A US Air Force refuelling aircraft landed at the Istres-Le Tub air base in southern France. The aircraft was a Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker. According to Actu.fr, it entered French airspace on Monday morning. Actu.fr reported that the tanker entered France via the Gironde and may have circled Nîmes several times before landing. The operational context of this deployment reveals that the aircraft took off from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, covering a considerable distance of approximately 7,000 kilometers to reach southern France. The tanker was separate from the aircraft that left RAF Mildenhall in the United Kingdom after a reported threat from Iran. Those aircraft flew to northern England, Spain and Germany. The arrival of the KC-135 in Istres is not an isolated phenomenon. The French air base has previously been the destination for US refueling aircraft during the Middle East conflict. In early March, French Armed Forces Minister Catherine Vautrin set out France’s position on hosting these aircraft. She said France had ruled out hosting aircraft directly involved in combat in Iran and had authorized refuelling. [1]
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