The United States suffered heavy losses this time, with five tanker aircraft being hit! On March 14, the Wall Street Journal reported that Iranian missiles attacked Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia, hitting five U.S. Air Force ground refueling aircraft. The planes were damaged but not destroyed, and no one was killed in the attack. Foreign media stated that this made at least seven U.S. tankers lost or damaged recently.
Within just a few days, from being shot down over Iraq, forced landing and damage, to being targeted by missiles at the Saudi base. It can be seen that Iran is specifically targeting U.S. tankers. In fact, Iran's move is very good and wise. On one hand, tankers are high-value strategic targets, on the other hand, the tankers are large in size, whether it is KC-135 or KC-46, they are large aircraft with a very large radar cross-section, similar to civilian airliners, making them easy to lock onto.
These aircraft have a large load capacity and poor maneuverability, and they cannot dodge missiles. Once they are targeted, they basically cannot escape, and it is also difficult to hide them. By attacking U.S. tankers, Iran is actually weakening the loitering combat time and operational range of F-22, F-35, and B-2 bombers. Obviously, even if these aircraft are damaged rather than destroyed, they would not be able to be put into use for a short period, and maintenance and repair would become a big problem for the United States. This certainly causes great trouble for the United States.
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1859594313028619/
Statement: This article represents the personal views of the author.