Photographs by Andrew McKelvey: visible shrapnel repairs and a missing refueling boom
McKelvey’s images show a KC-135 Stratotanker heavily speckled with temporary shrapnel-repair patches across its tail, vertical stabilizer, flaps and spoilers. The jet is also missing its refueling boom entirely, and the repairs appear field-expedient rather than depot-level. The photographs — published by The War Zone and credited to McKelvey — present a pock-marked airframe with sheet-metal and patchwork repairs that are clearly visible in daylight pictures taken at RAF Mildenhall in the United Kingdom.
Aircraft identity: Alaska Air National Guard KC-135, tail number 63-8028
The aircraft is identified by tail number 63-8028 and belongs to the Alaska Air National Guard’s 168th Wing. Flight tracking data cited by The War Zone shows the tanker arrived at RAF Mildenhall from Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel, the day before the photographed stop. The War Zone notes this is at least the second KC-135 to transit RAF Mildenhall in recent weeks with similar shrapnel damage and temporary repairs; earlier images published by the outlet showed a KC-135 from the Ohio Air National Guard’s 121st Air Refueling Wing similarly covered from nose to tail in repair patches.
FlightRadar24 timeline and uncertainty over where the jet was struck
There is ambiguity about where 63-8028 sustained its damage. The War Zone cites FlightRadar24 data that shows the jet taking off and arriving at Ben Gurion both the day before and the day after the March 14 strike on Prince Sultan Air Base (PSAB) in Saudi Arabia — the attack that reportedly damaged five tankers. That same tracking data, the outlet reports, indicates the aircraft continued flying missions after the PSAB strike, a sequence The War Zone characterizes as “highly unlikely.”
The reporting does not settle the discrepancy: “The KC-135 could have been hit somewhere else or the data is wrong. We just don’t know at the moment,” The War Zone writes. The outlet has reached out to the Alaska wing and U.S. Air Forces Central (AFCENT) for more information and said it would update the story if more details become available.
Depot maintenance and the Tinker pipeline
The visible repairs on 63-8028 are described as temporary, and The War Zone traces the longer maintenance route for damaged KC-135s toward Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma. Tinker is home to the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Complex, which performs programmed depot maintenance and modifications for aircraft types including the KC-46 and KC-135, among others. The War Zone notes that some damaged tankers could transit through European bases such as RAF Mildenhall before proceeding to Tinker for more comprehensive repair work.
The outlet also recounts a recent example: at the KC-135 System Program Office’s request, the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG) “regenerated” KC-135R tail number 58-011 at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base; that aircraft departed on April 2, 2026, en route to the Oklahoma Air Logistics Complex at Tinker AFB. An Air Force spokesperson confirmed that movement but declined to specify the “operational requirements” that prompted the regeneration.
What this means for the Alaska Air National Guard, Tinker AFB, and Ben Gurion Airport
- Alaska Air National Guard (168th Wing): The presence of tail number 63-8028 at RAF Mildenhall with temporary shrapnel repairs visually confirms at least one battle-damaged tanker from a state guard wing is in the European theater; the aircraft’s appearance and provenance raise operational and maintenance questions for the wing and any units managing its deployment and sustainment.
- Tinker Air Force Base / Oklahoma City Air Logistics Complex: The base represents the likely destination for depot-level repairs for heavily damaged KC-135s. The War Zone cites prior regeneration work routed through AMARG and then to Tinker, underscoring Tinker’s role in restoring serviceable tankers removed from storage or shunting damaged airframes into depot maintenance.
- Ben Gurion Airport and Israeli civil operations: The War Zone cites an Israel N12 News report that dozens of U.S. refueling aircraft deployed to Ben Gurion are expected to remain in Israel at least until the end of the year, and that their presence “is causing significant operational difficulties at Ben Gurion Airport, as they are parked almost everywhere possible at the port.” That dynamic frames how sustained tanker basing in Israel is affecting local airport operations.
The pock-marked KC-135 photographed at RAF Mildenhall is a small, visible echo of a much broader tally of damage. The War Zone places these tankers among “more than 40 aircraft damaged or destroyed” during Operation Epic Fury and cites a Washington Post report that Iranian strikes damaged or destroyed at least 228 structures or pieces of equipment at U.S. military sites across the Middle East. The immediate, practical questions remain specific and verifiable: where was 63-8028 struck, what sequence of movements preceded the visible repairs, and which airframes will be routed to depot maintenance at Tinker or regenerated from storage? The War Zone reports that it has contacted the wing and AFCENT for additional details and will update as information becomes available.
Source: The War Zone — Another Battle Damaged KC-135 Tanker Seen Passing Through RAF Mildenhall
