Eagles Make Quiet Return to Gulf Region

摘要

Without fanfare, the Air Force deployed F-15C Eagles to the Persian Gulf region in January, operating them from the undisclosed air base that is home to the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing. Long absent from the region, the F-15Cs were deployed to buttress "regional stability and security," according to a US Air Forces Central spokesman. AFCENT declined to specify whether the deployment is meant to dissuade aggression from Iran, which has been making belligerent statements about blocking sea traffic in the Strait of Hormuz.Tensions with Iran have also been high due to that country's unwillingness to quit its nuclear weapons program. Multirole F-15E Strike Eagles and F-16s have been a fixture in Southwest Asia and the Middle East in recent years, but not F-15Cs, whose primary mission is establishing air superiority. The type was withdrawn from the region soon after the Iraqi air threat was neutralized in 2003. The Eagles are training and exercising with partner air forces in the region, as well as with an air warfare center in the same, unnamed partner country, according to AFCENT's spokesman.