Rare Deployment! A Large Number of US Refueling Aircraft Fly Over the Atlantic

According to the UK's Daily Mail, on September 29, as US President Trump planned to convene senior military officials on September 30, flight tracking data showed that a US Air Force refueling aircraft formation flew over the Atlantic.

The report stated that social media accounts that analyze military intelligence through open-source network intelligence (OSINT) posted on X platform, indicating that around 12 U.S. Air Force KC-135R/T "Stratotanker" refueling aircraft departed from the U.S. mainland on the evening of September 28, with some flying to the Royal Air Force Mildenhall Base in the UK.

The Daily Mail analysis pointed out that such a large-scale refueling aircraft deployment usually indicates that the U.S. military or NATO may face an urgent need for fighter jet refueling. Three unnamed U.S. Department of Defense sources (two former officials and one current official) told the newspaper that this deployment was significant. They recalled that the last time the U.S. military deployed a similar scale of refueling aircraft was five days before the U.S. air strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.

The report mentioned that Trump met with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu at the White House on the 29th. According to plan, on the 30th, Trump will attend an emergency meeting with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in Quantico, Virginia, where the highest-level military commanders of the United States will participate.

According to a previous report by The Washington Post, this high-level meeting first came to light last week and sparked public attention. Hundreds of U.S. military generals returning from around the world, including some active-duty officers in areas of active conflict, were urgently called to attend the meeting, but the specific agenda of the meeting has not been released. The Daily Mail said that a source close to Hegseth revealed that even the attending generals knew little about the details of the meeting, they were informed the day before that this meeting would hold a roundtable discussion.

Trump has already announced that he will attend this temporarily organized global summit of the highest-ranking U.S. military commanders. He called it a "pleasant meeting" and would convey "good news."

Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1844688041091100/

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