As the world welcomed a new year, US Central Command was amassing combat aircraft to help protect military installations in the Middle East, preparing for possible attacks in the region. Babak Taghvaee details how American airpower played an instrumental role in countering the threat
Between December 31, 2021, and January 8, 2022, 42 fighter jets from the US Air Force (USAF), US Air National Guard (ANG) and US Marine Corps (USMC) – supported by 21 tankers, an airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) platform, two signals intelligence (SIGINT) aircraft, an E-11A Battlefield Airborne Communications Node (BACN) and an unknown number of surveillance and armed drones – were used by US Central Command (CENTCOM) to protect US military bases in Iraq and Syria.
The 42 fighters included 18 F-16CM Block 50 Fighting Falcons from the USAF’s 55th Fighter Squadron (FS) ‘Fighting Fifty-Fifth’, along with 12 F-16C Block 30s from the ANG’s 120th FS ‘Colorado Cougars’ and 176th FS ‘Badger Air Militia’. The USAF and ANG F-16Cs were present, respectively, at Muwaffaq al-Salti Air Base (AB), Jordan, and Prince Sultan AB (PSAB), Saudi Arabia, in December 2021 – when CENTCOM planned to increase the number of armed patrols over the region.
On De…
