The port-side horizontal stabilizer of 1 KC-135 clipped the starboard-side stabilizer of one other tanker parked close by.
The U.S. KC-135 Stratotanker fleet continues to be affected by a wide range of mishaps. The most recent, luckily a minor one however nonetheless sufficient to maintain the concerned airframes grounded for just a few days, occurred throughout floor operations at RAF Mildenhall, UK, between Might 28 and 29, 2026.
Whereas being backed right into a parking spot by a tow automobile, KC-135R 59-1509 of the 151st ARS (Air Refueling Squadron) Tennessee ANG hit the adjoining plane, an unmarked KC-135R(T) 60-0362 of the twenty second ARW (Air Refueling Wing). The port aspect horizontal stabiliser of 59-1509 struck the starboard aspect stabiliser of 60-0362, leaving seen tearing and deformation.
Repairs had been carried out on the parking ramp the place the accident occurred on Might 30 and, as of June 2, each plane had been nonetheless there, having not moved from their unique positions.
Though taken from outdoors the bottom, and due to this fact from a major distance, the pictures captured by photographer Bob Archer give an concept of the extent of the injury suffered by KC-135R 59-1509.
Regardless of six a long time of service, the KC-135 is an important asset within the U.S. Air Power stock. The dimensions of the fleet continues to be spectacular, counting over 350 KC-135s in service and little multiple hundred KC-46s, nonetheless a whole lot of tanker sorties are required to maintain high-tempo oeperations. As defined in a earlier article the place we reported the transit via RAF Mildenhall of one other KC-135 massively lined by patches (or BDR – Battle Harm Repairs), the tanker fleet took an enormous hit throughout Operation Epic Fury: not solely did the service lose a Stratotanker in a deadly mid-air incident over Iraq that value the lives of six crew members, leading to a misplaced tanker and a broken one, however an unspecified variety of KC-135s (and no less than one KC-46, based mostly on the pictures circulated on-line) had been broken in Iranian missile and one-way drone assaults on Prince Sultan Air Base and different bases throughout the area.
