Unusual RC-135 Movements from Al Udeid Overnight

Interesting movements were observed during the night from Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, involving no fewer than three RC-135 aircraft — two operated by the United States Air Force (USAF) and one by the Royal Air Force (RAF).

The RAF RC-135W (registration ZZ666) departed the Qatari base at approximately 02:00 CEST to return to RAF Waddington, its home base in the UK, which it had left on 21 May. This marks the end of a roughly three-week deployment in the Gulf region.

Around the same time, two USAF aircraft — an RC-135V (registration 64-14841) and an RC-135W (registration 62-4132) — also left Al Udeid and headed northwest. Both landed around 09:00 CEST at Souda Bay Air Base on the island of Crete, Greece.

It remains unclear whether these movements are in any way linked to last night’s Israeli strikes on Iran — possibly a precautionary repositioning in anticipation of potential Iranian retaliation — or if they simply reflect a routine operational rotation. Nonetheless, the timing of these transfers certainly raises eyebrows.

The situation will likely become clearer in the coming hours, depending on how events unfold across the region.