How to know when the war has begun UPDATE

bogus call sign is GOTO FMS
does anyone know of any others they use for this plane so I can keep an eye out for it

I see one right now flying over California via Flightradar.com.

[link to theaviationist.com]

Photo shows U.S. E-4B doomsday plane on the ground at Incirlik Turkey


Everybody know E-4Bs are extremely important. In the event of a war, a terrorist attack, an alien invasion and so on (hence the “doomsday plane” nickname), these aircraft are destined to keep the Secretary of Defense, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and other “decision makers” alive to direct nuclear (and conventional) forces, by receiving, verifying and relaying EAM (Emergency Action Messages).

[link to theaviationist.com]


U.S. WC-135C nuclear radiation sniffing plane spotted over Europe. En-route to Syria?

During the early hours on Aug. 28, a WC-135C was spotted just to the South of the UK.

The aircraft was being refueled by a KC-135 tanker launched from RAF Mildenhall which met the “Sniffer” maybe out in the Atlantic.

The two WC-135 Constant Phoenix operated by the 45th Reconnaissance Squadron from Offutt Air Force Base, are an atmospheric collections aircraft used to detect the radioactive particles that result from a nuclear detonation.




Does this mean they are expecting a nuclear war

Russia’s Emergencies Ministry’s evacuation plane just made a quick stop in Syria


[link to theaviationist.com]


Russia is evacuating nationals from Syria in anticipation of a U.S. strike on Damascus’s Chemical Weapons arsenal.

An Il-62 registered RA-86570 and belonging to the Russian Ministry for Emergency Situations made a very quick visit to Syria overnight.

The aircraft, using the callsign SUM9715 was first spotted around 21.11 GMT at FL370 as it overflew Moldova heading toward the Mediterranean Sea, avoiding Turkish airspace.

[link to theaviationist.com]

This is one of the best videos of Syrian Air Force Mig-21 fighter jet flying over Damascus so far

If Mil Mi-8/17 Hip and Mil Mi-25 Hind gunship helicopters, L-39 combat trainers, Mig-23 fighter bombers were the assets most frequently employed against the rebels since the beginning of the uprising, other aircraft, less frequently depicted in images and footage from Syria because initially grounded by lack of spare parts, or because operating at higher altitudes or in remote areas located away from the main cities, are becoming increasingly active in the skies around Damascus.

[link to theaviationist.com]


Should the US get involved in Syria it will be a cruise missiles and stealth bombers-only air war


Forget F-15E Strike Eagles and F/A-18E Super Hornets carrying PGMs (Precision Guided Munitions).

Should Washington really get involved in Syria, it will probably be a limited air war, mainly made of cruise missiles, most (if not all) shot by warships or submarines and almost no involvement of “tacair” (tactical airplanes).

Indeed, there is no sign of imminent deployment of squadrons of F-15s, F-16s or F-18s and, even if one might believe some assets could already be in place (in the U.S. bases in the Persian Gulf, as Al Dhafra) nor is there any sign of tanker build up in the Turkish or Greek airbases, used to support the air war in Libya back in 2011.

Another clear sign that no traditional air campaign is going to be launched over Syria is that there is no U.S. supercarrier in the Mediterranean Sea.

The USS Truman passed through Suez just a few days ago, and it is quite unlikely it would launch strike missions from the Red Sea.

That said, most probably, the Syrian Air War will be made of three phases:

Build-up & intelligence gathering phase
Rain of cruise missiles
Limited strategic bomber strikes

[link to theaviationist.com]

Two U-2s touch down in Cyprus: U.S. moving spyplanes closer to Syria

Journalist Andrew Potter based near the British air base at Akrotiri, Cyprus, reported (via Twitter) that two U-2 spyplanes arrived there in the afternoon of Aug. 29.

One U-2 had left RAF Fairford early in the morning and was plotted until it entered the French airspace: although its final destination is unknown, is safe to assume it went to Akrotiri.

Potter mentioned that the first U-2 to arrive made two attempts to land where as the second had no issues.

There are no reports of a second U-2 leaving Fairford before or after the reported departure, it must have come from elsewhere, possibly from a U.S. base in the Middle East, as Al Dhafra, in the UAE.

[link to theaviationist.com]


As for RAF assets at the base it is thought there are two Tristars, a A-330 Voyager, an E-3 Sentry, the six Typhoons mentioned earlier and a BAE 146 that ferried out further crews and there must be C-130s also moving equipment.

Details as per the U.S hardware at the base is a little more scarce, although the two U-2′s have been confirmed and photographed.

[link to theaviationist.com]


Six RAF Typhoon fighter jets leave UK for Cyprus. Four of them deploying right now.


A new Voyager tanker aircraft left with four of the six Typhoons at just gone 09.00 AM (Local) and headed south, it’s not known whether the other two Typhoons were with this small formation or will be deploying separately.

It’s thought the Typhoons may have come from XI Squadron based at RAF Coningsby, Lincolnshire although this hasn’t been confirmed.

also be on the lookout at Whiteman AFB in Missouri to see if the b-2s are taking off and heading east.

[link to theaviationist.com]


Diyarbakir airbase, one of the most important airbases in Turkey, located in the southeastern part of the country, is on alert status today for a possible Syrian attack.

Tolga Ozbek, aviation editor of Hurriyet Newspaper, informed us that on Aug. 30, the alert status was increased to “orange”, a level used when threat of attack is “high”.

It is not clear whether the Turkish authorities were informed of an imminent U.S. strike on Syria or the heightened alert status is caused by intelligence data suggesting Damascus is preparing to attack Ankara.