The F-16s of the 93rd Fighter Squadron “Makos” are believed to be deploying to the CENTCOM area of operations.
On Dec. 28, 2020, six F-16s belonging to the 93rd FS “Makos” belonging to the 482nd Fighter Wing, Homestead Air Reserve Base, Florida, AFRC (Air Force Reserve Command), made a stopover at Naval Air Station Rota, Spain.
The aircraft, using radio callsigns TABOR61-66, were supported by GOLD11 (KC-10 registration 79-1710) and GOLD12 (KC-135R – 63-8040), which landed at Moron AB, Spain.
28 DEC 2020#USAF tankers, KC-10A (GOLD-11/79-1710) & KC-135R (GOLD-12/63-8040) provided the transfer, likely of 6xF-16s (TABOR 61-66) from conus to Rota airbase, then descended to Moron.
The further route is interesting. pic.twitter.com/is2GXUGa1R
— Cyber Diver (@Some_Sun) December 28, 2020
The serials of the 93rd FS “Makos” F-16s spotted landing at NAS Rota were: 87-0239, 87-0247, 87-0338, 88-0404 (as 482FW flagship), 88-0405 (as 93FS flagship) and 88-0410. Six more aircraft were supposed to deploy along the first section but were delayed by a technical issue.
The final destination of the “Makos” is currently unknown but most probably in the Middle East: NAS Rota is often the preferred stopover for U.S. combat aircraft on their way to the Persian Gulf area.
The photos in this post were taken at NAS Rota by photographer and The Aviationist contributor David Parody
The last time the “Makos” deployed to Europe was in May 2019, when 12 F-16Cs operated from RAF Lakenheath for two weeks, to carry out DACT (Dissimilar Air Combat Training) with the local-based F-15E Strike Eagles and the RAF Typhoons.
