Operation Epic Fury helped increase coordination between US partners and allies in the region in terms of air defenses and other types of security coordination. A recent report by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) to the United States Congress, which covered aspects of Operation Epic Fury from April to June, provided new details on the types of cooperation. Although the report was general, it shed light on an important trend in the Middle East.
The report referred to “US forces embedded in partner air operations centers across the region, which supported coordination, deconfliction, and synchronization of air defense efforts.”
It also discussed a Middle East Defense network, “an integrated missile defense architecture in the region intercepted more than 6,000 OWUAS [one-way unmanned aerial systems] and more than 1,500 ballistic missiles that targeted US and partner forces.”
In addition, the report discussed how the US partnered with Israel.
“Coordinated air and missile defense with Israel was also substantial, with US Patriot and THAAD [Terminal High Altitude Area Defense] systems operating alongside Israeli Arrow, David’s Sling, and Iron Dome systems. The United States and Israel maintained shared awareness and recurring reporting on readiness and intercept activity via embedded liaison officers in the Israeli military headquarters in Tel Aviv.”
This unprecedented cooperation is built upon foundations laid over the past few years. These include US Central Command coordinating with its Gulf partners and with Israel.
Increasing cooperation throughout the Middle East
Over the last decade, Israel and CENTCOM have increasingly cooperated. This has resulted in Israel moving from being under US European Command to being in CENTCOM’s area of operations.
The Abraham Accords paved the way for this move because it meant that Israel was able to work more openly with Gulf partners. In the past, Arab countries had generally refrained from joint exercises with Israel. This made coordination difficult, even if it occurred quietly, in other ways.
Many things have changed in the Middle East over the last decade. In the wake of the 2015 US-Iran deal, Tehran increased its role in Yemen, Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon.
At the same time, countries in the region had to deal with ISIS threats that only began to decline after 2017.
Turkey’s hostile attitude to Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates shifted considerably after 2019. Other trends began to change as well. Israel, Greece, and Cyprus became closer partners. While the COVID pandemic led to a reduction in joint exercises, there were still many opportunities for Israel, the US, and other countries to train together using advanced major platforms such as the F-35 supersonic stealth fighter aircraft.
After the Abraham Accords, there was increasing discussion about how Israel might integrate with the Gulf countries to coordinate defenses. Some saw a potential Middle Eastern defense pact, or a kind of regional NATO-style alliance. Such an alliance would require Saudi Arabia to normalize ties with Israel. Normalization did not happen.
Nevertheless, in January 2022, the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA) published a report titled “A Stronger and Wider Peace: A US Strategy for Advancing the Abraham Accords.”
This report “heralded the accords as an historic breakthrough and urged the US government to seize the opportunity to start building a new Middle East defense architecture premised on bringing America’s regional partners together in common cause to counter the growing menace from Iran.”
The goal was also for Congress to help support this cooperation, as well as a “region-wide air defense network to help deter and defeat the escalating missile and drone threat posed by Iran and its terrorist proxies.” The result was the Deterring Enemy Forces and Enabling National Defenses Act (DEFEND Act) of 2022.
JINSA noted in a May 2023 report called “Build it, and they will come: A US strategy for integrating Middle East air and missile defenses,” that there were opportunities to move toward a “region-wide integrated air and missile defense.” JINSA stated that “animosities among US partners have historically acted as a severe constraint on their willingness to engage in the levels of intelligence sharing and cooperation that meaningful air defense integration would require.”
The opportunities in 2023 were clear. Israel could work with the United States and Gulf partners.
Hamas, Iran, Houthi attacks shifting sands of Middle Eastern relations
The October 7, 2023, Hamas attack was a setback to this regional integration process. Iran intended it to be a setback, and Tehran initially got its wish. Israel was forced to wage a grueling war in Gaza, and then a separate campaign in Lebanon. The Houthis attacked Israel. Iran also carried out large direct attacks using hundreds of ballistic missiles.
The Iranian attacks and the Houthi attacks led to close cooperation between the US, Israel, and regional partners against the ballistic missile and drone threat. This laid the foundations for what came next in 2025 and 2026.
The full extent of the cooperation during Operation Epic Fury is yet to be revealed. Nevertheless, the fact that air defense systems, such as THAAD, Patriots, and Israel’s David’s Sling, Arrow, and Iron Dome, were able to work together is significant.
The US is also selling more defense systems to the Gulf. As the Gulf countries modernize their systems, more opportunities for joint cooperation will occur. In the future, there will be more chances for joint exercises and drills. The tempo of war since 2023 has largely pushed off some of these drills. It remains to be seen whether Saudi Arabia will acquire the F-35. If it does, it would join Israel and CENTCOM as an operator of the fifth-generation warplane over the next decade.
The recent OIG report shed light on how Iran targets countries in the region. It also showed how the US had “been helping grow the sovereign military defense of Gulf partners for decades to counter Iranian attacks and safeguard regional stability. This has included the provision of military sales, training, and information-sharing to Gulf partners.”
This is all good news. The fact that such a large number of 6,000 drone attacks and 1,500 ballistic missile attacks were intercepted further illustrates the success.
Iran has hinted that it is developing new threats. The learning curve has already shown that Israel and other countries in the region are prepared for many of these threats. Nevertheless, the war will result in some changes. There is talk of the US shifting away from some bases in the Gulf. This could mean more deployment in Jordan or in Israel. CENTCOM will be learning many lessons alongside Israel regarding what comes next.