Portugal, Spain, Italy or Greece. The USA concentrated military resources at this time in various parts of Europe, but not only that. An attack on Iran could be imminent
The Lockheed C-5M Super Galaxy, the US Air Force’s largest strategic transport aircraft, landed this Friday morning at Lajes Base, in the Azores, CNN Portugal learned. It is the main North American heavy transport aircraft, at a time when Washington has reinforced its resources in this strategic region, as well as in several parts of Europe.
The presence of the C-5M comes after, on Wednesday, the base on Terceira island recorded an unusual movement of North American military aircraft. During the afternoon of that day, 11 KC-46 Pegasus refuelers, 12 F-16 Viper fighters and a C-17 Globemaster III freighter were stationed. During the same period, several fighter jets took off and returned to base.
Several American air force supply planes and fighters parked at Lajes Air Base, in the Azores, on February 18, 2026. ANTÓNIO ARAÚJO/LUSA
But it is not only in the Azores that unusual movements have occurred. In the last 24 hours, several experts have monitored a significant concentration of assets, including the sighting of the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford near Morocco.
Data from the Flightradar24 platform also indicates the creation of refueling points from Rota, in southern Spain, to the island of Crete, in Greece, supporting fighter and other aircraft operations, at a time when Washington continues to issue ultimatums to Tehran, so that both can reach an agreement. Six KC-135 Stratotanker tankers were also located ashore at Rota Naval Station and another seven at the Souda Bay base in Crete.
Meanwhile, on Thursday morning, at least six US military aircraft were visible on tracking systems: two C-17 freighters, one KC-135 and two HC-130 Combat King IIs, and two E-3 surveillance planes. The latter were deployed from Europe to the Middle East, while transport aircraft headed towards the eastern Mediterranean. Two HC-130Js flew from Naples to al-Udeid air base in Qatar.
“It is really difficult to monitor movements of this scale and intensity”, said experts from Italmilradar, who monitor military movements in the Mediterranean.
At the same time, and already outside Europe, the US Air Force deployed dozens of fighters and support aircraft to bases in Jordan and Saudi Arabia, including F-35, F-15, F-16, E-3 AWACS and E-11 BACCN. At the naval level, the Navy maintains 13 ships in the Middle East and the eastern Mediterranean, including the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and nine destroyers capable of defending against ballistic missiles. A second group, led by the USS Gerald R. Ford, is also on its way.
USS Abraham Lincoln Aircraft Carrier Strike Group in the Arabian Sea, February 6. Photo courtesy of Media Specialist 1st Class Jesse Monford/U.S. Navy via Getty Images
Largest mobilization since the Iraq War
this is the largest increase in US air presence in the region since 2003, the year of the Iraq invasion. In this operation, the US Air Force deployed 863 aircraft in the Middle East. In 1991, during Operation Desert Storm, around 1,300 North American aircraft were mobilized.
said Becca Wasser, from the Center for a New American Security, highlighting the weight of air power involved at this time, to the Financial Times. Despite the differences compared to 2003, the Air Force is now smaller and there are no deployed land forces, even though technological capacity has evolved.
