Air Force F-15E Strike Eagles deployed to Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia earlier this month as part of a U.S. buildup of forces in the region to counter Iran.

The 494th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron’s jets arrived just hours after a U.S. drone strike in Baghdad killed a top Iranian general in early January, escalating already high tensions even further.

Nicknamed the “Mighty Black Panthers,” the squadron deployed on Jan. 4 from RAF Lakenheath, England. Its crews will be “sharpening our collective claws” working with the Royal Saudi Air Force, squadron commander Lt. Col. Jaina Donberg, said in a statement last week.