US military aircraft crashes in eastern Mediterranean: USEUCOM

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
12 Nov 2023 00:56

The US European Command announced that the crash of a US military aircraft in the eastern Mediterranean was "purely related to training."

An F/A-18F Super Hornet assigned to Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX) 23 approaches the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78). The aircraft carrier is underway conducting test and evaluation operations (U.S. Navy photo by Erik Hildebrandt/Released)

The US European Command (USEUCOM), announced on Saturday, that a US military aircraft crashed in the eastern Mediterranean yesterday, November 10.

According to the USEUCOM, the incident remains under investigation, however, according to the statement, the crash was "purely related to training."

"On the evening of November 10, a U.S. military aircraft conducting training operations in the eastern Mediterranean suffered a mishap and went down. Out of respect for the families affected, we will not release further information on the personnel involved at this time. The cause of the training incident is currently under investigation," the USEUCOM statement read.

The statement was released by the US European Command and not the the Central Command (Centcom) which operates in the Middle East/West Asia.

The US European Command failed to provide further details regarding the location of the crash, or the type of warplane.

US set to deploy air defense systems to protect regional interests

As the tension across the Arab world intensifies and given that US interests have been directly threatened if a regional war explodes, the United States has sought to deploy about a dozen air defense systems.

According to The Wall Street Journal, which referenced US defense officials, the US military has been seeking to deploy at least 12 air defense systems prior to the Israeli ground invasion into Gaza that has been allegedly anticipated to take place later this month.

It is important to note that "Israel" has been warned by various groups coordinating together as part of the Axis of Resistance that in the event of a ground invasion into the Gaza Strip, the war will expand to entail multiple fronts, noting that all US bases in the region will also be prone to attacks.

The US Defense Department has allegedly brought forth, from Fort Bliss, Texas, a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery for use against ballistic missiles to be stationed in Saudi Arabia.

Moreover, at least 11 MIM-104 Patriot surface-to-air missile systems were transferred from both Fort Liberty, North Carolina and Fort Sill, Oklahoma to be stationed in Kuwait, Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.