Chinese Firm Claims It Tracked US Jets Over Iran During Operation Epic Fury
Authored by Ameya Paleja via Interesting Engineering,
MizarVision, a private Chinese company specializing in geospatial intelligence, claims to have tracked US aerial refueling missions of its KC-135 and KC-46 tanker aircraft during Operation Epic Fury. A report published earlier this month analyzed these activities and provided links to strike patterns witnessed in Iran.
The recent strikes conducted by the US over the past month surprised many around the world, but data from transporters refueling flights provided valuable information about their locations.
While bombers work to keep their location under wraps, the refueling tankers continue to broadcast their locations via Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast signals, which are publicly accessible. Researchers at MizarVision claims to have used this data to determine movements of bombers, giving them more insights on how the strikes were taking place.
What bombers has the US deployed?
Prior to the ceasefire announced last week, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Air Force General Dan Caine confirmed that the US has staged 62 bomber missions. These involved all three of its strategic bombers, the B-1s, B-2s and B-52s.
The US Central Command had previously said that the B-1s were used to degrade Iran’s ballistic missile capabilities while the B-52s struck the command and control posts for the ballistic missiles.
Media reports also confirmed that the B-2s had dropped bunker buster bombs on a target used by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Now, using MizarVision’s data the US bomber strike patterns can be divided into three phases.
Three phases of Epic Fury
The report published shows US tanker operations in the initial phase, which took place between March 1 to March 5. Although intelligence was limited in these early phases, MizarVision reported a suspected refueling of a B-52H over the Mediterranean. Most of the detected aerial activity was over Israel or the Mediterranean as the US looked to gain aerial superiority in the region.
In the next phase that lasted between March 9-14, refueling tankers were spotted over Saudi Arabia and the Gulf to support B1-Bs and B-2s that were engaged in striking Iran. The company also successfully identified specific locations in the Gulf where these bombers were active between March 9 and 14.
Specifically, on March 13, the company identified a US tanker flying to Saudi Arabia, which emerged as a refueling hub during this phase of attacks. As operations reached their peak between March 15-17, tankers supported B-1B strikes.
On March 17, refueling activities over the Strait of Hormuz, as well as the entry of an airborne early warning and control plane, the E-3C Sentry, demonstrate a complete operational linkage involving warning systems, bombardment, and refueling systems. At the peak of the attack, Iranian Navy vessels were attacked as well as assets in Kharg Island, a hub for Iranian oil shipments.
Analysts at MizarVision also used artificial intelligence (AI) in this tracking, although the exact nature of the system in unclear in the process, the South China Morning Post reported.
While experts suggested that deriving exact patterns from refuelling tanker movements came with high degree of uncertainty, they were easy to spot and gave more information about possible bomber activities.