24
July
2026
As usual, the US armed forces are using the US military infrastructure in Germany on a large scale for their current troop reinforcement in Iran. Constantly used is the U.S. Air Base Ramstein near Kaiserslautern [1], the largest base of the US Air Force outside the United States, where the headquarters of the US Air Force for Europe and Africa is located. Among other things, there is a satellite relay station in Ramstein, which repeatedly made headlines because it controls US drone operations not only in Africa, but also in the Middle East. Data is also routed via Ramstein for other operations - not least for the Iran war. 2] For this, Ramstein continuously serves as a logistics hub. Shortly after the start of the war, military aircraft from Spain, which were not allowed to take off from there in the war - Spain's government had forbidden this - were brought to Ramstein: Berlin, unlike Madrid, has no objections to their participation in the war of aggression against Iran. An E-11A BACN relay aircraft last landed in Ramstein on Wednesday; it previously came from the Warner Robins Air Force Base in the US state of Georgia and flew on towards the Middle East. 3] The aircraft coordinates fighter jets and bombers live while they fly air raids.
An important role in the current strengthening of the US Air Force presence in the Middle East in order to prepare a comprehensive expansion of the war of aggression is also played by the U.S. Air Base Spangdahlem in the Eifel. Last week, US F-16 fighter jets stationed there were moved to the Middle East.[ 4] In addition, F-35 jets flew from the British Air Force Base Lakenheath in northeast of Cambridge to the Greater Region, as did other F-16 jets from the U.S. Air Base Aviano northeast of Venice.[ 5] The F-16s, stationed in Spangdahlem, had returned from the war zone only a few weeks ago from their deployment; they are aircraft that specialize in eliminating enemy air defense. That fighter jets from all three US air forces units in Europe are moved to the Arabian Peninsula in remarkable numbers is unusual, is quoted in the US Armed Forces newspaper Stars and Stripes quotes David Deptula, a retired Lieutenant General of the US Air Force and Dean of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, a think tank on air force issues in Washington. 6] But Deptula also points out that the US Air Force maintained not three, but nine units in Europe towards the end of the Cold War – proof of the long-term decline in its military strength.
In addition to Ramstein and Spangdahlem, the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, the largest US military hospital outside the United States, is now more used in connection with the War in Iran. In recent days, nearly a dozen seriously injured US soldiers from Jordan have been taken there for treatment. This also caused a stir because the Trump administration reports considerably less than previous US governments about its own damage and losses; only the fatalities among the US military are publicly reported, as this is strictly required by law. However, US observers point out that this does not apply to employees of private military companies, who often provide a significant part of the staff on US military bases. After the Pentagon recently had to confirm that three US soldiers had lost their lives in Iranian attacks on the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base near Al Azraq in Jordan, US media research revealed that between 7 June and last weekend, almost 100 US military had also been injured; the Pentagon had not informed the US public about this.[ 7] In fact, it had even been regularly reported that the Iranian drones and missiles had been repelled or had completely missed their targets.
Not only on the number of US military injured in Iranian attacks, but also on the damage to weapons and military infrastructure caused by the attacks, the first media research is now available. As the New York Times reported on Wednesday, Iran has focused its attacks this month on nine places with a US presence; in the first 40 days of the war there were still 18. The Muwaffaq Salti Air Base was attacked four times; according to the newspaper, three buildings were destroyed with drones and two hangars, as well as presumably residential containers. There was also serious damage to Tower 22, a US military facility in the extreme northeast of Jordan, right on the border with Syria.[ 8] Hangars and a radar system were also hit at two other military bases in Jordan as well as King Hussein International Airport, where US military personnel are also stationed. In Bahrain - at least - one warehouse was damaged; at Erbil International Airport in northern Iraq - where US troops are also present - a military tent was destroyed. The Ali al Salem Air Base in Kuwait was also hit, while a radar system was destroyed at the Ahmad al Jaber Air Base there; it was only in operation for half a year. These are only the damages proven so far.
What Washington is preparing itself for beyond public announcements is shown by the fact that in recent days more than 150 US paramedics have also been transferred to the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center; accordingly, should US President Donald Trump in fact order the announced expansion of the US attacks prepared with the strengthening of the air force presence, a corresponding expansion of the Iranian resistance and a corresponding increase in the number of US victims is expected - including serious injuries, who will then be flown to Germany for treatment. 9] Even those who may die in Iranian counterattacks will probably first be brought to the Federal Republic of Germany before they are transported to the United States in cofffins: The Air Force Mortuary Operations (AFMAO) usually makes a stopover in Ramstein on its flights from the war zone to the USA. It was also so when the remains of four US soldiers who died in the Middle East were recently returned; the flight from Ramstein to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, through which the dead transports are usually handled, reportedly takes nine to ten hours. 10]
For the expansion of the war of aggression, which violates international law, US President Trump officially announces US attacks on civilian infrastructure; these are war crimes. The announcement of wanting to order war crimes also weighs heavily on the federal government. It continues to allow the US armed forces to use military infrastructure in Germany - such as Ramstein, Spangdahlem, Landstuhl - and grants them overflight rights without any problems. According to Michael Riegner, professor of public law, international law and comparative law at the University of Erfurt and director of the Global Justice Clinic there, the opinion that this has no consequences is not tenable. It is inadmissible to restrict Article 26 paragraph 1 of the Basic Law to the Bundeswehr, Riegner judges. The paragraph states that "acts that are suitable ... to disturb the peaceful coexistence of the peoples, in particular to prepare the conduct of a war of aggression" are "to be punished". Whoever makes the leadership of a war of aggression possible provides "help", Riegner states. 11] There can be no doubt that this also applies in the case of the preparation of a war of aggression by the armed forces of a third country, such as the armed forces of the United States.
[1] S. The War Hub Rhineland-Palatinate.
[2] Reiner Braun: No war without the US Air Base Ramstein. ipb.org 01.04.2026.
[3] USAF E-11A Heads Toward Saudi Arabia After Stop at Ramstein, Strengthening Airborne Communications in the Middle East. itamilradar.com 22.07.2026.
[4] Chris Gordon: US Deploying F-16s and F-35s to Middle East as Iran War Heats Back Up. airandspaceforces.com 07/17/2026.
[5],[6] Jennifer H. Svan: Air Force goes all in on use of Europe-based fighter wings to give support in Middle East.
[7] Eric Schmitt: Pentagon Withheld Dozens of U.S. Military Injuries in Iran War. nytimes.com 20.07.2026.
[8] Aric Toler, Christoph Koettl: What Visuals Show About Recent Damage to U.S. Military Sites in the Middle East. nytimes.com 22.07.2026.
[9] Shelby Holliday, Lara Seligman, Stephen Kalin: U.S. Surges Forces Toward Middle East, Giving Trump Options to Expand Iran War. wsj.com 22.07.2026.
[10] Janet Loehrke, George Petras: How dignified transfers bring home fall US service members. eu.usatoday.com 22.07.2026.
[11] Michael Riegner: Parliamentary reservation for wars of aggression. verfassungsblog.de 29.04.2026.