U.S. special operations MC-130 spotted landing at Lebanese air base

A U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command MC-130 transport aircraft landed at Hamat Air Base in northern Lebanon on the evening of November 8, according to LebanonJets, a local aircraft-spotting account that tracks military flights in the country.

The account said the aircraft arrived from the east at 7:25 p.m. using the callsign SMOKE83, with its ADS-B transponder switched off, so no registration or flight track was publicly visible.

The spotter said it was at least the third special operations MC-130 visit to Hamat in recent weeks. Aircraft using the callsigns SMOKE52 and BURN83 landed at the base on October 22 and October 31, and the account posted a photo of an MC-130 at Hamat taken on September 24.

The MC-130J Commando II is the U.S. Air Force’s main special operations transport. Built on the C-130J Super Hercules airframe, it flies low-level missions, often at night, to insert, resupply and pull out special operations teams, and can refuel helicopters and tiltrotor aircraft in flight. Crews routinely switch off ADS-B, the public tracking signal most aircraft broadcast, on military flights in the region.

Hamat, in the Batroun district north of Beirut, is a Lebanese Air Force base that also hosts U.S. personnel working with the Lebanese military. The United States is the Lebanese army’s largest foreign backer and has supplied it with aircraft, vehicles and training for years, including a possible $462 million A-29 Super Tucano sale to Lebanon approved earlier.

The base has drawn attention since the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran began in February. Iranian state television named Hamat as a potential target for retaliation if the United States attacked Iran. Days later, U.S. troops at the base shot down what they believed was a drone launched nearby, leading to a tense standoff with Lebanese soldiers, L’Orient Today reported.

Lebanese Defense Minister Michel Menassa responded at the time that Hamat is a Lebanese air base belonging to the Lebanese Army Air Force and that no other entity there has authority above Lebanese law. He said foreign training teams at the base work under military rules to support Lebanese army units and that all activity is approved by the Lebanese Army Command, Naharnet reported.

The MC-130 flights come as the U.S. military keeps up a heavy flow of airlift into the region, with U.S. military transport flights expanding to Middle East hubs since the start of the war.