US aircraft conducted a “show of force” flight over an ISIS position near the Syrian city of al Bab earlier this week, but didn’t drop any bombs because of insufficient ground intelligence and weather impacts. The US-led coalition recently pulled support advisers from the Turkish advance on the town because the country did not work with the coalition in planning to retake the city. However, the recent show of force flights signal a push to increase support to the Turkish advance. Coalition spokesman Air Force Col. John Dorrian said Wednesday that there are high level leadership and diplomatic discussions with Turkey to provide more support to this advance, while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday it is expected to be finished “soon,” Reuters reported. “We supported with a show of force recently and there are ongoing discussions about the manner in which we’ll support in the future,” Dorrian said.
The Air Force displayed all the firepower it has amassed on Okinawa in an unusually diverse show of force this week. IIn a May 6 “Elephant Walk,” Kadena Air Base showcased 24 F-35A Lightning II stealth fighters, eight F-15E Strike Eagles; two U.S. Army Patriot anti-missile batteries near the runway; and…