The battle-damaged Alaskan ANG KC-135R departed RAF Mildenhall on its means dwelling from Operation Epic Fury, exhibiting the huge non permanent repairs carried out to make the plane airworthy for the return flight.
On Might 30, 2026, the KC-135R 63-8028, belonging to the 168th Wing of the Alaska Air Nationwide Guard, departed RAF Mildenhall, UK, for Bangor Maine, as RCH133 (“REACH 133”) on its means again to the U.S.
The tanker had arrived at RAF Mildenhall from Tel Aviv Ben Gurion airport, on Might 23, 2026.
Photographs taken by photographer Bob Archer because the Stratotanker taxied for take off present the quantity of non permanent repairs carried out on the airframe to allow the plane to fly dwelling.
KC-135R 63-8028 AK ANG departing RAF Mildenhall for Bangor Maine on Might 30, 2026. (Picture credit score: Bob Archer)The KC-135R 63-8028 is the second battle-damaged Stratotanker photographed transiting by means of RAF Mildenhall. The primary one, 59-1444, landed at RAF Mildenhall, UK, on Apr. 12, 2026, with spotters on the fencelines instantly noticing the battle injury repairs (BDRs) evident on the fuselage in addition to on a number of the engine cowlings. It had beforehand diverted into Chania Worldwide Airport, close to Souda Bay, throughout its first try to fly from Prince Sultan Air Base (PSAB), Saudi Arabia, to Mildenhall.
Whereas 59-1444 was probably among the many at the very least 5 Stratotankers broken within the a number of Iranian assaults towards PSAB, throughout March 2026, the place 63-8028 was struck is unclear. In line with FlightRadar24, it deployed from Eielson AFB, Alaska, to Tel Aviv, through Stuttgart, on Mar. 7, 2026. Flight monitoring logs present that the tanker flew its first operational mission few hours after deploying to Israel.
Within the following days, it flew sorties nearly day by day till Mar. 26, 2026, which seems to be its final tracked mission. Its subsequent tracked flight was the ferry flight from Tel Aviv to RAF Mildenhall on Might 23, 2026. What occurred within the two months throughout which the plane seems to not have flown is unknown. We additionally can’t fully rule out {that a} change or error in hex codes occurred even earlier than Mar. 26, exhibiting the plane in Israel when it was truly in Saudi Arabia. Contemplating that one other assault on PSAB broken U.S. plane there on Mar. 27, there’s additionally a chance that the plane had been deployed there that very same day, with out FR24.com monitoring it for some purpose.
Anyway, the placement and density of the battle injury repairs on 63-8028 and 59-1444 are fairly totally different: whereas 59-1444 confirmed massive and small patches throughout its fuselage (together with the higher a part of it), wings, engines, and tail; all of the BDRs on 63-8028 seem like on the underside rear aspect of the tanker, as if the shrapnel fragments had come from beneath and behind the plane. This may additionally clarify why the growth needed to be faraway from this KC-135R, one thing that wasn’t essential on 59-1444.
Nearer take a look at the tail part of the USAF KC-135 63-8028 that suffered shrapnel injury from a Iranian drone/ballistic missile on the bottom in Saudi Arabia. pic.twitter.com/RIT5HBPnef
— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) Might 30, 2026
After departing Mildenhall the jet stopped over in Bangor, Maine. Like 59-1444 final month, the ultimate vacation spot for 63-8028 is Tinker Air Pressure Base, Oklahoma, dwelling to the Oklahoma Metropolis Air Logistics Advanced, which oversees depot degree upkeep for the KC-135 Stratotanker, KC-46 Pegasus, E-3 Sentry, E-6 Mercury, B-52 Stratofortress, and B-1B Lancer.
As for the 59-1444, the way forward for 63-8028 continues to be unclear. The plane might undergo inspection, restore, and overhaul course of to be introduced again to full operational standing or, as occurred with different KC-135R airframes, akin to 58-0011, the Stratotanker might be cannibalized for spares to maintain the surviving fleet moderately than being restored.
We’ll see.
For certain, regardless of its spectacular dimension (over 350 KC-135s in service and little multiple hundred KC-46s) the U.S. Air Pressure tanker fleet took an enormous hit throughout Operation Epic Fury, due to the deadly incident over Iraq and the Iranian strikes on Prince Sultan. The Iran Air Battle confirmed, as soon as once more, that high-tempo operations involving tons of of tanker sorties are required to assist each direct fight missions and logistics taskings. Elevated use of contracted aerial refueling companies can alleviate a small a part of this burden, significantly for coaching sorties, however demand for aerial refuelers stays persistently excessive.
