Postcards from the Middle East: Jordanian, U.S. Air Force F-16s and U.S. Marine Corps F-18s train together

The U.S. Air Force has just released some nice images showing the air power build up in the Middle East.

One of the most interesting images depicts a Jordanian F-16 Fighting Falcon leading another Jordanian F-16, as well as an American F-16 from the 120th Fighter Squadron, Colorado Air National Guard, and two Marine F-18s from VMFA-115 over a training base in Northern Jordan. during Eager Lione exercise.

Eager Lion 2013

An “annual” exercise, Eager Lion is a “U.S. Central Command-directed, irregular warfare-themed exercise focusing on missions the United States and its coalition partners might perform in support of global contingency operations.”

Eager Lion 2

Image credit: U.S. Air Force

Almost ignored by media last year, the 2013 edition of the largest exercise in the Central Command Area of Operation is seen by some analyst as a sign that the U.S. has started to amass a fighter jet armada near Syria, to manage an eventual No-Fly Zone.

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About David Cenciotti
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.