US air-to-air refuelling fleet flies to Europe and Middle East

Washington sends tankers to European bases ahead of potential attacks on Iran

A Boeing 707 tanker plane with two F-18 jet fighters. EPA

America is massing aircraft in Europe and the Middle East as Israel continues to attack Iran, flight tracking data has shown.

At least 31 refuelling tankers with US fighter escorts have landed at five airfields across Europe.

The movement of aircraft began on Monday, with tracking sites such as FlightRadar 24 reporting the co-ordinated movement of Boeing KC-135 Stratotankers and KC-46A Pegasus towards Europe.

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A large number of F-22 and F-35 fighter-bombers have also left the US for Europe in what Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth called an “enhancement of the defensive posture in the region”.

The tankers, vital to air-to-air refuelling of warplanes on operations, landed at bases in Britain, Spain, Germany, Spain, France and Greece.

A USAF Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker taxies at the Moron Air Base in Spain. Reuters

Western security sources suggest that the tankers are being put in place to allow US President Donald Trump to “keep his options open” on whether to attack Iran.

The Stratotankers could also be used to help refuel Israel jets on bombing missions. The country's seven tankers have been operating continuously since the first attack on Friday.

Middle East flights

On Tuesday, at least 17 tankers took off from air stations across Europe and headed south.

Photos taken by aircraft spotters outside RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk, UK, showed a Stratotanker conducting what is called a “dragging flight” with four F-35s towards the Middle East.

On Tuesday afternoon, 12 F-35 Lightning fighters took off from RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk on a similar route, the Itamil Radar tracking website reported.

The jets, alongside others that appear to be travelling without active transponders, linked up with 20 tankers from Moron in Spain, Ramstein in Germany, and Prestwick and Mildenhall in the UK, “to support what can now be confirmed as a large-scale redeployment of US fighter jets to the Middle East”, Itamil stated.

Refuelling then took place over the Ionian Sea, near Sicily, and over the Tyrrhenian Sea, west of Italy, with “tankers forming prolonged holding patterns to support the transiting fighters”, Itamil reported.

US F-16 Fighting Falcons conduct aerial refueling. US Air Force

Once completed, some of the tankers returned to their European bases while others headed in the direction of the Middle East.

It is also likely in the coming days that the tankers stationed in Europe will ferry more aircraft from America into the region.

There were also C-17 and C-5 transport aircraft over Europe, some heading towards the Middle East and likely to be carrying ammunition for the Israeli air force or building stockpiles if the US should decide to attack.

America assembles

An squadron of more than 25 refuelling tankers is required to support a large-scale bombing operation, a study in 2023 by the Rand Corporation found. There are about 50 tankers either in the Middle East or Europe that could support a strike force.

An Iranian tanker aircraft at Dezful airbase, Iran, before it was hit by Israeli air strikes. AFP

US fighter missions

However, to ensure that the aircraft are not vulnerable to air defences, already largely destroyed by the Israelis, the force of F-22s and F-35s will conduct what is called a “suppression of enemy air defences”.

Another mission will be to track and destroy the launchers sending ballistic missiles into Tel Aviv and other cities, although Israel has claimed to have destroyed a third of the force, about 120 vehicles.

The US will also bring in its military surveillance satellite system into play.

While Israel has three spy satellites the US has dozens that give it persistent intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance (Istar) coverage that will allow it to track Iranian logistics and personnel.

This will enable “dynamic strikes”by F-22s or F-35s above Iran.