Iran rebuilds Eagle 44 airbase

TLDR

• TWZ says Planet Labs imagery from 29 September shows a new Eagle 44 taxiway section finished and runway obstacles removed.¹²
• Eagle 44 has been hit at least three times this year; three support buildings remain destroyed or damaged.¹³⁴
• TWZ could not tell whether the four tunnel entrances are open, and says fighter numbers are unknown.¹

The War Zone (TWZ) reported on 22 October that Iran is rebuilding Eagle 44, an underground airbase in Hormozgan province, using Planet Labs imagery from 29 September that it obtained exclusively.¹²

Why it matters: the report shows what repair looks like in imagery, which investigators can reuse on other struck sites: a finished concrete layer, a graded but unpaved next segment, wreckage pushed off the pavement, blockers removed and buildings left unrepaired. It also shows resolution matters: TWZ says low-resolution images through 16 March showed little damage.¹

Driving the news:

• On the western taxiway, a new section is complete, and a subgrade for the next segment is laid but unpaved.¹
• Runway obstacles are gone, and dark streaks on the eastern taxiway match the width of wreckage TWZ says was likely pushed aside, not recovered.¹
• Two support-compound buildings are destroyed and a third damaged, and none has been rebuilt.¹
• Craters remain in front of the western tunnel entrances. The four entrances appear intact, but TWZ says it is unclear whether they are open or sealed.¹

By the numbers:

• At least three rounds of strikes this year.¹
• Four tunnel entrances, a 2.7-mile runway, and only one of two taxiways operational.¹

The big picture: a New York Times report, summarised by Ynetnews, described craters on taxiways near the tunnel entrances, one building levelled and mounds along the runway after a late March strike.¹⁴ Soar Atlas imagery reported by The Defense News shows four impact points from a strike on 16 July.³ TWZ also cites CNN saying Iran had cleared 50 of 69 struck tunnel entrances at 18 underground facilities by the end of May.¹

The other side: TWZ and Iran International date the July strike to 15 July, while The Defense News says the early hours of 16 July.¹²³ The Defense News says the base is believed to house the last three or four operational F-4Es, which it says is unconfirmed; TWZ says the number is unknown.¹³ TWZ has not verified Soar Atlas's claim that the July targets belonged to a construction unit. The Pentagon and CENTCOM have not named Eagle 44, and Iran has not acknowledged strikes on it.¹

Single-source note: the 29 September imagery analysis is TWZ's alone, and Iran International restates it. The strike history rests on the New York Times via Ynetnews and on Soar Atlas via The Defense News, neither imagery-checked here.¹²³⁴