The IRGC announced its 84th wave of missile and drone strikes on March 27 aimed at Prince Sultan air base in Saudi Arabia, used by the U.S. for air refueling and other combat support aircraft. “Following the hostile exploitation of regional airbases by the terrorist U.S. regime, the IRGC Aerospace Force, aided by their comrades in the IRGC Navy, carried out a special joint missile and drone operation during wave 84,” the IRGC said in a statement March 27. “The forces destroyed anti-missile defense systems and successfully penetrated the Al-Kharj base with solid- and liquid-fueled missiles, targeting the stationed refueling and air support fleet with a barrage of missile and drone fire.”
The Chinese intelligence firm Mizar Vision subsequently published satellite imagery it said appears to show the destruction of three KC-135 aerial refueling aircraft and severe damage to several others. There are also reports that at least one E-3G AWACS may have also been severely damaged, but so far all claims of damaged or destroyed aircraft remain unconfirmed.