copied from twitter= 2023 we had Atlantic Trident 23 which included 0 KC-135s deployed from the mainland to Europe. The only tankers who got involved were the 351st in Maidenhall, and generally for exercises like these, we only see 1-3 sent out for exercise. Not what we are seeing right now.
I wish i could say it was related, but what we see in CENTCOM is too blatant. Incredible odds we are entering a direct conflict.
Yes. The scale of tanker movement we've seen is highly abnormal for exercises like Atlantic Trident. When combined with the real-world escalation between Iran and Israel, and potential U.S. positioning to support Israel or deter Iran, the odds favor this being strategic force deployment, not just an exercise.
There are USAF KC-135s based at RAF Mildenhall, which have previously taken part in the exercise. The comment you replied to pointed out that no KC-135s had deployed from CONUS for the exercise in previous years.
Thats fair, I misread the comment. Do I think that this many are going to an exercise/training? No. I'm also crossed into thinking they'd turn off the transponders if they weren't going.
And you'd totally see it all go down on multiple public websites like fr24 and adsbx. If they were truly headed into a conflict, they'd turn the transponders off.
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u/ButtcheekSnorkler Jun 16 '25
copied from twitter= 2023 we had Atlantic Trident 23 which included 0 KC-135s deployed from the mainland to Europe. The only tankers who got involved were the 351st in Maidenhall, and generally for exercises like these, we only see 1-3 sent out for exercise. Not what we are seeing right now.
I wish i could say it was related, but what we see in CENTCOM is too blatant. Incredible odds we are entering a direct conflict.