🇹🇷 An F-16 fighter jet operated by the Turkish Air Force crashed during a training flight near Balıkesir in western Turkey tonight.
The pilot reportedly perished.
The plane belonged to the 9th Main Jet Base Command.
Breaking: flights diverted from Baghdad International Airport due to “an issue with edge lights” according to a NOTAM issued by Iraq moments ago.
🇺🇸 #USAF Boeing KC-135R Stratotanker aerial tanker from Chania, Crete, into Iraq.
58-0083/#AE0157
Local sources report that a runway malfunction at Baghdad International Airport has halted landings and takeoffs.
More USAF F-22 Raptor fighter jets on the way to Europe/Middle East.
🚨🇮🇷🇺🇸 The briefing of the Gang of Eight senior members in Congress has concluded after about 40 minutes
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said at the end of the meeting: "Look, this is serious. The administration has to make its case to the American people."
THIS.
SOTU to be *over 2 hours long*, several reliable Republican sources tell me they have been told.
One said they were told 2.5 - 3 hours (!!), though that is the high end and could be a reverse jinx attempt.
New reporting: Trump admin took the unusual step of warning the Ukrainian government that its strikes on a Russian Black Sea oil facility late last year had impacted US investments in Kazakhstan, the Ukrainian Amb to the US revealed. W/@jmhansler https://www.cnn.com/2026/02/24/politics/us-warned-ukraine-ambassador-strikes-black-sea-oil?cid=ios_app
Intersting choice.
USAF F-22 fighter jets redeployed from the UK will be stationed at the Ovda Air Base in southern Israel, per reports.
H/t to @EISNspotter as I believe that he broke the news first.
At this moment, we know about the redeployment of 11 F-22s (one from the twelve was forced to return to RAF Lakenheath due to possible fuel leak [via @TallGlenn85]).
This graphic as he would be selected the captain of Team Smackdown on Survivor Series
#USAF United States Air Force - Coronet East 051
Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker 4x
Unknown - GOLD 65
#AE04FB 57-2605 - GOLD 64
#AE062B 60-0353 - GOLD 55
#AE04C3 59-1470 - GOLD 54
GOLD 54/55 Flight of 2x KC-135s has departed RAF Mildenhall on an unknown Coronet East tasking. No tankers have positioned on the other side of the Atlantic on this mission.
This appears to be seperate from CE044 and CE045.
Photos: @havoc_aviation
@MATA_osint @DefenceGeek @Andyyyyrrrr
New: Another warship has joined the US Navy’s large Middle East buildup, a defense official says.
USS John Finn, a destroyer, entered the CENTCOM region within the last 72 hours. There’s now 12 American ships positioned near Iran, and several more in the Mediterranean.
The focus of NATO’s air surveillance in Turkey has shifted from Russia to Iran as the risk of a US-led military campaign against Tehran mounts, people familiar with the matter said https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-02-24/nato-said-to-step-up-iran-surveillance-as-tensions-with-us-mount?utm_source=website&utm_medium=share&utm_campaign=twitter
It's a rather busy day over Europe overall.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is scheduled to brief the Gang of 8 on Iran Tuesday afternoon, just hours before President Trump’s State of the Union address, sources tell @kylieatwood, @NatashaBertrand, @jmhansler & me.
The briefing is expected to take place at 3 pm at the White House, per Rubio’s public schedule.
https://www.cnn.com/2026/02/24/politics/iran-trump-military-options-nuclear
FULL UPDATE: F-22s move forward to Middle East #FreeIran
As much information as I currently have confirmed:
Cell 1:
KC-46A "ROMA02" 21-46095 #AE63CB
F-22A "TREND51" 08-4152
F-22A "TREND52" 08-4171
F-22A "TREND53" 08-4154
KC-46A "ROMA03" 22-46100 #AE63D0
Cell 2:
KC-135R "ROMA04" 57-1440 #AE023B
F-22A "TREND54" 08-4158
F-22A "TREND55" 09-4175
F-22A "TREND56" 09-4187
KC-46A "ROMA05" 21-46093 #AE63C9
Cell 3:
KC-135R "ROMA12" 62-3559 #ADFF0D
F-22A "TREND61" 08-4168
F-22A "TREND62"
F-22A "TREND63" 09-1473
KC-135R "ROMA13" 63-8021 #AE0241
Cell 4:
KC-135R "ROMA14" 62-3577 #AE0488
F-22A "TREND64"
F-22A "TREND65"
F-22A "TREND66"
KC-135T "?" 58-0095 #AE04FD
F-22 airframes listed above that i'm not sure which callsigns have been used: 05-4104, 06-4109, 09-1489, 10-4194
@MATA_osint @ArmchairAdml @Andyyyyrrrr @jamjake01
A helicopter from the Iranian Army's Aviation unit crashed Tuesday morning in the fruit and vegetable market area of Darcheh city in Khomeyni Shahr County, Isfahan Province, due to a technical malfunction, resulting in the deaths of the pilot, co-pilot, and two market vendors.