Twelve American F-22 Raptor fighter jets landed at an Israel Air Force base on Tuesday evening as tensions in the Middle East continue to rise and uncertainty looms on the Iranian front.
The F-22 is largely considered the best fighter jet on Earth due to its unmatched speed and stealth. The aircraft is so highly revered that the US Department of Defense prohibits its license or sale to any foreign government to ensure the US maintains its military qualitative edge.
The aircraft is capable of incorporating ground attacks and electronic warfare, with a weapons system built by Lockheed Martin.
The F-22 fleet is the latest addition to the US arsenal amassed in the region over the last few weeks, which has included sending the world’s largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, to Israel’s coast.
Additionally, open-source intelligence monitoring and publicly available flight data indicate that over 300 US military aircraft are currently deployed across the Middle East.
The strategic stationing of US forces, aircraft, and warships ahead of the next round of nuclear negotiations between the US and Iran, scheduled for Thursday in Geneva, shows that Washington and Jerusalem are preparing for any possible outcome.
“We are in negotiations with [Iran],” US President Donald Trump said during his State of the Union address on Tuesday, “they want to make a deal, but we haven’t heard those secret words: ‘We will never have a nuclear weapon.’”
“My preference is to solve this problem through diplomacy. But one thing is certain, I will never allow the world’s No. 1 sponsor of terror, which they are by far, to have a nuclear weapon, can’t let that happen.
During his address, Trump mentioned Operation Midnight Hammer, when the US launched B-2 bombers, alongside F-22 and F-35 aircraft, to target Iran’s nuclear program.
While the B-2 bombers were the stars of the June operation, the F-22 fighter aircraft was essential to the success of the mission, as President Trump later confirmed the fleet’s participation even though no launches had been detected.