Satellite image shows five F-22 near Iran (one year ago). And here is who they were.

May 20, 2013 Military Aviation
David Cenciotti

Even if we have often reported the presence of the F-22 Raptors at Al Dhafra, satellite imagery showing five radar evading planes parked at the main airbase in the UAE has been made publicly available for the first time recently.

F-22 Al Dhafra

The aircraft, parked next to an F-15E Strike Eagle, are five of the six F-22 that had (more or less secretely) deployed in South East Asia from Holloman New Mexico, via Moron, Spain, on Apr. 20, 2012.

The image is not only interesting because it shows the main U.S. Air Force plane about 100 miles from Iran, but also because it is the first one to show fast jets on one of most important U.S. airbases in the region.

Using the time option on Google Earth, you may even observe how the airbase has grown since 2004: the large apron in front of the light hangars where the F-22 were parked in April 2012, did not exist in the satellite image taken 9 years ago.

Al Dhafra 2004

Image credit: Google Earth

Moreover, if you watch the imagery of the subsequent years you will notice that only support planes (E-3s, KC-135s etc) could be seen stationed at Al Dhafra: the presence of the F-22s beginning in 2012, is a clear sign of how the situation in the region has gradually changed with an increasing tension with Iran.

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About David Cenciotti
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David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written five books and contributed to many more ones.

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6 Comments

  3. Clearly the public are unaware of the fact that tensions about Iran are scaling up as the argument over nuclear weapons drags on.

    • Iran has no nuclear weapons. That’s the funniest part about the whole thing. The US and israel do this all the time. They accuse someone of doing something they aren’t doing…then demand they prove they aren’t doing it.

      What surprises me is how people are fooled by it over and over and over.

  4. It’s pretty neat to go Al Dhafra on Google Earth, and realize that those 5 F-22s, one or two of those AWACS, and one or two of those KC-10s, could wipe out the entire air force of any country in the region.

  5. This is the same Iran that hasn’t attacked anyone in 250 years. But it’s a “threat” to the US and israel who attack someone EVERY year.

    I’m amazed anyone falls for the US / Israeli propaganda.

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