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ORAC 25th February 2026 11:56

………….

Pending Movements / Overnight Developments #FreeIran
--- "Operation LION & SUN" ---

Following on from yesterday, we are now aware of or expecting the following tanker movements with known/unknown receivers:

-----------------------
Coronet East 051

6x F-22A "Raptor" jets have arrived at RAF Lakenheath (EGUL) as "TABOR31" to "TABOR36" overnight. Coming into the UK with them was RAF Mildenhall tankers "GOLD54" and "GOLD55", while the rest of the "GOLD5#" flight have returned to the US:

KC-135T "GOLD54" 60-0353 #AE062B
KC-135R "GOLD55" 59-1470 #AE04C3
F-22A (x6) "TABOR31" to "TABOR36"

We are also anticipating 6 more jets from Langley later today, callsigns TBC, accompanied by possibly another 5 tankers, of which we know one:

KC-135R "GOLD64" 57-2605 #AE04FB

----------------------
Coronet East 033

We have the one lone F-22A from yesterday's Lakenheath -> Israel move that had to abort due to a fuel leak. Hopefully once repairs are completed that jet will continue onwards too, maybe with the CE 051 group:

F-22A "TREND66" ?

----------------------
Coronet East 044

As yet unidentified aircraft are expected to be brought over from the US with the help of up to 12 tankers (TBC), of which the following have been identified:

KC-46A "GOLD71" 17-46031 #AE5E0C
KC-135R "GOLD75" 63-7996 #AE038F (arriving into RAF Mildenhall this morning)
KC-46A "GOLD81" 17-46038 #AE5E13
KC-135R "GOLD86" 61-0324 #AE0263 (arrived into RAF Mildenhall yesterday)

---------------------
Coronet East 045

Another as yet unidentified group of aircraft expected to come from the US with a suspected 6 tankers supporting (all of whom have moved to Bangor (KBGR)), the following identified:

KC-46A "GOLD01" 19-46067 #AE5FAE
KC-46A "GOLD02" 21-46088 #AE63C4
KC-46A "GOLD11" 20-46075 #AE63B7
KC-46A "GOLD12" 16-46016 #AE5BC1
KC-135R "GOLD13" 60-0364 #AE0663

--------------------
Coronet East 047
​​​​​​​
A new appearance on our systems this morning is CE 047, again no identified jets to support for now, but 2 tankers identified with implication of 6 suspected. Notably one of these tankers is already assigned to CE 044 as well as "GOLD81" so unclear if an airframe swap has happened:

KC-46A "CLEAN43" 17-46038 #AE5E13
KC-46A "CLEAN53" 18-46039 #AE5F92


ORAC 25th February 2026 22:39

U.S. Fifth Fleet puts to sea

according to the ap, all american naval vessels stationed at the u.s. Fifth fleet headquarters in bahrain have left port and moved into open waters.

Satellite imagery reportedly shows the harbor now empty.

ORAC 26th February 2026 10:00

They are moving a lot of aircraft, but how much munitions?

I've seen an Israeli estimate that the US has enough bombs for 2-3 days of sustained combat and maybe a week at a lower pace. A C-17 or even a C-5 only carry a few aircraft bomb loads and with the transit distances can't sustain a prolonged fight. The US does have pre-positioned fleets of freight ships in locations such as Diego Garcia, but I've seen nothing to suggest a maritime support effort is under way.

If they do attack it will have to a short targeted decapitation campaign against the government and IRGC.

Meanwhile, arrivals continue.


CORONET EAST 047 - F-35As on the move? #FreeIran!

--- "Operation LION & SUN" --- Actively on the move now are 8x tankers believed to be supporting the move of up to 14x F-35A from Hill AFB in Utah:

Group 1:
KC-135R "CLEAN41" 57-1435
#AE013B
KC-135R "CLEAN42" 63-8026 #AE037C
KC-46A "CLEAN43" 17-46038 #AE5E13
KC-135R "CLEAN44" 58-0016 #AE058D
F-35A (x7) "TREND21" to "TREND27"

Group 2:
KC-135R "CLEAN51" 57-1499
#AE04B4
KC-135R "CLEAN52" 62-3514 #AE0389
KC-46A "CLEAN53" 18-46039 #AE5F92
KC-135R "CLEAN54" 60-0336 #AE0503
​​​​​​​F-35A (x7) "TREND31" to "TREND37"

​​​​​​​USAF United States Air Force - Middle East Activity 25 February -

Coronet East 044/046/047

There are three active Coronet missions this morning. "MO" F-15Es being moved under CE 044, "HL" F-35As under CE 047, and CE 046 with unknown receivers.

CE 045 resulted in two "SJ" F-15Es from Seymour Johnson AFB arriving at RAF Lakenheath yesterday evening.

This is all excluding CE 051, with another six "FF" F-22A Raptors from Langley AFB arriving at Lakenheath late last night.

Coronet East 047

Cell 1:
Boeing KC-46 Pegasus 1x
#AE5E13 17-46038 - CLEAN 43
Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker 4x
#AE013B 57-1435 - CLEAN 41 #AE037C 63-8026 - CLEAN 42 #AE058D 58-0016 - CLEAN 44 #AE04FB 57-2605 - CLEAN 45

Cell 2:
Boeing KC-46 Pegasus 1x
#AE5F92 18-46039 - CLEAN 53
Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker 4x
#AE04B4 57-1499 - CLEAN 51 #AE0389 62-3514 - CLEAN 52 #AE0503 60-0336 - CLEAN 54 #AE0669 62-3540 - CLEAN 55

What looks like two cells of fighters from Hill AFB have departed this morning. Four groups of tankers have departed from the U.S., with an additional tanker for each cell departing RAF Mildenhall. CLEAN 41/42 and CLEAN 51/52 departed Hill Air Force Base, each likely with six F-35As in tow. To meet them will be CLEAN 43/44 and CLEAN 53/54. Once they cross the atlantic, CLEAN 45/55 from Mildenhall will likely collect the twelve jets.

I'd expect the Hill tankers to return, and most likely at least one of the second group for each cell.

Coronet East 046

Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker 2x
#AE0591 58-0075 - CLEAN 73 (Beale AFB) #AE05AF 63-8875 - CLEAN 83 (Topeka)

Two KC-135s are positioning to McConnell AFB for CE 046. The receivers here are unknown.

Coronet East 044

​​​​​​​Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker 4x
#AE07C4 63-8873 - GOLD 85 (RAF Mildenhall) #AE0263 61-0324 - GOLD 86 (RAF Mildenhall) #AE038F 63-7996 - GOLD 75 (RAF Mildenhall) #AE0241 63-8021 - GOLD 76 (RAF Mildenhall)

ORAC 26th February 2026 10:49

VideoUSS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) departs Crete en route to the eastern Mediterranean.

ORAC 26th February 2026 13:16

WSJ: Here the demands US brought to Iran in Geneva:

1) Destroy all 3 nuclear sites: Fordow, Natanz, Isfahan,
2) Deliver all enriched uranium to US,
3) No sunset clauses,
4) Zero enrichment, but can keep Tehran reactor,
5) Minimal sanctions relief up front; more if Iran compliant.

MissChief 26th February 2026 13:28


Originally Posted by ORAC (Post 12043101)
WSJ: Here the demands US brought to Iran in Geneva:

1) Destroy all 3 nuclear sites: Fordow, Natanz, Isfahan,
2) Deliver all enriched uranium to US,
3) No sunset clauses,
4) Zero enrichment, but can keep Tehran reactor,
5) Minimal sanctions relief up front; more if Iran compliant.

Sounds reasonable, as an opening offer. However, Iran will not even consider them, and will already have concealed their stockpile of enriched uranium.

judyjudy 26th February 2026 14:39

With all that hardware moving to one part of the world, I do hope there’s enough still around to keep an eye on other parts (such as the western pacific)

Buster Hyman 26th February 2026 20:41

🤔 So nothing about Human Rights in Iran? Not exactly a “hearts & minds” proposal.

BBadanov 26th February 2026 21:26

How long can they go with both sides saying "progress was made, and we will reconvene next week"?
Such a huge force that has been amassed can only be kept in place on readiness for a limited time, and as the Iranians play the US along, what would be the limit of that time?
The US cannot attack while there is still a chance of ongoing talks.
So the US has to stand up and say talks are going nowhere.

Lonewolf_50 27th February 2026 01:25


Originally Posted by Buster Hyman (Post 12043283)
🤔 So nothing about Human Rights in Iran? Not exactly a “hearts & minds” proposal.

You are a bit late to the show, amigo. That line - hearts and minds - was taken off of the board well over a month ago.

BBadanov 27th February 2026 01:48


Originally Posted by Lonewolf_50 (Post 12043394)
You are a bit late to the show, amigo. That line - hearts and minds - was taken off of the board well over a month ago.

Don't know why, it seemed to work in Vietnam.

ORAC 27th February 2026 05:36



​​​​​​​The US Air Force is building up an aerial refueling tanker fleet at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion International Airport.

Roughly a half dozen KC-46 and KC-135 tankers are on the ground at the central Israeli airport at the moment, with another half dozen inbound from the US.



https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....35e8e4a01.jpeg

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....88b7f1342.jpeg
​​​​​​​

Vzlet 27th February 2026 11:31

Seeing images of deployed aircraft clustered out in the open at bases around the Middle East makes me hope that force protection against "non-traditional" threats is being taken quite seriously. We sometimes seem to disregard the fact that a foe can be imaginative and clever.

Ninthace 27th February 2026 11:36


Originally Posted by ORAC (Post 12043101)
WSJ: Here the demands US brought to Iran in Geneva:

1) Destroy all 3 nuclear sites: Fordow, Natanz, Isfahan,
2) Deliver all enriched uranium to US,
3) No sunset clauses,
4) Zero enrichment, but can keep Tehran reactor,
5) Minimal sanctions relief up front; more if Iran compliant.

Where any of these demands on the lips of the protestors being killed in Iran, what about what they were calling for?

Lonewolf_50 27th February 2026 12:56


Originally Posted by Ninthace (Post 12043619)
Where any of these demands on the lips of the protestors being killed in Iran

Irrelevant, if you've bothered to keep up with the news for the past month or so. The early rhetoric about supporting the protests has been overtaken by events, and the issue to hammer out (allegedly) is once again the nuclear weapons thing.
Also, what an inane position for you to take. (Quelle surprise).
How many governments have responded favorably to "step down from power or we bomb you" as a position?
Anyone?

Hasn't worked in Ukraine, didn't work in Iraq...have you seen any example of where it did work?
Do you believe that the Iranian power structure would fold based on a threat? If so, why do you believe that?
In the past week or so there have been some well presented assessments on how the current Grand Ayatollah is setting up the succession scheme in depth (thanks in part to how many leaders got whacked last summer).

langleybaston 27th February 2026 13:04


Originally Posted by Lonewolf_50 (Post 12043674)
Irrelevant, if you've bothered to keep up with the news for the past month or so. The early rhetoric about supporting the protests has been overtaken by events, and the issue to hammer out (allegedly) is once again the nuclear weapons thing.
Also, what an inane position for you to take. (Quelle surprise).
How many governments have responded favorably to "step down from power or we bomb you" as a position?
Anyone?

Hasn't worked in Ukraine, didn't work in Iraq...have you seen any example of where it did work?
Do you believe that the Iranian power structure would fold based on a threat? If so, why do you believe that?
In the past week or so there have been some well presented on how the current Grand Ayatollah is setting up the succession scheme in depth (thanks in part to how many leaders got whacked last summer).

These points could have been made without being offensive.

Lonewolf_50 27th February 2026 13:07

You might want to get off of the internet, langleybaston. Your skin's way too thin.
Beyond that, wind up artists deserve a kicking now and again.

Mogwi 27th February 2026 15:14

What Langley said!

Mog

SWBKCB 27th February 2026 15:19


The UK has temporarily withdrawn staff from its embassy in Tehran, as tensions between the US and Iran prompt warnings from a number of countries to their citizens in the Middle East.

The UK Foreign Office said it was a "precautionary measure" and that its embassy in Iran's capital continued to operate remotely.

Meanwhile,the US embassy in Israel told some non-emergency staff and their familieson Friday that they could leave the country.US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee advised staff who wished to leave to "do so TODAY", the New York Times reported.

It comes a day after Washington and Tehran held talks widely seen as a last ditch effort to avoid a warover Iran's nuclear ambitions.

A number of othercountries including China, India and Canada have told their citizens to leave Iran as soon as possible due to the prospectof hostilities.

Huckabee reportedly told embassy staff in an email there was "no need to panic, but for those desiring to leave, it's important to make plans to depart sooner rather than later".

A statement on the embassy's website said they "may wish to consider leaving Israel while commercial flights are available".
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c309vz0z893o

Lonewolf_50 27th February 2026 18:35

Dropping a bunch of bombs on Iran won't make anything any better. I see no point in so doing.


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