minor attack." The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump has leaned toward a larger attack after the U.S. midterm elections but has not made a decision, Gulf News reported. Indirect talks mediated by Qatar are continuing, and Vice President JD Vance has reported progress. Air defense stocks have been a recurring concern. Iranian missile and drone attacks during the war drew heavily on U.S. Patriot and THAAD interceptors, and CENTCOM commander Adm. Brad Cooper spoke about depleted air defense stockpiles in September. Kuwait's Ali Al Salem Air Base, one of the destinations in the latest airlift, was among the U.S. sites in the region exposed to Iranian strikes earlier in the war. A third U.S. aircraft carrier, USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71), and the amphibious assault ship USS Makin Island (LHA 8) are expected to reach the region by the end of November. The airlift log showed C-17s still landing at Ovda as of Nov. 2.