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Pentagon Offers Tanker Support for Saudi Air Offensive

April 5, 2015 Pentagon Offers Tanker Support for Saudi Air Offensive
Jonathan Derden No Comments News

While the coalition fight against ISIS in Iraq & Syria has garnered a huge amount of media attention, a large-scale offensive underway against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen is well underway on the Arabian peninsula. The massive Saudi-led campaign named Operation Decisive Storm has garnered an incredible amount of regional support with Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Morocco, Jordan, the UAE, and even Sudan all flying airstrikes into Yemen to help keep the Houthi rebels at bay after President Abdrabbu Mansour Hadi fled to neighboring Saudi Arabia.

The large scale of the campaign reveals a deep concern by the Saudis about the rebels crossing the southern border, as the operation even rivals the size of the ongoing Operation Inherent Resolve against the Islamic State.

The Royal Saudi Air Force has been the primary driver of the Yemeni campaign, with approximately 100 aircraft involved. As we reported last week, one of their F-15SAs went down in the Gulf of Aden, with the safe recovery of the aircrew.

So far the US has kept a very low profile so far with assistance limited to unmanned ISR assets providing intelligence to the coalition.

A Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker prepares to take that active at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada in support of Red Flag 15-1.

A Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker prepares to take that active at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada in support of Red Flag 15-1.

However, the Pentagon has just offered additional support for Operation Decisive Storm in the form of air refueling tankers. While the UAEAF and RSAF both operate the A330MRT Voyager, their numbers are limited, especially for a prolonged campaign with a high operational tempo.

Our guys and gals will continue to offer up their gas-passing services whenever called upon, since nobody kicks ass without tanker gas!

 

 

About the Author

Jonathan Derden is an Airline Transport Rated-pilot with a regional airline in the mid-Atlantic region. Chair flying since being spoon fed as a child, Jonathan is a graduate of the aviation program at Jacksonville University and has been an airline pilot since 2007. When he's not flying for work, he's traversing the planet in search of the next opportunity as an aviation photojournalist. Jonathan began his photographic pursuits as a teenager while learning how to use his father's camera at a local general aviation airport, and has since broadened his horizons to include and now focuses on military aviation.

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