The low- and slow-flying A-10 Warthog jet is back in the Middle East—seven years after the attack planes withdrew.

The prospect of A-10s joining the war against Islamic State was subject to rumors in September, when elements of the Indiana Air National Guard’s 122nd Fighter Wing—which flies the twin-engine A-10—deployed to Southwest Asia.

The Air Force finally confirmed the A-10s were in the region on Nov. 24, noting the aircraft “landed here over several days” between Nov. 17 and Nov. 21.

While it’s not clear whether the Indiana A-10s have carried out any strikes against Islamic State yet … they surely will soon. The Warthogs’ mission is to provide close-air support to Iraqi army and police and Kurdish Peshmerga troops fighting on the ground.

An Air Force spokesman confirmed to Air Force magazine that the A-10s “will only be supporting military requirements in the Gulf region, including but not limited to, Operation Inherent Resolve.”

Inherent Resolve is the Pentagon’s code name for air strikes and other U.S.-led efforts targeting Islamic State.

We don’t know the precise location of the A-10s’ base in the Middle East, but Al Jaber Air Base in Kuwait is one possibility. The U.S. previously based A-10s at Balad air base in Iraq with the 438th Air Expeditionary Group.

This current strike force is part of the newly-reactivated 332nd Air Expeditionary Group. The 332nd was previously at Al Jaber between 1998 and 2012, according to an Air Combat Command official history that War Is Boring obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.

Recent Defense Department photos, reproduced at top and below, show A-10s on a tarmac with buildings painted in desert-khaki in the background. The outline of what appears to be a French Rafale fighter jet carrying guided bombs is visible in the background of one photo.

The A-10s reportedly spent a few weeks in Afghanistan in or around October before heading to the Middle East this month to bolster the growing allied air armada striking Islamic State.

The venerable attack jets—the newest is some 30 years old—boast some advantages over the F-15s, F–16s, F/A-18s and European jets that comprise the international armada’s main warplanes. The A-10s can fly at slower speeds, given their pilots a better view of the ground and potential targets.

They’re also tough—thanks to their titanium armor—and come bristling with bombs, missiles and a 30-millimeter rotating cannon. That hasn’t stopped the Air Force from trying to prematurely retire the A-10s, however.