In brief
Open‑source flight‑tracking shows a second wave of U.S. C‑17 flights carrying Patriot systems from Biggs Army Airfield, Texas, to Ovda Air Base in Israel, bringing the total to 16 flights that could represent a full battery. The movement comes amid U.S. repositioning of forces across the Middle East and Europe, with other C‑17s flying to Germany, Kuwait and Canada.
Open‑source tracking indicated that at least six U.S. Air Force C‑17A Globemaster III cargo aircraft carrying Patriot air‑defense equipment began a second wave of flights from Biggs Army Airfield at Fort Bliss, Texas, to Ovda Air Base in southern Israel on Tuesday, the Anadolu Agency reported.
Previously, eight C‑17 flights had reached Ovda during the week before; the new movements bring the total from Biggs to Ovda to 16 flights, the agency said. For a complete Patriot battery, a full deployment generally requires a minimum engagement package, which includes air and missile defense capabilities across the CENTCOM area within 96 hours.
In addition to the flights to Israel, the agency noted an aircraft—codenamed REACH 324—departed from Biggs for Gander International Airport in Canada on Monday. That move was singled out as separate from the eight flights to Israel and suggested that another deployment of Patriot systems could be under preparation.
Other U.S. airlift activity was also recorded: a C‑17 stationed at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar departed on Nov. 1 for Ramstein and Spangdahlem air bases in Germany; a separate aircraft flew from Pope Army Airfield, North Carolina, to Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait; and two further C‑17s left that Kuwaiti base for Davis‑Mothan Air Force Base in Arizona.
Meanwhile, the U.S. military was withdrawing support equipment from RAF Fairford in the United Kingdom. Two C‑17s left the base over a 48‑hour period—one to Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota and the other to an unnamed destination.
