Dr. Strangelove

🤔 Relevant Data Points and My Thoughts Data Points: 🔹 The alleged "F-15E" crash site has been geolocated to a site not far from Isfahan and the Natanz nuclear site. 🔹 The HC-130J can carry TWO MH-6 "Little Bird" helicopters + ~10 troops. 🔹 The HC-130J can carry ONE MH-6 and ~60 troops. 🔹 Absent any MH-6 helicopters, the HC-130J can carry ~90 troops or ~64 paratroopers (as in soldiers fully loaded to jump out of them). 🔹 HC-130Js have no purpose in the context of a CSAR mission to rescue a single pilot. My Thoughts: 🔹 A pilot rescue is clearly not the whole story. 🔹 The proximity of the action to Isfahan and Natanz lends credence to the theory that the REAL object of this mission was to seize nuclear materials (as absurd as that mission would have been!). 🔹 It is probable that MORE than TWO HC-130Js were involved. 🔹 The bare-dirt agricultural airstrip was undoubtedly known and mapped as an emergency ditching site, but was NOT envisioned as an operational drop zone. 🔹 The foolhardy mission flew into an Iranian ambush, and TWO of the HC-130Js were hit, and forced to use the agricultural airstrip as an emergency ditching site, where they crash-landed hard with their full loads, and were disabled. 🔹 The Iranians attempted to rush troops and firepower to the remote site in order to encircle the stranded aircraft and troops (according to the IRGC spokesman). 🔹 The US managed to rush 3 Airbus C-295s to the site to evacuate the stranded aircrew and troops. 🔹 As the IRGC spokesman himself claimed in his report from earlier today, the US used jet aircraft to bomb to smithereens the stranded HC-130Js and the off-loaded MH-6 helicopters. 🔹 After absorbing the shocking results of the failed mission, the US triumphantly claimed the pilot was rescued, the operation was a brilliant success, and the US has the greatest military in human history. Anyway, these are my thoughts for now. I reserve the right to amend them as more information becomes available.