A-10 Warthogs arrive, more U.S. forces coming amid Israel-Gaza fighting
The US military’s deployments are a warning to anyone thinking about exploiting the Israel-Hamas war: Don’t.
BY JEFF SCHOGOL | PUBLISHED OCT 12, 2023 5:34 PM EDT
A squadron of U.S. Air Force A-10 Warthogs have arrived in the Middle East and more American forces are expected to follow this week as part of an increase in the region following Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attacks on Israel, a senior defense official told reporters on Thursday.
“Let me again reiterate one of the main messages that this rapid increase in posture is intended to send to both state or non-state actors,” the senior defense official said during a Thursday Pentagon news briefing. “The United States is unequivocally in its support for the defense of Israel and is sending a warning to any entity that would consider taking advantage of this conflict and this war to escalate violence: one word, quite simply – don’t.”
U.S. Central Command, or CENTCOM, announced on Oct. 8 that additional A-10s, F-15s, and F-16s were deploying to its theater of operations along with the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford and its strike group, which arrived on Tuesday in the Eastern Mediterranean.
On Thursday, the 354th Fighter Squadron out of Davis–Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona, arrived in the CENTCOM region, said the senior defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity under rules established by the Pentagon.
https://taskandpurpose.com/news/a10-warthogs-israel-gaza-war/