Sudden Deployment of Dozens of U.S. Air Force Tankers Raises Questions

The Aviationist ^ | 06 16 2025 | Stefano D'Urso

[Fish Speaker]

There will be B-52s and B-2s heading for Iran soon with bunker buster bombs ...

[Parley Baer]

What this does is give President Trump options to use if he needs them.

[Lurker]

“There will be B-52s and B-2s heading for Iran soon with bunker buster bombs.”

I’m totally okay with that.

L

[Waverunner]

The Israeli’s have only 7 707 based tankers and 7 KC130 style tankers. They probably had Saudi Tanker support from day one, but for the number of sorties they are flying, it’s time for some aircraft rest and maintenance. There is a reason the US has around 600 tankers of varying types.

[Magnum44]

Maybe, maybe not, but this certainly preps the assets necessary.

[MinorityRepublican]

The Israeli’s have only 7 707 based tankers and 7 KC130 style tankers.

I agree that we should give Israel some of our tankers.

But we should send them the bill in the mail.

Israel is pretty wealthy. They can afford it. They've came a long way. So they should not be as dependent on our aid. Sell the weapons to them. But they should pay for it.

[desertsolitaire]

Just how deep unground did Iran build those facilities?

[Ben Dover]

I heard it’s a big exercise. Atlantic Trident 2025. It’s in Finland and starts on the 20th. These tankers are headed over there.

[CatHerd]

Exactly.

“According to U.S. defense officials who spoke to Reuters, the large-scale deployment of roughly 30 aerial-refueling tankers with the U.S. Air Force last night to airbases in Europe, is meant to allow U.S. President Trump “options” in handling the escalating war between Israel and Iran.”

Link (with cool graphic): https://x.com/sentdefender/status/1934624129266618532

[ChuckHam]

Agreed. They should be a paying customer like everyone else.

[PIF]

President Donald Trump, meanwhile, said “it’s possible” the United States could enter the fray.

https://freebeacon.com/israel/strategic-decapitation-israel-expands-operations-targeting-iranian-political-institutions-as-netanyahu-taunts-weak-regime-in-tehran/

—
Looks more than possible - strike will happen right after the Nimitz arrives on station in the Med - my guess.

Iran’s nuke facilities are too deep for Israel to take out. Israel can do some damage, but nothing the Iranians could not repair and reopen the facilities for business in a few months. Deep strikes are need to be sure they never can reopen the sites.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

The Moron Air Base. I’ve not heard of that AFB before, but it must be located in Democratistan.

[PIF]

some say up to 1/2 mile, others say over 200 feet.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

“for the number of sorties they are flying, it’s time for some Israeli aircraft rest and maintenance” — good point.

[Seruzawa]

You need to prepare before you act. The tankers might just sit on the ground. But they are ready if needed.

Do many bloggers trying to make clickbait out of everything.

[Rockingham]

My surmise is that Israel needs more supplies from US stockpiles.

[Vermont Lt]

I think that message is, “Keep talking about closing the Straits of Hormuz”.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

USAF tanker fleet info from Grok provided below. One of the big tanker bases is Fairchild AFB just west of Spokane, WA, not far from us in the Coeur d'Alene, WA area.

The U.S. Air Force operates KC-135 Stratotankers (~278 aircraft) and KC-46 Pegasus tankers (~42 delivered, 179 planned by 2027) for air refueling. Below are primary basing locations as of June 2025, with recent deployment notes.

KC-135 Stratotanker Bases

Operated by Air Mobility Command (AMC), Air National Guard (ANG), Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC), and others. Approximately 224 KC-135R and 54 KC-135T aircraft.

• United States
  • Altus AFB, Oklahoma (AETC, training)
  • Beale AFB, California (AFMC)
  • Fairchild AFB, Washington (AMC, 92nd Air Refueling Wing)
  • Grissom ARB, Indiana (AFRC, 434th Air Refueling Wing)
  • JB Andrews, Maryland (AMC)
  • MacDill AFB, Florida (AMC, 6th Air Refueling Wing)
  • March ARB, California (AFRC, transitioning to KC-46)
  • McConnell AFB, Kansas (AMC, 22nd Air Refueling Wing, also KC-46)
  • Seymour-Johnson AFB, North Carolina (AMC, ANG)
  • Tinker AFB, Oklahoma (AFMC, maintenance)
  • ANG Bases: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin
• Overseas
  • Kadena AB, Japan (PACAF)
  • RAF Mildenhall, United Kingdom (USAFE, 100th Air Refueling Wing)

KC-46 Pegasus Bases

Newer tanker replacing KC-135s, operated by AMC, ANG, and AFRC. Primary and proposed bases as of June 2025.

• Primary Bases
  • McConnell AFB, Kansas (AMC, 22nd Air Refueling Wing, first KC-46A in 2019)
  • Altus AFB, Oklahoma (AETC, training)
  • Seymour-Johnson AFB, North Carolina (AFRC, 916th Air Refueling Wing, first KC-46A in 2020)
  • Pease ANGB, New Hampshire (ANG, 157th Air Refueling Wing, first KC-46A in 2019)
• Proposed/Future Bases (by 2027)
  • Barnes ANGB, Massachusetts
  • Beale AFB, California
  • Fairchild AFB, Washington
  • Grand Forks AFB, North Dakota
  • Key Field ANGB, Mississippi
  • March ARB, California
  • Travis AFB, California
• Overseas Deployments
  • Al Udeid AB, Qatar (CENTCOM)
  • Prince Sultan AB, Saudi Arabia (CENTCOM)

[Wallace T.]

Do we have sufficient assets to prevent China and Russia from their military goals? Putin has said that he wants the Baltic States, all three of which are NATO members, to be neutral. Some sources (J.R. Nyquist, Trevor Loudon) have been claiming that the Russians are building up military forces in Belarus and on the Lithuanian and Finnish borders. Then China, which has been building up its military capacity, clearly wants to conquer Taiwan and move Japan and South Korea away from their decades long alliance with the United States.

Netanyahu wants regime change in Iran, which if that succeeds would be better for the Iranian people and lead to a serious diminution of Israel's enemies. However, American involvement beyond assuring Israel is well supplied has serious risks.

Pray for peace.