'Less than two minutes of warning': US 'Defense Arc' plan against Iran gets underway

The US has begun a covert evacuation of fighter jets and offensive forces from bases near Iran as part of the 'Defense Arc' plan, fearing a missile attack. F-35 jets remain in Israel. The report is based on Western sources cited by 'Aram News', without official Pentagon confirmation.

The US Department of Defense has begun implementing a secret military plan to reduce the air and offensive presence at forward US bases in the Middle East, according to a report on the 'Aram News' website citing Western sources. According to the sources, following the cancellation of the strike against Iran, the move has become an undeclared defensive array aimed at protecting the US Air Force from a preemptive attack. The US has begun transferring squadrons of F-15 and F-16 jets, as well as aerial refueling aircraft, from exposed runways to more distant bases, in a geographic arc from islands in the Mediterranean to NATO bases in Southern Europe. Intelligence assessments indicate that proximity to Iran shortens the warning time of Patriot and THAAD systems to less than two minutes. However, the Pentagon has left F-35 jets at the Nevatim and Hatzor bases in the Negev, assessing that Israel's air defense array, reinforced with the THAAD system, provides them with better protection. The report did not include an official Pentagon response.