2026 Israeli–United States strikes on Iran and elsewhere in region - News and Discussion

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fightingirish said:
As of March 1, 2026, the Israeli state aircraft 'Wing of Zion' (registration 4X-ISR) is stationed at Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER).
The Boeing 767 landed yesterday evening, February 28, after a period of heightened regional tension. Airspotters have confirmed observing the aircraft on the tarmac today.
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Source (DPA, German):
https://search.picture-alliance.com/image/449935517
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Oh the historical irony. And yes mods, please cleanse away at will...
 
From Al Jazeera English:


Explosions are still being heard across Gulf countries as Iran continues its attacks.
In Kuwait, a fighter jet has been filmed falling from the sky.
There's been no official announcement about the incident from the Kuwaiti government, but a pilot appears to have ejected and has survived.
Al Jazeera is working to verify some more information.
Smoke has also been seen rising from the vicinity of the US embassy in Kuwait.
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Al Jazeera’s Zein Basravi has more from Doha, Qatar.
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At least one of those aircraft appears to be an F-15 (I read elsewhere that these may've been "Own Goal" shootdowns) with the pilot successfully ejecting.
 
 
I hate the clutter so from now on I will post the news in the following format.

In a very telling sign of the rapidly reduced threat, Israel is set to open its skies tonight.
Source: Mannie Fabian
Israel is expected to gradually open up its airspace starting this evening.

The Home Front Command says air traffic will resume in a "controlled, monitored, and coordinated manner," and in accordance with a situational assessment.

Israel's skies have been closed since the start of the conflict with Iran.
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Iranian Shahed on Akrotiri last night.
The President of Cyprus confirms that the drone that hit a British base was an Iranian Shahed - BBC
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Grey Havoc said:
I should have copied this over on Saturday, but somehow I missed this thread:
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It has certainly affected some long distance flights into and out of New Zealand passing through the ME.


Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in the U.S.-Israeli attack on the country Saturday, President Trump said. ABC News’ James Longman reports on the latest as of Sunday night.
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I'd say that it's a sure bet that this new war won't be over anytime soon.
 
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In a touch of irony, the SpektreWorks Lucas is believed to have been one of the weapons used by the US military in the initial stages of the campaign. A bit on that reversed engineered suicide drone below:
Sineva said:
View attachment 778202
https://twitter.com/x/status/1945887609177178302
I like the name of the company "SpektreWorks",is the name of its ceo Ernst Blofeld by any chance?;)
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Mr.T said:
instead of simple low cost one piece construction its now 3 piece of simple low cost one piece construction its now 3 piece

View attachment 778601
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low-cost_Uncrewed_Combat_Attack_System
 
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Via that CDR Salamander post:
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/...f-lucas-one-way-attack-drone-in-iran-strikes/
The LUCAS platform is a one-way attack drone reverse-engineered after the Iranian Shahed-136.

Built by the Arizona-based SpektreWorks, the drone, which can be launched via catapults, rocket-assisted takeoff and mobile ground systems, is a spinoff of the company’s FLM 136 target model, one designed for counter-drone training while simulating Iran’s Shahed variant.

The FLM 136 model carries a range capability of around 500 miles, with a maximum payload of 40 pounds, or “roughly twice the explosive yield of a hellfire missile,” according to Alex Hollings, host of Sandboxx News’ FirePower.

With a maximum takeoff weight of 180 pounds, the FLM 136 is significantly lighter than the Iranian Shahed. The platforms are also immensely more cost-effective — and scalable — compared to the more advanced munitions in the U.S. arsenal, carrying a price tag of around $35,000 per unit.

A LUCAS drone was successfully launched from a ship for the first time in December, with personnel aboard the Independence-class littoral combat ship USS Santa Barbara carrying out an exercise in the Arabian Gulf, the Defense Department previously announced.

Those troops make up the newly formed Task Force Scorpion Strike squadron, a first-of-its-kind one-way-attack drone squadron led by U.S. Special Operations Command-Central personnel.
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lancer21 said:
iranian aircraft (?) were airborne too
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There is surely some presence of MiG-29s (s for plural) and a Yak-130 but over Teheran.. however, I doubt these two events are related.
 
Those were over Tehran, the implied claim is that those alleged iranian planes were close enough to Kuwait. At any rate 3 F-15 at clearly different altitudes at the same time sounds incredibly unlikely, but anyway, back to news only. We might get more info as to what really happened no doubt.
 
lancer21 said:
Hermes UAV shot down by an iranian 358(?) missile.
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A 358 missile is a turbojet-powered lotiering "aerial mine" equipped with AAM seeker. It could loiter over the designated area for hours and intercept enemy aircrafts when they appear in detection range.

P.S. There are a speculation that part of F-15 downing over Kuwait might be caused by 358-type drones flying alongside Iranian attack drones, as sort of "escort fighters". Dunno about it.
 
Dilandu said:
A 358 missile is a turbojet-powered lotiering "aerial mine" equipped with AAM seeker. It could loiter over the designated area for hours and intercept enemy aircrafts when they appear in detection range.

P.S. There are a speculation that part of F-15 downing over Kuwait might be caused by 358-type drones flying alongside Iranian attack drones, as sort of "escort fighters". Dunno about it.
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I was thinking a 358 or larger 359 among the possibilities. Plus as we've seen with russian drones, some might have even carried AAMs, certainly Iran has such drones (like Karrar).
 
The vacuum blossoming is the intercept at the end....puffs before then perhaps course correction if not staging from something.

At altitude everything looks diaphanous
 
A reminder that leakers happen. No matter how good your defenses are, something is going to get through.

Crud, can't find Habitual Line Crosser's stitched video on YT. (HLC is a Patriot crewman)
 
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2026/03/03/donald-trump-keir-starmer-uk-iran-yvette-cooper/
Sir Keir Starmer has been accused of acting too slowly to send British warships to Cyprus after an Iranian drone attack on an RAF base.

Senior figures in the Conservative Party and Reform claimed the Prime Minister should have reacted faster to the attack on RAF Akrotiri on Sunday.

The Royal Navy is expected to send HMS Duncan, a Type 45 destroyer, to the eastern Mediterranean after Iran launched a series of strikes across the Middle East.

But the deployment, which came after France announced it was sending its aircraft carrier to the region, has fuelled accusations that Sir Keir has been too slow to respond to the crisis.

Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, claimed the Prime Minister had been “dragged kicking and screaming towards doing the right thing”. He added: “It’s pathetic”.

James Cartildge, the shadow defence secretary, posted on X: “HMS Duncan must go and go now - we need the highly capable air defence it provides to protect RAF Akrotiri. It begs the question - why wasn’t she already there?”

Sir Keir has been accused of jeopardising Britain’s special relationship with the US by refusing to join the attack on Iran. Donald Trump told The Telegraph in an exclusive interview on Monday that he was “very disappointed” in Sir Keir.
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