The port-side horizontal stabilizer of one KC-135 clipped the starboard-side stabilizer of another tanker parked nearby.
The U.S. KC-135 Stratotanker fleet continues to be plagued by a variety of mishaps. The latest, fortunately a minor one but still enough to keep the involved airframes grounded for a few days, occurred during ground operations at RAF Mildenhall, UK, between May 28 and 29, 2026.
While being backed into a parking spot by a tow vehicle, KC-135R 59-1509 of the 151st ARS (Air Refueling Squadron) Tennessee ANG hit the adjacent aircraft, an unmarked KC-135R(T) 60-0362 of the 22nd ARW (Air Refueling Wing). The port side horizontal stabiliser of 59-1509 struck the starboard side stabiliser of 60-0362, leaving visible tearing and deformation.
Repairs were carried out on the parking ramp where the accident occurred on May 30 and, as of June 2, both aircraft were still there, having not moved from their original positions.
Although taken from outside the base, and therefore from a significant distance, the images captured by photographer Bob Archer give an idea of the extent of the damage suffered by KC-135R 59-1509.
Despite six decades of service, the KC-135 is a crucial asset in the U.S. Air Force inventory. The size of the fleet is still impressive, counting over 350 KC-135s in service and little more than one hundred KC-46s, still hundreds of tanker sorties are required to sustain high-tempo oeperations. As explained in a previous article where we reported the transit through RAF Mildenhall of another KC-135 massively covered by patches (or BDR – Battle Damage Repairs), the tanker fleet took a huge hit during Operation Epic Fury: not only did the service lose a Stratotanker in a fatal mid-air incident over Iraq that cost the lives of six crew members, resulting in a lost tanker and a damaged one, but an unspecified number of KC-135s (and at least one KC-46, based on the images circulated online) were damaged in Iranian missile and one-way drone attacks on Prince Sultan Air Base and other bases across the region.
