5-plane formation just after noon over Seattle today.
May have been F/A-18s or F-15s as the best images I have show what look like two engines and twin tails.
By coincidence, perhaps, there were a trio of F/A-18Fs from VF-154 "Knights" at KBFI last night. Tails 102, 103 & 105. NH tail code denotes ties to Carrier Air Wing 11, which is Teddy Roosevelt's.
There was also an AFSOC 🇺🇸 C-146A Wolfhound at KBFI last night - 12-3040 #AE68BA
AFSOC 🇺🇸 C-146A Wolfhound 12-3040 #AE68BA is currently returning from Elmendorf after Red Flag 22-2 wrapped up.
Since it sounds like a bunch of sources are now saying they were F-15Es (and given no one heard them because they were so high up, I believe them), I started looking for F-15E bases in the US and it so happens an Eielson AFB to Nellis AFB route would take them right over Seattle!
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Starting at 20:02 UTC, a pair of USAF C-17As set to depart from Al-Udeid AB, Qatar (OTBH) were instructed to "return to the chalks" and that their mission to Chania, Greece (LGSA) had been scrubbed. They were instructed then to wait for more info.
The change in plans coincides within minutes of remarks made by President Trump that the killings and executions inside Iran had been reported to have stopped, based on sources within Iran itself.
This all occurred shortly after six USAF KC-135 tankers from Al-Udeid were seen departing in quick succession. These were believed to be evacuation flights, destination unknown.
The last KC-135 departed at ~1927 UTC or 35 minutes before the C-17As were told to stand down.
Considering how quiet things have gotten this last little bit, I want to take the time to make a few points.
- 1st round seems to be over, at least for the Caracas area.
- Given how many airbases and military targets there are, this is frankly somewhat of a light 1st round.
1/
(cont.)
- Whatever was going on with the helicopters...
(A) Given social media these days, if something went terribly wrong, we likely would see it pretty quick
(B) Where did they come from??
(cont)
- In terms of assets we've seen build up.
(A) Rather light in terms of airstrikes, either from bases in the region, bombers from elsewhere or from the flattops.
(B) We are NOT maintaining air presence over Venezuelan skies. No sounds of fighters overhead.
3/
Fantastic film. Perhaps the best of the modern era in terms of nuclear war fiction. Invoking the plot lines of a number of many prior films without actually drawing them to their full conclusions.
That said, I felt there were several major problems.
First, the whodunnit.
The scenario is made possible by a certain amount of ambiguity as to whether the DPRK, PLA or Russia launched the initial missile, made possible by a failure of detection by an early warning satellite in a region in which all 3 nations share interests.