The USA has bolstered its military presence in the Eastern Mediterranean by sending three RC-135W Joint Rivet strategic reconnaissance aircraft to the Greek air base at Chania, Crete. The deployment was detected by Flightradar24 and ADS-B Exchange tracking services.
According to available data, one of the RC-135W aircraft completed a transatlantic flight from the United States and arrived in Crete on Monday. The remaining two were relocated from the Qatari Al Udeid Air Base, where they had been stationed since late January. The move comes amid rising tensions with Iran.
The RC-135V and RC-135W variants are designed to conduct reconnaissance missions aimed at identifying the operational parameters of enemy air defence radar systems. This data is critical for the subsequent neutralization of radar stations, including by anti-radar missiles.
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