Claims by the media and politicians in Germany that it is not part of the U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran are incorrect. It surfaced during Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s White House meeting with President Donald Trump on Tuesday that the U.S. is using bases in Germany. The bases are, primarily, Ramstein Airbase and Spangdahlem Airbase.
Public assessments showed, days before the war began, that Ramstein was increasingly being used as a hub by the Americans. Military transport aircraft, in particular, landed there and took off for the Middle East, including several Boeing C-17 Globemaster III (77.5 tons of load) and Lockheed C-130 aircraft (20 tons).
It is not known what the aircraft stationed in Ramstein were transporting. At the end of January, an EA-37B Compass Call, a state-of-the-art electronic warfare aircraft, landed in Ramstein for the first time. On Tuesday, Sky News reported that since February 23, 161 aircraft had landed at the Spangdahlem and Ramstein bases, and at least 246 had taken off from there.
American media reported that several F-16 fighter jets had been transferred from Spangdahlem to the Middle East. According to the trade magazine “Air and Space Forces,” they are to be used in Iran to combat air defenses.
The BBC reported that the base is now operating “around the clock.” According to the Trierer Volksfreund newspaper, American soldiers have had their weekends canceled. Already on February 27, the Austrian Wings magazine reported that big activities at Ramstein AB in the preceding weeks showed that the U.S. had prepared for the strikes against Iran—including stationing of F-22 Raptor stealth jets in Israel. Some of the logistics of the deployments are being handled by the U.S. Air Base in Ramstein. The aircraft landing at and taking off from Ramstein include not only military aircraft (C-17 Globemaster, Lockheed C-130 Hercules) but also civilian cargo planes operating on behalf of the U.S. military, such as Boeing 747 freighters from Atlas Air.
