have them so why not? good question. just going back, these were not low passes. these are providing air support. this isn t anything new. the ronald reagan has been there providing support. these f-18s are flying more than just yesterday. these were continuously in support and part of the assets that i briefed early on that were always available to the centcom commander. we mentioned them to give an update of the type of capability the commanders of the ground continue to have to do and insure we can provide the self-defense and assets to the commander. also there has been some reporting out there that there were low passes and that there was some sort of shows of force. i think we felt it was important for the general to provide some context about what is happening in the air and why and that s why we mentioned it
decision to change that, then obviously that would require additional conversations with the taliban as well. but i don t believe that those conversations have happened at this point. and as a follow-up on the flights of the f-18s, do they have authorization to fire if u.s. troops or allies come under attack? they re not low pass flights. they re at altitude. as the general briefed they re on overwatched. there are other aircraft that general mckepzy and admiral have at their disposal to provide this overwatch. they re not low passes. and i would only, to your second question, i would simply say as always, we have the right to defend ourselves, our people and our operations. james? how many f-18s are there? and was there a specific reason or did you see something that led you to move them? or was it we have them so why not? good question.
designated by the state department as siv applicants and other evacuees in coordination with the state department. we re ready to increase throughput and have scheduled aircraft departure as cordingly. we intend to maximize each plane s capacity, we re prioritizing people above all else. and we re feocused on doing thi as safely as possible with absolute urgency. we have not experienced any security incidents nor interference since my last update. we continue to recognize the inherent danger of operating in this environment but our service members in kabul remain agile, professional, and are postured to continue mission and to respond if required. on this topic, as we look at the last 24 hours, f-18s from the ronald reagan carrier strike group throughed armed watch flights over kabul to ensure
is a decision to change that, then obviously that would require additional conversations with the taliban as well. but i don t believe that those conversations have happened at this point. as a follow up on the flights by the f-18s, do they have authorization to fire if they come under attack? these are not low pass flights. they are overwatch at high altitude. the f-18 flights but other aircraft that general mckenzie and the admiral have at their disposal to provide this kind of overratch. they are not low passes. to your second question i would say as always we have the right to defend ourselves, people and operations. how many f-18s are there? was there a specific reason or did you see something that led you to move them or we just
designated by the state department as siv applicants and other evacuees in coordination with the state department. we re ready to increase throughput and have scheduled aircraft departures accordingly. we intend to maximize each plane s capacity. we re prioritizing people above all else, and we re focused on doing this as safely as possible with absolute urgency. we have not experienced any security incidence nor interference since my last update. we recognize the inherent danger of operating in this environment but our service members in kabul remain agile, professional and are postured to continue mission and respond if required. we look at the last 24 hours, f-18s flew armed over watched