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Nevin Al Sukari - Sana'a - This combination of handout satellite photos obtained from Planet Labs PBC on June 19, 2025, of a photo taken on June 5, 2025 (left) shows military planes at the US military base of Al-Udeid in Qatar, and a photo taken June 19, 2025 (right) showing no more planes at the US military base of Al-Udeid in Qatar, one of the main US bases in the region. — Handout via AFP
ISRAEL, June 20 — Dozens of US military aircraft are no longer on the tarmac at a major US base in Qatar, satellite images show — a possible move to shield them from eventual Iranian air strikes, as Washington weighs whether to intervene in Tehran’s conflict with Israel.
Nearly 40 military aircraft — including transport planes like the Hercules C-130 and reconnaissance aircraft — were parked on the tarmac at the Al Udeid base on June 5, according to images published by Planet Labs PBC and analyzed by AFP.
In an image taken yesterday, only three aircraft are visible.
The US embassy in Qatar announced yesterday that access to the base would be limited “out of an abundance of caution and in light of ongoing regional hostilities,” and urged personnel to “exercise increased vigilance.”
The White House says US President Donald Trump will decide sometime in the next two weeks whether to join ally Israel’s strikes on Iran. The Islamic republic could then respond by striking US bases in the region.
Mark Schwartz, a former lieutenant general in the US Army and a defence researcher at the Rand Corporation, said the personnel, aircraft and installations at Al Udeid would be “extremely vulnerable” given its “close proximity” to Iran.
Schwartz, who served in the Middle East, told AFP that even shrapnel could render the aircraft “non-mission capable.”
“You want to reduce risk to US forces, both personnel and equipment,” he said.
The planes that have left the tarmac since early June could have been moved to hangars or to other bases in the region.
A US defence official would not discuss the specific positioning of assets but told AFP: “We remain committed to maintaining operational security while executing our mission with the highest level of readiness, lethality and professionalism.”
US forces in the Middle East have been mobilized since Israel’s first strikes on Iran nearly a week ago, with an additional aircraft carrier en route and significant aircraft movement.
An AFP analysis of open source data tracking aircraft positioning showed that at least 27 military refuelling planes — KC-46A Pegasus and KC-135 Stratotanker planes — travelled from the United States to Europe from June 15-18.
Twenty-five of them were still in Europe as of late Wednesday, with only two returning to American soil, the data showed. — AFP
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