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.
