U.S. Central Command reported on its X account today that a squadron of 12 F-22 stealth fighters had arrived in the Middle East “as part of U.S. force posture changes in the region to mitigate the possibility of regional escalation by Iran or its proxies.” Other postings cited publicly available air-traffic data to report that the F-22s landed at the Al Udeid airbase in Qatar. They were accompanied by at least three KC-46 air refueling tankers that supported them on their flight from RAF Lakenheath in England. They had all arrived at Lakenheath on Aug. 5, the F-22s from Alaska and the tankers from other bases in the U.S.