U.S. drones take to the skies as Trump’s fleet descends on the Middle East | 18 Feb 2026 | As speculation that a major U.S. strike against Iran could be nearing, America’s most trusted spy drones have begun gathering intelligence high over the Persian Gulf. A remote-controlled MQ-4 Triton drone took off from Al Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday, spending several minutes over the Persian Gulf before heading towards Saudi Arabia and Iraq. Both countries are close neighbors of Iran, sitting on the opposite side of the Gulf, where two U.S. Navy carrier strike groups will soon be stationed. Wednesday’s flight was the latest instance of an MQ-4 taking off to do reconnaissance over the Middle East, as another Triton was spotted by the flight-tracking website Flight Aware 24 on February 14.